Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has announced the “immediate” suspension of energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago, a few hours after his Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, said a formal proposal had been submitted to him to suspend the Energy Cooperation Framework Agreement with Port of Spain.
During his weekly television show on Monday night, Maduro accused Trinidad and Tobago of acting as the “aircraft carrier of the US empire” and said that he was left with no choice but to pull out of treaties signed with the country 10 years ago.
Maduro said that Trinidad and Tobago “ran out” of gas before Venezuela had agreed to help it with the deal.
But Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has dismissed Venezuela’s suspension, saying Port of Spain will continue to pursue its own energy and economic strategies.
“Our future does not depend on Venezuela and never has. We have our plans and projects to grow our economy both within the energy and non-energy sectors,” she added.
Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago first agreed to jointly drill for gas in 2018. However, the project has been long delayed and complicated by United States sanctions on Venezuela.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the US supports the Trinidad Government’s Dragon gas proposal but it would take steps to ensure it will not provide significant benefit to Maduro’s Government.
The Dragon gasfield is reported to have 119 billion cubic metres (4.2 trillion cubic feet) of gas.
Last month, United States President Donald Trump ramped up US military presence in the Caribbean Sea ordering an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of his effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.
A nuclear-powered attack submarine, additional P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser have also been allocated to US Southern Command as part of the mission.
The United States military has carried out deadly airstrikes in Caribbean waters over the past few weeks against what Washington alleges are Caracas-backed drug traffickers. The Venezuelan Government denies the charge, accusing the administration of being a threat to the peace and security of the whole region.
Trinidad and Tobago has come out in full support for the US action, with Persad-Bissessar already indicating that the drug traffickers should be killed “violently”.
On Monday, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto told the United Nations General Assembly that the US has an “illegal and completely immoral military threat hanging over our heads”.