Venezuela has accused Trinidad and Tobago of participating in the US seizure of an oil tanker off its coast last week, escalating tensions in the region. The Maduro regime claimed the Caribbean nation was complicit in what it called “the theft of Venezuelan oil” committed by the US administration on 10 December.
The US forces intercepted the Skipper tanker near the Venezuelan coast, believed to be carrying nearly 2 million barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude. Venezuela described the act as “piracy” and a violation of international law. Trinidad and Tobago had earlier announced it would allow US military access to its airports following the installation of a radar system, which it said was for combating local crime.
The Venezuelan statement, posted on Telegram by Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez, accused Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of turning Trinidad and Tobago “into an aircraft carrier of the American empire against Venezuela”. It announced the termination of any agreements on natural gas supply between the two countries, without specifying the alleged role of Trinidad and Tobago in the tanker seizure.
In October, the US had granted Trinidad and Tobago permission to negotiate a gas deal with Venezuela, involving the Dragon field near Tobago. However, Maduro suspended the deal after a US warship docked in Trinidad’s capital. The latest statement accused Persad-Bissessar of revealing a “hostile agenda” since taking office, including the installation of US military radars.
Domestic critics in Trinidad and Tobago warned of being drawn into the US campaign against Maduro. Opposition Senator Amery Browne accused the government of being deceptive, saying the country had become “complicit facilitators of extrajudicial killings, cross-border tension and belligerence”. Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar has not yet responded to the latest accusations.
