US envoy on migrant row: Don’t blame Trump, blame Maduro

THE US ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago has deflected criticism by the Prime Minister over the Venezuelan migrant crisis, shifting blame to the Maduro regime.

US Ambassador Joseph Mondello, responding to queries from Newsday, said neither the current leadership of the Organisation of American States nor  outgoing US President Donald Trump could be blamed for the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.

Rather, he said the Maduro government was responsible for the near-collapse of the country's economy and grave human rights violations against its people.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled their country over the last six years, seeking refuge in Colombia, Nicaragua, Brazil and other South American countries.

Law-enforcement authorities in TT have been documenting significant numbers arriving on beaches in southwestern Trinidad over the last three years.

In May 2019, in response to the influx of Venezuelans, the government allowed both legal and illegal migrants to register to live and work in TT. A total of 16, 523 were processed and they now stand to benefit from permanent residency in TT, according to a statement by the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

DR Rowley issued two statements on the issue, one criticising the leadership of the OAS, under president Luis Almagro,  for triggering and fuelling the Venezuelan crisis.

Rowley went further to charge that public officials have "virtually declared war on TT for having the temerity to have not joined Elliot Abrams (US special representative for Iran and Venezuela) and President Trump in forcing violent regime change in Venezuela.”

In response, Mondello referred to a UN fact-finding mission in 2014, before Trump or the current leadership of the OAS took office, which found "grave human rights violations and crimes in violation of international law, including extra-judicial executions, torture, arbitrary detentions, and excessive use of force."

The ambassador said the Venezuelan economy "was in free-fall" long before the US began to impose sanctions in August 2017 and again blamed the Maduro regime for "millions of Venezuelans living in dire economic conditions” fleeing their homes since he assumed power.

He said without free and fair elections the migration of refugees will continue, along with the transhipment of guns and drugs, but he assured the US was willing to work with TT "to help mitigate the consequences of the crisis."