Happiness tempered by caution

IT’S BEEN a good month for the Prime Minister.

His candidate for President was resoundingly approved, in a vote that raises serious questions about the hold of Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar on her party.

And now he has secured a major coup in the form of obtaining from US officials a waiver of sanctions to allow this country to explore the Dragon natural gas field in Venezuela.

However, Dr Rowley’s dramatic announcement on Tuesday, in which he heralded happy days ahead, has implications far wider than local politics.

It serves as a testament to the relevance of Caricom and represents a pivotal moment in Latin American geopolitics.

The Prime Minister’s administration has taken flak for its meetings with high-ranking Venezuelan officials despite sanctions and despite serious questions about the upholding of human rights and democratic values under Nicolas Maduro.

The Government has also been condemned for its handling of aspects of the Venezuelan migrant crisis relating to the treatment of children.

Such matters are not dissolved by the seeming moral relativism embodied by US officials’ relaxation of restrictions.

Plainly, a delicate balancing of interests is being undertaken with the need for energy security among vulnerable Caribbean countries – except for Cuba which remains under sanctions – being a factor of importance in the calculations undertaken by the administration of US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The licence now granted puts this country in a position, where others are not, to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to helping Venezuela.

While no cash is to be handed over to that country, it may well benefit in other ways through the resumption of business between neighbours. Certainly, the possibility that the National Gas Company may have to expend funds to construct a pipeline is notable.

Still, this is no mere act of charity. It is equally about our own prospects as a country.

It is important to acknowledge how this arrangement underlines our reliance on the foreign policy values of our closest allies as well as developments within them.

Mr Biden’s administration is currently embroiled in a scandal involving the handling of confidential documents and, despite a better-than-expected performance in midterms, is likely to be increasingly stymied by a highly toxic political divide between Democrats and Republicans.

This country wished for a waiver for ten years, but it got two, meaning we are now even more at the mercy of American headwinds.

The Venezuela issue is arguably a hot-button one in US politics, playing into that country’s various attitudes to socialism.

How things develop – and it will take some time for gas to flow – will reflect such realities, as well as the dynamics raised by the ongoing Russia/Ukraine conflict.