Venezuelan's Minister of Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, has dismissed statements by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Persad-Bissessar on possible threats of Venezuelan military personnel entering T&T in pursuit of alleged terrorists.
Following claims last week by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that terrorists entered Venezuela from Trinidad and Tobago, Persad-Bissessar hit back at last Thursday's post-Cabinet media conference, calling on the Coast Guard to use 'deadly force' against any unidentified vessel that entered T&T waters from Venezuela.
Cabello, speaking at a news conference in Caracas Monday, called Persad-Bissessar's statement "crazy" and denied the existence of any plan to invade the waters of the Caribbean country.
"That's crazy, the statements from that woman. We are not invading Trinidad and Tobago, nor have our vessels entered their territory. I don't know what force they have, but it's senseless," Cabello said.
He argued that Caracas's real concern lies in the alleged entry of a "terrorist" group from Trinidad and Tobago, which his regime blamed for smuggling weapons into Venezuela.
"This isn't a reason to attack the person reporting the news; it's a reason to investigate what's happening in Trinidad," he stated.