US congressmen to continue talks on easing Venezuela sanctions

MEMBERS of Congress from the US say the Prime Minister constantly brings up the topic of easing sanctions on Venezuela and have pledged to continue dialogue on this.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken, as well as a team of members of Congress, visited TT for the 45th Caricom heads of government summit.

In May, Dr Rowley said during talks with the US, he informed them that TT was suffering from collateral damage from US sanctions against Venezuela.

Asked about this, US House of Representatives' Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday said this issue has been raised "very clearly" by Rowley and other Caricom leaders.

"And we want to try to find a path forward away," he said.

"That makes sense in a complicated geo-political environment and, certainly, I think that will be one of our takeaways as we return back to the US."

He then deferred to US Foreign Affairs Committee representative Gregory Meeks.

Meeks said Rowley speaks about this every time he visits the US and every time he speaks to a member of the US Congress.

"This is an issue that he has articulated and talked about how important it is for the people of TT. And what was significant is he did it again, in the presence of Secretary Blinken at the plenary session of Caricom and the message hits home.

He said the relationship that the US has with TT and the Caribbean is significant and important.

"And so this dialogue that is going on and will continue to go on. And as he has told all of us, it has to happen soon because the pressure is on with reference to continue to compete. And that is the purpose of us being here.

"We were told that: 'Do you see us? Do you hear us? Do you feel us?' And I think that that message, we see, we hear and we feel and we'll go back as the leader set to work to make a difference.

Also at the summit, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves slammed the US' policies on Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

He said the policies are "prisoners of the politics of South Florida" and that presidential, gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional elections were vulnerable to such a voting bloc.

Responding to this, Jeffries said there is an increasing, global conflict between democracy and autocracy, as well as freedom and tyranny and truth and propaganda.

"And we're seeing it in sharp focus, now, of course, with the war in Ukraine.

"But autocracy has been on the rise all across the world, and so that remains an authentic, legitimate concern of the US and, I think, an authentic legitimate concern for the free world.

"One of the things that we do value about our relationship with TT was that we have this shared democratic values, a shared system of freedom and liberty, a belief in the opportunity to control the fate of themselves and their community, in their government, self-determination, government of the people, by the people and for the people."

He added, "And we do take it seriously that there are many people across the world who don't share those values. And so without being familiar with the precise nature or context of the president's (sic) statement, I do think it is important for everyone to understand that this delegation, President Biden, in the country, the Congress takes seriously the conflict that we are locked into right now, in this world, between a free system of governance, and an autocratic one."

A reporter asked Rowley why there were no Venezuelan representatives at the tribute session of the summit given the relationship between the two countries.

He said the TT government is in touch with Venezuela, from Caricom, daily.

"I don't know that – I couldn't say what that invitation went out or not. But the absence of Venezuela person at the floor wasn't really viewed as any slight or anything like that.

"The region, all of us in Caricom, we are continuously in touch and working with the authorities in Venezuela."

In a press release on Thursday, the US State Department said Blinken met with Rowley and discussed commitment to expand energy security and climate resilience in the region, as well as the facilitation of a renewable energy transition through the US-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis (PACC 2030).

It added, "The leaders underscored their support for democracy in Venezuela and the urgency of ending the security and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

"The Secretary pledged the US’ support to help combat crime and violence in the region, including by curbing the illicit flow of firearms," it said.

In a further release, Rowley was quoted as telling Blinken that TT is "better off" having these kinds of contacts and "we get the opportunity to talk to the decision-makers.

"But this access to the decision-makers, which I would like to call the post-Los Angeles period, we’ve seen significant progress through diplomatic arrangements. And our technical people are now in a much, much better position to carry out the expectations of the decisions that we have made."

He then thanked Blinken, saying his presence gives "the very best signal of the quality of the relationship between TT" and the US.

Blinken told Rowley it's important to be in TT and the presence of the US delegation "is further evidence of the importance that we attach to the relationship we have to work with."

He continued, "And to TT’s leadership in our region, we’ve had for many, many years a strong, powerful bond between our countries, especially between our people's citizens.

"Many Americans come to visit here for tourism, for business and more than that, I think we’re bonded together by the fact that we both share a deep commitment to democracy and trying to create opportunity for our people and to do so with equity and fairness."

He added that he hopes to "compare notes" on even broader challenges.

"Again, thank you to you, to the entire team. It’s very, very good to be here. My only regret is it’s too short, so we’ll have to come back."