Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 13/Dec 06:07

Kamla wants details about Trinidad and Tobago, US agreements

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has questioned the signing of five agreements between Trinidad and Tobago and the US, two of which could permit the US to station troops in TT in the event of a "conflict" in neighbouring Venezuela. Persad-Bissessar called upon the government to make the details of those agreements public. She made those statements to the media before a meeting at the UNC's headquarters in Chaguanas on December 12. Persad-Bissessar said she was in the dark about the agreements like most of the population. She added that a few hours before, the Prime Minister criticised the media on this matter at a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall. Persad-Bissessar said government should make copies of those agreements so we can be "fully aware of what it is we signed." She asked whether those agreements were signed with "the (outgoing Joe) Biden administration or is it the (incoming Donald) Trump adminstration." Should American soldiers be allowed on TT soil, Persad-Bissessar, could they be held liable under the law if they injure any citizen. "We don't know and therefore it may be premature." Persad-Bissessar, "I find it preposterous that you have a new (US) government coming in and you are signing documents." She recalled that Dr Rowley and other Caricom leaders met recently in Barbados with a US Congressional delegation to discuss matters of mutual interest. Persad-Bissessar said that delegation comprised US Democrats. She promised the UNC would fix the matter after it won the next general election. Persad-Bissessar also asked Rowley to say when he would give approval for Caricom election observers to come to TT. In the House of Representatives on December 11, Rowley said he expects to receive a letter to sign to invite those observers to TT for the election. While she was "cautiously optimistic" about this, Persad-Bissessar repeated her call for "international observers" to come for the election. In a statement on December 10, the US Embassy said Rowley, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, Energy Minister Stuart Young, Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne met and held talks with US diplomatic and navy officials on security, energy, cyber-security and human-rights issues. Rowley met with US ambassador Candace Bond and Commander of the US Southern Command (Southcom) Adm Alvin Holsey at the Diplomatic Centre, Port of Spain. The embassy said the group celebrated the successful conclusion of negotiations on five agreements, including a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA); the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Technical Assistance Field Team (CBSI-TAFT); and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA). Bond and Holsey also congratulated Rowley on TT’s accession to the Treaty of San José and the Southcom Human Rights Initiative. Bond said, “TT’s leadership in implementing this framework for security co-operation demonstrates its potential as the cornerstone of peace and security in the Caribbean, and has opened the door to unprecedented and unequalled opportunities for defence co-operation between TT and the US.” Holsey added, “The US is committed to providing expertise and resources to enhance TT’s security capabilities, and these agreements deepen strategic collaboration on a host of issues.” The embassy said the SOFA “will facilitate interoperability between the two countries’ armed forces.” A December 2022 diplomatic note on the US Embassy's website details TT's agreement to SOFA, starting in 2013. The note said the 2013 SOFA was due to expire on January 1, 2023. "The Embassy has the further honour to propose to the Government of the Republic of TT that the Government of the US and the Government of the Republic of TT agree to further extend the 2013 SOFA, without any other changes, for an additional two years from its expiration date of January 1, 2023, to January 1, 2025." The Foreign Affairs Ministry's response also formed part of the diplomatic note. "The Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs of the Republic of TT is pleased to confirm that the proposal set forth in the Embassy's note is acceptable to the Government of the Republic of TT and that the Embassy's note together with this note in reply shall constitute an agreement between the two Governments which shall enter into force on the date of this note." In its December 10 statement, the US Embassy said, "The SOFA is an agreement which allows for military-to-military engagement. The US and TT have had a SOFA agreement since 2007. The new SOFA will bring the agreement in line with US and TT laws and will have no expiration date unless renegotiated." An Express report in May 2013, said the then People's Partnership (PP) government led by Persad-Bissessar had ratified a SOFA agreement between the US and TT as confirmed by a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister at the time. In that statement, Persad-Bissessar sought to assure the public that the agreement made no provision for the establishment of a US military base in TT. It said, "This SOFA cannot be the basis for the establishment of an American military base in TT because it contemplates the temporary presence of US personnel in TT. "No provisions are made or contemplated for the grant of facilities and areas to be utilised by the US military on the territory of TT." The post Kamla wants details about Trinidad and Tobago, US agreements appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.