Young knocks government's 'laughable hypocrisy, inescapable irony' in Dragon deal

Former prime minister Stuart Young has described Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Roodal Moonilal's recent response to him as "laughable hypocrisy and inescapable irony."

The former Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Moonilal have been locked in a public spat over the issue of the Dragon gas project over the last few days. In the face of criticisms from his predecessor over the administration's move to pursue the project, Moonilal said Young should stay quiet.

"This is a time of intensive energy diplomacy. A lot of work has taken place. The PM has led the initiative on this very critical matter for our economic stability and energy security," Moonilal said.

However, in his latest post to his Facebook page, Young slammed Moonilal and the UNC-led administration for its about-face on the project and the information being spread about it.

"The laughable hypocrisy and inescapable irony of Roodal Moonilal asking me to remain quiet whilst he, and the government, continue to mislead the public and pursue the same Dragon gas project which they attacked, criticised and tried to derail incessantly for years.

"Wasn’t he one that had a problem with (Venezuela) Vice President Delcy Rodríguez for years? Wasn’t it Mrs Persad-Bissessar as Prime Minister who, on Friday last, said 'Madame Delcy' instead of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez? And then went on to refuse to tell the media whether she recognises President Maduro as President of Venezuela."

The Prime Minister had previously declared the Dragon gas deal "dead," and in January 2019, in Parliament, said her party had recognised Juan Guaido and not the "dictatorial" Maduro as Venezuela's leader.

Young added: "I am not responsible for the UNC’s diplomatic policies, decisions, blunders and faux pas, so carry on Minister Moonilal."

In his response to Moonilal, Young shared what he called a "critical thinking piece" written by Michael Edmund Dhanny. The piece echoed the points Young's statements made over the past two days; Kamla Persad-Bissessar's "Kill them all violently" comments about alleged Venezuelan narco-traffickers; junior Housing Minister Phillip Alexander's claim that India would "nuke" Venezuela on TT's behalf; alleged burnt diplomatic bridges between the countries; and claimed that she has made contradictory statements concerning the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) licence.

"Moonilal’s optimism requires suspended disbelief. Leaders who threaten annihilation don’t pivot to productive negotiations without explanation. What changed? Only domestic political calculation: energy security now outweighs performative alignment with maximum pressure doctrine.

"The administration destroyed what Young built, then asks for trust in their ability to rebuild it. This wasn’t a mishap. It was coordinated messaging—from brinkmanship to nuclear threats. And now, patience is requested for 'intensive energy diplomacy,'" Dhanny said.

Young issued a scathing criticism of the government's handling of the project in his October 4 post, which prompted Moonilal's advice.

"So, no OFAC licence in hand, even though you said you obtained an OFAC licence for Dragon when you arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday night," he said.

Upon returning to Trinidad on October 1, Persad Bissessar told media, "The OFAC licence, the details are to be worked out still. Our people have been in touch, Mr (Sean) Sobers, the Foreign Affairs people, and of course the Minister Of Energy, they have been in touch with our counterparts in Venezuela."

Young continued, "Therefore, the UNC government does not know the terms of what they are being given to work with by OFAC and that is only one part of the equation because Venezuela owns the Dragon gas field." He dismissed any idea of Shell negotiating with Venezuela as the owners of the gas on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago.

"It is the government’s duty to protect Trinidad and Tobago and to lead and get the best terms for Trinidad and Tobago. You cannot count on a multinational company to do that."

Last week, an Office of the Prime Minister release said during discussions in Washington DC, Persad-Bissessar secured US State Secretary Marco Rubio's support for the approval of OFAC licences for cross-border hydrocarbon extraction.

Persad-Bissessar has said she is willing to fly to Venezuela to lead the negotiations with that country on the Dragon gas project.