With the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s refusal to answer questions about the visit  of Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad  Bissessar  is  calling on  Dr Rowley “to come clean and tell this country the true state of a possibly illegitimate fuel shipment to Venezuela,” which is now the subject of US Scrutiny. The US Embassy in Port of Spain has said that US government was aware of reports that a shipment of gasoline from Trinidad and Tobago may have gone to Venezuela and noted that this country can face US sanctions if it is proven to be true. Noting that “any rift could gravely damage our very beneficial trade, national security and foreign relations with the United States,” the Opposition Leader said “Trinidad &Tobago’s very survival is now at stake”.  In a statement on Friday morning she outlined the following areas in which T&T will be affected if US Sanctions become reality: 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. T&T’s current waiver will expire in 2021 and the US president and Congress have to approve renewing the agreement.
• 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.