Moonilal: No response yet from US envoy

OROPOUCHE East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said he has not yet received a response to his letter to US Ambassador Joseph Mondello about an alleged sale of fuel from this country to Venezuela.

On April 27 in Parliament Moonilal sought to raise a definite matter of urgent public importance on the use of infrastructural capacity in the energy sector to facilitate an “illegal trade” of fuel to Venezuela which TT had originally sold to Aruba. He said the matter could lead to dire economic sanctions being imposed on US energy companies and manufacturing companies operating in TT.
Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George said she was not satisfied the matter qualified under the standing order.

In a letter dated April 28 Moonilal wrote to Mondello on his inability to raise the matter in Parliament and included a copy of the proceedings from the Hansard as well as a copy of a Reuters World News story published on April 26. The Reuters report said Venezuela had received a 150,000-barrel shipment of gasoline which arrived aboard an Aldan tanker that was reportedly loaded the previous week in TT.

Moonilal wrote in his letter: "The loading of the Aldan in TT, if factual in nature, could not have occurred without the knowledge, consent and facilitation of the present government of our country, since our relevant petro and port facilities are all controlled and operated by the government and its state enterprises.

"I was of the view that, if true, this assistance rendered to the regime of Nicolas Maduro, which has been branded as undemocratic, unconstitutional, and illegal by the United States of America as well as by all our allies of good conscience, was an affront to the community of free nations and further posed a risk that Trinidad and Tobago could be met with economic sanctions. Such economic sanctions, if imposed in these difficult times, would have a devastating effect on the well-being of this society and undermine all post-covid19 recovery strategies."
Moonilal told Newsday in a brief message that he had not received a response to his letter, but did not say what his next step would be.

The Prime Minister, in the Parliament last week Wednesday, denied any knowledge of TT making any sales to Venezuela. Energy Minister Franklin Khan said the deal was made with Aruba and Government could not be held responsible for the end user of that product.

Former speaker Nizam Mohammed, in a statement, described Moonilal's letter as "reckless" and "crazy" and questioned whether he was trying to bait US President Donald Trump.
"Ours is a sovereign nation and a complaint about our Parliament’s failure to debate any matter is no business of the US. Not even our courts will venture to enquire into the internal operations of our Parliament," Mohammed said.

Retired head of the public service Reginald Dumas told Newsday on Tuesday he is "deeply disappointed and scandalised" by Moonilal's letter and described his behaviour as "out of place."
"And you do not, in any case, on your own, involve foreign governments and foreign powers in your affairs," he said.