UNC on Venezuela election: Results could spark instability

THE Opposition UNC has expressed concern that the outcome of Venezuela's presidential election on July 28 could create instability within the Caribbean and Latin American region.

That concern was expressed by Naparima MP Rodney Charles, the opposition's shadow foreign affairs minister.

Former People's Partnership (PP) foreign affairs minister Winston Dookeran, also weighed in on the results, saying TT needed to pay close attention to developments arising out of the election in the country's closest geographical neighbour.

For his part, Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah congratulated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on his victory and said there must be no external attempt to interfere in the South American nation's affairs.

They made their comments in separate statements on July 29.

Maduro reportedly won 51 per cent of the votes and his opponent, Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, received 44 per cent.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has claimed Gonzalez received 70 per cent of the vote and Maduro 30 per cent.

In a statement, Charles said, "Recent developments in Venezuela suggest that our region will continue to be characterised by geo-political instability, chaos, continued mass migrations, economic uncertainty and superpower intrigue."

Initial reports, he said, were that Venezuela’s opposition clearly believed the elections were not free or fair and that the official results do not reflect the realities of how Venezuelans voted.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO'S DEALS WITH MADURO

Political developments in Caracas are of interest to TT given that both countries recently signed off on three bilateral energy agreements.

Last December, TT secured a 30-year licence to develop the Dragon field in Venezuela's territorial waters. The Dragon deal will see TT developing the field, which is estimated to produce approximately 150 million standard cubic feet of gas a day.

The gas will be imported through a billion-dollar pipeline to the Hibiscus platform off the northwest coast of Trinidad. The platform is jointly owned by the Government, NGC and Shell.

Last month, Shell TT made a final investment decision on the extraction of natural gas from the Manatee field which straddles the TT-Venezuela southern maritime border.

Manatee is part of the Loran/Manatee field, with Loran lying on Venezuela's side of the border. The Loran-Manatee field has an estimated 10.04 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, with the Manatee field having more than 2.7 tcf. Manatee is expected to reach peak production of approximately 104,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

Also last month, Venezuela signed a 20-year natural-gas production and exploration deal with bpTT and the National Gas Company (NGC) from the Manakin-Cocuina field.

Reflecting on these agreements, Charles said, "TT needs Maduro’s cross-border gas arrangements for its immediate economic well-being. We need to factor in what happens if there is a change of government in Venezuela.

"At the same time, the US has the final say on the very future of these cross-border gas arrangements."

GUYANA LOOKS ON

Charles said Guyana would also be very interested in Venezuela's election results, as they could have a bearing on the long-standing dispute between the two countries on Guyana's Essequibo region.

He added that Venezuela's neighbours Brazil and Colombia could have concerns about Venezuelans migrating into their territories because of the election.

Charles said, "TT may consider, while waiting for events to unfurled and hoping for the best, holding urgent off-ramp discussions with Colombia, Brazil, the US, Guyana and Caricom to ensure that we remain ahead of events, that we are not blind-sided by unfurling realities and we remain at the top of our diplomatic game on these most critical matters."

Dookeran said the reintroduction of US sanctions against Venezuela could be a risk to its energy agreements with TT.

But he was uncertain whether the US would take such action at this time.

"I do not think so, but we must now look at the US elections (in November) and the next president's approach to Venezuela."

Dookeran did not believe TT should be a bystander or adopt a "wait-and-see" approach with respect to developments that may arise after the elections.

LATAM SOLUTION

He said government should "embrace a delicate initiative to avert the risks ahead."

Dookeran suggested Latin American nations such as Brazil, Mexico and Chile could initiate a Latin American solution to avert any problems in Venezuela by sending an assessment expert team to examine the operations of its National Electoral Council (CNE).

He also believed Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley was well placed to engage in some "high-level delicate diplomacy" to assist.

Abdulah said,"The MSJ has absolutely no doubt that the electoral process in Venezuela is free and fair."

He rejected what he described as attempts by external forces to portray Maduro's government as dictatorial.

"In the last two years, the Maduro government has been able to restore economic stability, with growth being forecast at four per cent, the highest in Latin America."

Abdulah said Maduro has initiated social programmes and investments in housing that have assisted hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.

"There has been a deepening of participatory governance as popular and community assemblies have been involved in decision-making about state projects."

Caricom leaders are currently meeting at their 47th heads of government conference in Grenada, with TT Prime Minister Dr Rowley in attendance.

Abdulah called on Caricom to "stand firm in its principled position that there should be no external interference in the internal affairs of a state and that there should be respect for the sovereignty of other nations."