Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 16/Sep 04:22

Why drag Trinidad and Tobago into a foreign war?

THE EDITOR: As a concerned citizens, I and we must ask: why is Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar dragging TT into a fight that is not ours of the making? If the US wants to deter Venezuelan aggression against Guyana, it can build a base in the disputed Guyanese Essequibo territory. That is entirely and strictly between Washington and Georgetown. Instead, our prime minister is volunteering our land and waters for possible US military action against Venezuela. This is a reckless continuation of provocative behaviour by Persad-Bissessar; who for ten years as Opposition Leader interfered in Venezuela’s politics, refusing to recognise Nicolás Maduro as that country's President while backing Juan Guaidó, who declared himself president without ever winning an election. Guaidó is now irrelevant yet Persad-Bissessar continues the anti Venezuela hostility, this time as prime minister on behalf of TT, thereby formally inserting this country into Venezuela's internal affairs. This is a first for us and violates our decades-old foreign policy of non-interference in the affairs of other states. The excuse of fighting drug cartels is not convincing. Labelling foreign leaders as drug traffickers and using indictments are a decades-old strategy Washington uses whenever it wishes to remove a defiant leader who rejects American imperialism. Persad-Bissessar has swallowed that narrative without question or verification. The US does not need warships and thousands of troops in the Caribbean to stop cocaine shipments. If it truly wanted to end the trade, it could destroy coca fields and labs at the source in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Without production there would be nothing to traffic or transship. The truth is obvious: This US charade is about regime change. By siding with that agenda, our prime minister is aligning TT with US aggression, turning our country into a pawn and potential target. Our role should be peace, not being a pawn or sycophant and our leadership should reflect sobriety so as not to justify the recent very derogatory comments coming out of Caracas. LEVI JANSSEN Maraval The post Why drag Trinidad and Tobago into a foreign war? appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.