Trinidad and Tobago’s position of non-intervention was raised before the United Nations General Assembly during the Prime Minister’s visit last week but he was concerned that some are pushing for military action in Venezuela.
“The whole issue of the security of the region is not to be taken for granted because there are powerful forces engaged in seeking military intervention as a solution for political problems,” said the Prime Minister.
In a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he sought to alert the UN of the plan by the plan of the Organisation of American States to invoke the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, also known as the Rio Treaty, in response to the situation in Venezuela.
The group has called for further sanctions to be placed in the South American state while stopping short of calling for a military intervention to take place.
“I had gone to the United Nations to alert the General Secretary to what was happening with the Rio treaty being invoked and threat that it posed taking us back to January,” said Dr Keith Rowley who said the recent meeting of the General Assembly was important for the smaller countries of the world, like Caribbean states to have their voices be heard.
“We are very small, but we are not insignificant, we are not to be dismissed,” he said.
It was the second vote in September on the treaty.
In the latest vote in New York, only Uruguay voted against the resolution while Trinidad and Tobago abstained.
In the previous vote Costa Rica, Panama and one other voted against, Dr Rowley said.
He defended the decision to maintain the abstention as the stance as opposed to outright voting against the move, as he said Trinidad and Tobago’s position had been guided by principles and represented by its’ policy.
During his visit to New York, the Prime Minister also said he spoke with the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg.
Norway had central to another approach for resolution of the Venezuelan situation through mediation. However Dr Rowley said following the vote on the Rio Treaty, fewer countries seemed to be in favour of that approach.
The Prime Minister however once again referred to recent reporting from foreign countries about the migrant situation in Trinidad and Tobago, which he suggested helped placed more pressure on the decision-making about Venezuela before the Rio Treaty vote.
Dr Rowley also explained that some Caricom states had approached about the migrant registration process.
“One or two of Caricom countries would like to get some details because they want to do the same thing,” he said.
He also brushed off the recent visit by Minister of National Security Stuart Young to Venezuela, stating it was important to continue communication with our neighbour.
“Notwithstanding that other people believe that we should not talk with them, we believe that we should talk with them,” he said.