PM tells Opposition Leader: You are a traitor!

“YOU are a traitor, lady!” the Prime Minister dubbed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar whom he accused of trying to stoke United States’ sanctions against TT for his having met oil officials led by the Vice President of Venezuela, now under US sanctions.

Dr Rowley held a briefing at the Red House, Port of Spain, on Friday in a break from the Lower House.

Up to now, the Opposition has alleged that soon after VP Delcy Rodriguez’s visit to TT, Paria Fuel Trading sold an oil shipment to Aruba which then ended up in Venezuela, violating sanctions.

Persad-Bissessar at a virtual media conference earlier had alleged that a flight manifest had shown Rodriguez's delegation had included officials of State oil firm, PDVSA, sanctioned due to alleged election rigging under the Nicolas Maduro regime.

Rowley said Persad-Bissessar was “somebody’s mouthpiece” and a “town-crier,” as an irrelevant Opposition was in desperation ahead of the due general elections. “Who is Kamla Persad-Bissessar working for at this time? Why is the Opposition Leader stirring the pot?”

He said the relationship between TT and the US was “a very good one,” with both countries interacting and sharing resources.

Rowley said during Rodriguez’s visit on March 27, he had not checked on the ownership of the aircraft bringing her, a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority, nor had he been introduced to the members of her delegation.

The PM said on February 27 Rodriguez had been named to head Venezuela’s covid19 response.

He said he had later discovered the aircraft belonged to PDVSA and that a delegation member had later become president of the Venezuelan State oil company. “At that meeting no-one was introduced to us as PDVSA president,” he related.

Rowley said his Government supports the UN position to recognise the Maduro regime as the legitimate Government of Venezuela.

He said on the contrary the Opposition is happy for an executive order of a US President, mandating sanctions on Venezuela, to superseded international law.

Rowley hit, “Kamla Persad-Bissessar left Parliament to make a case for sanctions against TT.” He said executive orders can be used by big states to beat up on small states. The PM accused Persad-Bissessar of “reprehensible conduct.” Dubbing it all a case of "a mad, failed politician," he said he’d like to contact the makers of the Madea movies to say Madea was now in TT.

Rowley asked the legal position of people in TT sending food to Venezuela, even as he noted TT now has 15,000 Venezuelan migrants jobless since the covid19 lockdown.