Trump reaffirms ‘strength of partnership’ with Trinidad

WASHINGTON (CMC):

The Donald Trump administration has reaffirmed the strength of its partnership with the Trinidad and Tobago government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, as tension rises between the United States and Venezuela over the deployment of US military forces in the Caribbean Sea allegedly to combat narco-trafficking.

US Department of State deputy spokesperson, Tommy Piggott, said that Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau spoke with Persad-Bissessar on Monday “to reaffirm the strength of the US-Trinidad and Tobago partnership.

“The deputy secretary commended Trinidad and Tobago as a strong US partner in the Caribbean,” said Piggott in a statement.

“He acknowledged Prime Minister Persad Bissessar’s public support for US military operations in the South Caribbean Sea and both our governments’ commitment to curbing illegal narcotics and firearms trafficking.

“The deputy secretary also emphasised the importance of establishing a UN Support Office for Haiti, with both leaders underscoring the need for further support to address insecurity and violence in Haiti,” Piggott added.

Last week, Prime Minister Persad Bissessar applauded Trump’s military build-up in the Caribbean Sea off Venezuela, as the US military struck an alleged drug boat, killing “11 terrorists”.

“I, along with most of the country, am happy that the US naval deployment is having success in their mission,” she said in a statement, adding “the pain and suffering the cartels have inflicted on our nation is immense.

“I have no sympathy for traffickers; the US military should kill them all violently,” she declared.

Trump disclosed on his social media platform that he ordered US Armed Forces to strike a boat that he claimed was carrying alleged Tren de Aragua drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea.

“You had massive amounts of drugs. We have tapes of them speaking”, said Trump in Oval Office remarks on Wednesday. “It was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people”.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down, stating on Fox News: “We knew exactly who was in that boat. We knew exactly what they were doing, and we knew exactly who they represented.

“And that was Tren de Aragua narco-terrorist organisation designated by the United States as trying to poison our country with illicit drugs,” he added. “Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a deadly terrorist will face the same fate.”

On Monday, Hegseth, who made a visit to Puerto Rico, accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Dan Caine, told US Marines deployed there that they were front and centre in “defending the American homeland”.

“Make no mistake about it, what you’re doing right now is not training,” he said on the naval battle ship, USS Iwo Jima, in a video posted on X.

“This is the real-world exercise on behalf of the vital national interest of the United States of America to end the poisoning of the American people,” Hegseth added.

On an official visit to Mexico City last Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned in a press conference: “We’re not going to sit back anymore and watch these people sail up and down the Caribbean like a cruise ship. It’s not going to happen.”

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro described the US military build-up in the Caribbean as “an extravagant, unjustified, immoral and absolutely criminal” attack against his country.