UNC: Young, Rowley, PNM must go

LIES by the Government as exposed by the US ambassador have put TT in jeopardy, the UNC alleged in a statement on Tuesday, calling for the resignation of Minister of National Security Stuart Young and the Prime Minister and his Government.

The UNC responded to US envoy Joseph N Mondello’s statement earlier which said he had discussed with Young the visit of Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to TT.

“The Keith Rowley administration has once again been caught lying to the people of TT,” the UNC said.

They said less than a week ago in the Senate they questioned Young, and he claimed Mondello never spoke of the potential violation of the Rio Treaty caused by Rodriguez’s meeting with Dr Rowley. There are US sanctions against Venezuela.

“Stuart Young lied again.

“Today, the US Ambassador released a definitive statement on the matter, stating that he ‘expressed concern to the minister in that conversation about the consistency of Delcy Rodriguez’s visit to Port of Spain with TT’s obligations as a party to the Rio Treaty.

“‘Article 20 of the Rio Treaty makes it unambiguously clear that all measures imposed by the Organ of Consultation – like the travel restrictions on Ms Rodriguez – are binding on all treaty parties.’”

The UNC said the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the Rio Treaty, which was signed in 1947, says an attack on one is deemed an attack against them all, under the “hemispheric defence” doctrine.

“The actions of this Government have put TT in danger of losing these protections and then they attempted a major cover-up.

“Young lied to hide the fact that this Government has not only broken the trust of our allies, but jeopardised our international image.”

The UNC asked how many more lies the Keith Rowley government would tell to cover up its links to the Maduro elites.

“It is totally unacceptable that yet again this Government has sought to mislead our population as well as our Parliament where the statements were initially made.

“There is a clear practice of deception by members of the Rowley regime as they repeatedly try to mislead the population. Their lies have now caught the attention of the international community including the US Ambassador.”

The UNC said Mondello’s statement proved Rowley himself has been less than truthful with the nation when he dismissed these claims as false on Saturday.

“It is utterly shameful that the Rowley regime has tarnished our image at a time when nations like ours need to maintain proper relations with the international community as we ease out of this global pandemic.” For the record, the UNC denied ever urging sanctions to be placed on TT but rather sought to expose the detrimental actions of the Rowley regime.

“Their own actions have now been proven to have been enough to warrant a reaction by the international community.