T&T Vulnerable to Venezuela Hostilities

• As the US continues its military buildup in the Caribbean, regional leaders and experts are warning that this can have a negative impact on T&T and the rest of the region’s economies.
• Venezuela continues to ramp up rhetoric against T&T, as two weeks ago, its Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López sent another strong message to T&T that military exercises with the US are a potential “aggression” against Venezuela. Two weeks ago, former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley warned that T&T could become a soft target should the United States launch military action against Venezuela, arguing that the country’s offshore gas platforms could be among the first assets placed at risk.
• Social researcher Daurius Figueira, who has published books on the energy relationship between T&T and Venezuela, agrees with international reports that military action could negatively affect the economies of the region, including T&T. He told the Sunday Business Guardian that the tensions are causing uncertainty, and this could turn off potential investors, whether it is T&T or the rest of the Caribbean.
• He warned that an outright invasion of Venezuela will destabilise South America and drag T&T and the Caribbean into acute economic hardship, worsening what already exists. “In the event of war, T&T is a valid military target that must be neutralised for the defence of Venezuela. The prime target is our energy infrastructure, specifically Atlantic. T&T has made itself a valid military target. Mutually assured destruction for T&T and Venezuela.”
• According to Bloomberg in an article dated November 24, any military conflict could drive away sun-seeking visitors just as the peak tourism season is getting underway, with tourism jobs accounting for more than 75 per cent of employment in places like Aruba, St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine met T&T’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar last week, where they discussed topics like regional security, although no mention was made of Venezuela in the following press releases. Venezuelan energy writer Werther Sandoval, in an article dated November 23, in the Venezuelan daily newspaper El Ultimas Noticias, asked, now that the Dragon gas field project has been buried because of political tensions with Venezuela, what will be the alternative for T&T’s economic future.
• “In recent days, the Government of the Prime Minister of T&T has been trying to stem the growing public discontent caused by the already evident budget crisis generated by the decline in gas production, which threatens to worsen after Venezuela suspends joint exploitation agreements for border fields.”

(Source: Trinidad & Tobago Guardian)