Kamla: A government of dangerous lies and cover-ups—Rowley and Young must resign now!

Leader of the Opposition, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP,

It is truly one of the darkest days in our nation’s history when a foreign Ambassador is compelled to publicly declare that the very person entrusted to protect our national security has blatantly lied on him, and for yet another time, to the people of T&T.

But frighteningly, it is to this unprecedented point that the Rowley Government has now reduced our nation. They have also seriously compromised T&T’s economic and national security stability and our longstanding pristine foreign relations with our most powerful global ally, the United States.

And it is solely due to the dangerous, reckless and outright deceitful misbehaviour in public life of one of the most dangerous persons to have ever held public office in our nation’s history—National Security Minister, Stuart Young.

What were previously mere questions over whether a Paria gas fuel shipment to Aruba ended up in Venezuela has now turned into a national nightmare of blatant, dangerous Government lies and cover-ups.

Citizens, including myself, had sought to find out whether the genesis of this ‘Fuelgate’ fiasco was indeed a highly questionable meeting between Prime Minister Rowley and Ministers Young and Dennis Moses and Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, on March 27, 2020, at the Diplomatic Centre.

PM Rowley had curiously claimed it was to discuss Covid-19, but I soon revealed that the Passenger Manifest showed that VP Rodriguez’s delegation in fact included a team of high level PDVSA energy officials.

They were all under US sanctions, as was the PDVSA aircraft that brought them into T&T, and also wanted in the US for money laundering and drug related charges.

This act of the Rowley Government has now opened T&T to potential US sanctions, since it is in violation of the Rio Treaty. PM Rowley and Minister Young then incredulously claimed they were never introduced to the PDVSA delegation. I was even slanderously labeled a ‘traitor’ by PM Rowley.

The newspapers then published the exemption letter dated March 26, 2020 which proved that Minister Young had in fact lied. He had known all details of the meeting and delegation before granting them permission to enter our shores. He then further lied on US Ambassador Joseph Mondello in the Senate by saying that he had never discussed the breach of the Rio Treaty with him.

This has now forced Ambassador Mondello to issue a statement noting that, contrary to Minister Young’s claims, they did in fact discuss the Rio Treaty on May 6, 2020, as well as the implications of T&T breaching it. Yet, in a subsequent response, Minister Young has still incredulously tried to even lie his way out of this, like some unrepentant high school class clown who simply does not know when to quit.

Never before has a foreign Ambassador in T&T been forced to overstep his sacred role of confidentiality and diplomacy in the interest of preserving the integrity of his own office. Indeed, T&T owes Ambassador Mondello a debt of gratitude for telling us the truth about this sordid affair, when our own National Security Minister opted to blatantly lie to the nation.

This entire matter reeks of a cold, calculated, devious plot by Minister Young to willingly deceive the national public, as well as our regional and international trade allies. His actions constitute a serious, unacceptable and untenable abuse of public office.

But the fact remains that the buck stops with his key enabler, his most ardent fan of his so called ‘Gary Sobers’ favourite of the Cabinet, the person lurking behind every twist and turn of Minister Young’s very dangerous, questionable actions— PM Rowley himself.

It is he who has consistently defended and refused to fire Minister Young in the face of ongoing, widespread public calls to do so. Now, he must say exactly what makes Minister Young so powerful and invincible in his Cabinet. What is the special hold he appears to have over PM Rowley?

It is that both have tag teamed as master and protégé, so that Minister Young is therefore merely executing the dangerous instructions of his boss in this entire debacle? If yes, then how far are they willing to go to cover up this apparent diabolical plot to destabilize T&T?

So far, they’ve shown that they are willing to engage in vile character assassination, threaten immigration officers with jail and firing, jeopardize our economic stability, international reputation and even lie on the US Ambassador to cover up their alleged misbehaviour and misdeeds in public life. Who or what more are they willing to further coldly destroy in order to salvage their now seriously compromised political reputations?

As it stands now, the Rowley Government, by these very actions, has lost all moral authority to safeguard our nation’s cherished democracy and economic stability. They have unrepentantly betrayed our citizens, national, regional and international allies and irredeemably violated the public’s trust.

Indeed, the people of T&T must not be made to pay for their dastardly act of betrayal to our nation. If anyone should face US sanctions in this entire debacle, it must be Minister Young, PM Rowley and all other Government officials involved in this devious scheme. And since they are both now a clear and present danger to our nation, PM Rowley must now immediately fire Minister Young from the Cabinet. Then, he must also promptly resign, and call the general elections now.