Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has called for a meeting with the Trinidad and Tobago government to review issues of security, human mobility, crime and drug trafficking.

It comes amidst an ongoing controversy following T&T’s decision to repatriate a group of Venezuelan migrants, including 16 children.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza made the announcement via Twitter on Wednesday night. 

“On the instructions of President Nicolás Maduro, we convened the neighbouring Government of Trinidad and Tobago to a necessary working meeting to review issues of security, human mobility, the fight against crime and drug trafficking,” Arreaza tweeted. 

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley defended his government’s handling of the case which involves 16 Venezuelan children, pointing to government’s 2019 registration of over 16,000 Venezuelan nationals as proof that Trinidad and Tobago had a record of taking a humane approach to its closest neighbor. 

At the same time, Dr. Rowley said there must be boundaries in place. 

“If T&T appears to be a “soft touch flexible border neighbour, we will be overrun by tens of thousands of Venezuelans in a jiffy,” he warned.