Young: Clause prevented fuel sale to Venezuela

NATIONAL Security Minister Stuart Young said the contract for the sale of fuel from Paria to Aruba had a clause preventing sale to sanctioned countries, including Venezuela.

He was speaking on Monday at the daily media briefing hosted by the Ministry of Health.

Young said the conversation began with certain Trinidadian voices firstly focusing on the sale of fuel by Paria en route to Aruba, and whether it ended up somewhere else (Venezuela).

"We have investigated this and I am happy to say the contract was a very clear contract with that sale of fuel to Aruba, which has happened in the past, because Paria supplies fuel throughout the region including to Aruba."

He said there is an important condition and clause in that contract put in by Paria which said the fuel was not for any sanctioned country including Iran, North Korea or Venezuela.

"So that is how Paria protected TT in the sale of fuel.”

Asked about the penalty for breaching the clause, Young said he has not sat down with the contract personally but added that Trinidad Petroleum Holdings presented a document outlining details of the sale.

Young said there continued to be a proliferation of misinformation and misleading commentary regarding the visit of Venezuelan executive vice president Delcy Rodriguez on March 27. He added that Rodriguez was appointed in February as the lead co-ordinator for the covid19 response in Venezuela.

"There was no question and no asking of 'What it is you are coming to discuss with us?'"

Young said the PM returned on March 10 and there was a plan for Rodriguez to visit on March 16, but she contacted Young and told him she had developed a bit of a flu.

"In those circumstances I asked Ms Rodriguez to delay her trip to make sure I protected TT and to ensure it was not anything related to the (coronavirus)."

He explained that at the ministerial level when he gives authorisation he does not "drill down" into the type of plane, who owns the plane or who is on the manifest, especially when it is a foreign government making the request. He said the same request has been made by other governments to ask for repatriation of their citizens. He added, however, that flight information is provided and the public service processes it.

"There have been many visits by the Venezuelan government over the past few years, many even before the sanctions came into place. At no time have I ever asked what plane it is, which plane you're coming in on."

The Opposition, at a recent media conference, presented flight manifests which suggested the president and vice president of PDVSA, the state-owned Venezuelan oil company, accompanied Rodriguez on the trip, and asked whether this violated a US treaty which imposed travel restrictions on Venezuela in December 2019. The Prime Minister hit back that the Opposition Leader was a traitor seeking to stoke UN sanctions, and the Opposition Leader then charged that the PM was a "Judas" who betrayed citizens.

Young reported that he, the Dr Rowley and Foreign Affairs Minister Dennis Moses met with Rodriguez and Jose Chavez Jiminez, and reiterated that at the time the latter was on a commission for the restructuring of PDVSA and only became president on PDVSA on April 28. He also reported both visitors wore personal protective equipment and the rest of the delegation were in another room.

"The creation of a whole smokescreen I want to completely debunk."

Asked why the meeting was not held virtually, Young said Rodriguez requested the meeting and it was a matter of courtesy.

Asked if he would be willing to make the minutes of the meeting public to show Chavez's role, he replied there were no minutes or notes. He said what was discussed were matters related to covid19, the Venezuelan population in TT, how covid19 was being managed in Venezuela, and an offer of test kits from Venezuela to TT, which was declined because that country has a much larger population and a lot of restrictions.

"Mr Chavez was quiet in the meeting."

Asked about photographs showing Energy Minister Franklin Khan at the meeting, Young said those photos were from two years ago when Rodriguez and then PDVSA head Major Gen Manuel Quevedo came to discuss the Dragon gas deal.

"There were no photos from the meeting on March 27."