FUEL or COVID-19? Kamla drops bombshell on Delcy visit

Here are notes from my Virtual Press Briefing today. This is a matter of serious concern but first I want to correct some of our commentators -:

“It is important that I correct the commentators who have said the United National Congress has been inviting the US into the sovereign affairs of Trinidad and Tobago.

We in the United National Congress have done no such thing. What we have done is raise questions to ascertain if the Government has undertaken any action which can breach, disturb or offend the strong mutually beneficial relationships we share with our allies.

Any possible threat of sanctions will never be as a result of any action by the Opposition but rather of those who are in charge of our national affairs.

Any fallout with the US and possible resulting sanctions, will be as a result of the actions of the Rowley Government alone.”

In the past days, the Opposition has continued to undertake its constitutional responsibility and called on the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to account for their misguided, reckless actions which have jeopardised our nation.

From the onset of the crisis unfolding next door, the Opposition has sided with the vast majority of the Western Hemisphere and the entire civilized world, who all agree that democracy and the rule of law need to return to Venezuela.

The Opposition has always demanded that the Rowley government provide greater transparency in its dealings with the Maduro regime.
This is now even more critical, given that on March 26th 2020, the US Department of Justice indicted Mr Maduro on charges of drug trafficking, narco-terrorism and money laundering.

It should be obvious to everyone, even to Dr Rowley, how serious these charges are, and what it could mean for Trinidad and Tobago.

On March 27th, a day after these charges on Mr Maduro were made, T&T opened its borders – which were shut due to Covid 19 – allowing Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez and a contingent of personnel into the country.

It should be noted that VP Rodriguez is currently sanctioned by and banned from the United States, Canada, the European Union, Mexico and Switzerland.

The reason for this visit, we were told, was to discuss strategies for Covid 19. What these strategies were, we were never told, the prime minister has also not provided absolutely no details about this visit despite multiple requests and his own statements on the matter has provided no clarification. In fact it is perhaps safe to say that the public remain unconvinced that the Venezuelan vice presidents visit has anything to do with Covid 19. We have not been told when the request for a meeting was made and by whom or to whom?

This country has not been told why the Minister of Health or the Minister of Foreign Affairs was not present? Our citizens have not been told what quarantine or health measures were implemented to facilitate the Venezuelan Vice president’s entry and if she was allowed to visit any other establishment in this country. We have not been told what, if any, discussions have been had with representatives of the United Nations who have imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan Vice President. In short, we have been told nothing.

This entire episode remains shrouded in deliberate secrecy.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, I have in my possession what purports to be a photograph of Trinidad and Tobago Form C5, Customs General Declaration (content aircraft) which I presume to be a passenger manifest, for a private Venezuelan flight on 27th march 2020. This and other documents were left in my mailbox by a clearly concerned citizen.

I am in no position to vouch for its authenticity, but I want to again give the Prime Minister, and his Minister of National Security the opportunity to provide truthful clarification and details about this visit and meeting, and avoid all the speculation that has come about because of the absence of verifiable information.

This afternoon, I want National Security Minister Stuart Young to tell the nation that along with Delcy Rodriguez, did he provide clearance for:

● Asdurbal José Chávez Jimenez-President of Petroleous de Veneulea (PDVSA)

● Juan Vincente Santana Migliacion- Vice President of PDVSA Gas

● Antonio Perez Suarez – Vice President of commerce and supply at PDVSA

● Manuel Antonio Jimminez Herrera -Accountant of the National Constituent Assembly

If Minister Young granted entry to these persons into Trinidad and Tobago on March 27 2020, then the Prime Minister has some very serious questions to answer to the people of Trinidad and Tobago:

1. Is the Minister of National Security aware that on January 21 2020 the US Treasury Department placed sanctions on fifteen aircraft they deemed as blocked property of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A (PDVSA) One of these aircraft was YV3360. Did the Minister of National Security allow a sanctioned aircraft to enter Trinidad and Tobago?

2. By allowing Delcy Rodriguez into the Country did T&T violate the Inter American Treaty of reciprocal assistance which imposed travel restrictions on members of the Maduro regime in December 2019?

3. If this meeting was about Covid-19, why were high ranking members of PDVSA present? The government is fully aware of the Sanctions placed on PDVSA, having had to abandon the Dragon Gas deal and choosing to “go it alone” to develop the Loran Manatee cross border field.

4. In recent years PDVSA has been widely accused of participating in money laundering and narco trafficking. The US Treasury Department made it clear that any institution or individuals who conduct business with PDVSA face the possibility of sanctions. What business is the Rowley government conducting with PDVSA that requires meeting with PDVSA ‘s President on T&T soil if in fact he was present?

5. Is the Prime Minister aware that Venezuela’s new Minister of Oil Tareck El-Aissami is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges?

6. According to the Washington DC Newspaper El Tiempo Latiino in an article titled “How does the Venezuelan regime work to violate the sanctions by the US and stay in Power” published on December 26 2019 PDVSA officials have allegedly entered into an arrangement with oil companies such as Trafigura by which these companies will carry out the business of PDVSA with payments being made through third parties. Is the Prime Minister aware that Trafigura is the stated company which has partnered with Patriotic Energies to purchase the Petrotrin refinery? And if so can he say what due diligence has been done so far on this agreement?

7. Most curiously, why was a Venezuelan government accountant present at this meeting to discuss Covid 19?

8. Dr Williams joined the Rio Treaty because he wanted TT to have regional support if an issue ever arose. How can TT expect that regional support when it violates that very treaty to welcome Delcy?

9. Does it endanger the state monopoly’s ability to operate if, in doing deals with sanctioned regimes, the firm is penalized and loses its access to the USA banking sector?

10. Does it endanger Piarco’s operations, including reliance on U.S. dollar bank accounts, to engage with sanctioned PDVSA aircraft?

Fellow citizens. These are urgent questions that demand urgent answers.

This issue is now not only about the alleged shipment of fuel from Trinidad and Tobago to the Maduro regime. It isn’t only about whether or not T&T will face US sanctions.

This issue is now about the grave danger that faces the democracy and stability of Trinidad and Tobago. Keith Rowley has said anyone who dares ask him about this meeting with Delcy Rodriguez is unpatriotic.

Today I want to tell you, it is the patriotic duty of all citizens to demand that Keith Rowley tell the truth about this meeting with Delcy Rodriguez and his business dealings with the Maduro regime.

http://eltiempolatino.com/…/como-funciona-el-regimen-de-ve…/

https://translations.state.gov/…/united-states-government-…/

It is important that I again correct the commentators who have said the United National Congress has been inviting the US into the sovereign affairs of Trinidad and Tobago.

We in the United National Congress have done no such thing. What we have done is raise questions to ascertain if the Government has undertaken any action which can breach, disturb or offend the strong mutually beneficial relationships we share with our allies.

Any possible threat of sanctions will never be as a result of any action by the Opposition but rather of those who are in charge of our national affairs.

Any fallout with the US and possible resulting sanctions, will be as a result of the actions of the Rowley Government alone.

I have in my possession a list of several initiatives beneficial to trade, industry, travel, culture, food imports, study opportunities for our citizens etc which can be adversely affected by any sanction. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me make it clear…the United National Congress which I lead will fight frontally to ensure that this country is not penalised by sanctions of any sort, contrary to the ‘Nansi stories you have heard from Members opposite. .

POTENTIAL SANCTIONS

Any of these effects can seriously damage T&T in the following ways:
– There are more than 200,000 Trinidad and Tobago citizens who hold United States visas which can be seriously impacted

– This will gravely affect their ability to visit the US for studying, tourism, cultural and trade related activities

– The US has a large TT diaspora who can similarly be affected negatively by being unable to move freely between the countries

– 70 per cent of all our food is imported from the US at an annual cost of over US$1 billion (TT$7 billion)

– Any US sanctions, especially in a post Covid-19 world, can therefore deeply affect our already precarious food supply

– The current widespread hunger crisis will therefore seem like a joke

– T&T exports more than US$2.7 billion (TT$18.9 billion) annually to the US in the energy sector

– Sanctions can therefore deplete our already deeply strained revenue stream, potentially causing an irreversible economic crisis

– Sanctions can cause T&T to lose out on its privileged status as the biggest beneficiary of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), under which we receive trade preferences

– These grant duty and quota free access to the US to the tune of US$400 million (TT$2.8 billion) annually.

– Participation in CBI requires, among other things, a waiver of certain WTO (World Trade Organization) conditions

– The CBI also grants TT very important technical advice and cooperation on border control, Customs and Excise and mutual assistance

– Such heavy features of T&T’s national security apparatus can therefore be lost, causing our crime ridden country to suffer even more

TIMELINE

These questions have become relevant given the timeline of events which has occured in recent weeks .

The timeline is as follows –

1. August 25th, 2017 – President Trump issues an executive order which prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with the Maduro government and also authorized financial sanctions and visa restrictions on non-U.S. persons that assist or support the Maduro government, which could lead to U.S. sanctions on foreign energy companies working with PdVSA

2. March 26th, 2020 – The US state department charges Nicolas Maduro with Narco trafficking. The State Department stated, “We estimate that somewhere between 200 and 250 metric tons of cocaine are shipped out of Venezuela.
3. March 27th, 2020 – The Venezuelan Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, who is banned from travelling to the US, Canada, and the European Union, was granted permission to enter TT after our borders were closed

4. March 28th, 2020 – ES Euro Shipping S.A, contacted Paria to negotiate for the sale of the fuel which was shipped to Aruba and alleged in the international press to be delivered to Venezuela. The principal of ES Euro Shipping S.A is Wilmer Ruperti, a Venezuelan shipping tycoon who is also linked to Maroil Trading. Maroil Trading had close ties with former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and even reportedly ensured the country received fuel supplies in 2002

5. April 26th, 2020 – International media organization Reuters highlighted Trinidad and Tobago as the origin of the gasoline shipment

6. Members of the PNM Government including Rowley, Franklin Khan, and Donna Cox, refused to answer questions about the alleged gas shipment.

7. April 27th, 2020 – Speaker of the House of Representatives Brigid Annisette-George, denied a motion to discuss the questions surrounding the gas deal by Paria. She is the wife of Newman George, Chairman of Paria Fuel Trading Company, and did not recuse herself

8. April 28th, 2020 – Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal wrote to US Ambassador Mondello noting the actions of the Government and expressing concern regarding the potential impact for Trinidad and Tobago

9. April 29th, 2020 – Rowley refused to answer a question posed to him during Prime Minister’s Question Time in Parliament on the issue

10. April 30th, 2020 – The Trinidad Guardian published an article highlighting that the United States is now probing the alleged gas deal between TT and Venezuela

United States Government Continues Pressure on Former Maduro Regime

U.S Department of the Treasury
Press Releases January 21, 2020

Washington – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified fifteen aircraft as blocked property of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13884, which blocks the property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela.

Several PdVSA aircraft have been used to transport senior members of the former Maduro regime. In late summer 2019, Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, who is also a Specially Designated National, attended an OPEC meeting in the United Arab Emirates and utilized the PdVSA aircraft Falcon 200EX (YV3360). Falcon 200EX (YV3360) also was used throughout 2019 to transport senior members of the former Maduro regime in a continuation of the former Maduro regime’s misappropriation of PdVSA assets. In 2018, individuals tied to the senior levels of the former Maduro regime traveled aboard PdVSA Dassault Falcon 900EX (YV2486).

Additionally, several of these aircraft have been operated in an unsafe and unprofessional manner in proximity to U.S. military aircraft, while in international air space. In the winter of 2019, PdVSA Learjet 45 (YV2734) flew in close proximity to a U.S. military aircraft over the Caribbean Sea. In the spring of 2019, during a joint operation conducted by PdVSA and the Venezuelan Integrated Air Command, PdVSA’s Learjet 45XR (YV2567) attempted to interfere with a U.S. military aircraft in the northern Caribbean Sea.

The following aircraft are property in which PdVSA has an interest.
• YV3360, Make & Model: Dassault Falcon 200EX
• YV2040, Make & Model: Dassault Falcon 900B
• YV2726, Make & Model: Dassault Falcon 900
• YV2485, Make & Model: Dassault Falcon 900EX
• YV2486, Make & Model: Dassault Falcon 900EX
• YV2565, Make & Model: Bombardier Learjet 45
• YV2567, Make & Model: Bombardier Learjet 45
• YV1118, Make & Model: Bombardier Learjet 45
• YV2734, Make & Model: Bombardier Learjet 45
• YV2716, Make & Model: Bombardier Learjet 45
• YV2738, Make & Model: Bombardier Learjet 45
• YV2739, Make & Model: Bombardier Learjet 45
• YV2763, Make & Model: Beech 1900D
• YV2762, Make & Model: Beech 1900D
• YV2869, Make & Model: Beech 1900D

OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.
Identifying information on the individual and entities identified today