PM Rejects Claims That Venezuelans Who Drowned At Sea Had Been Turned Back From T&T

December 15, 2020

PM Rejects Claims That Venezuelans Who Drowned At Sea Had Been Turned Back From T&T

The Office of the Prime Minister is strongly debunking claims that the group of Venezuelans who drowned off off the coastal town of Guiria, had arrived to Trinidad and were sent back by officials of this country’s Coast Guard.

A statement from OPM on Tuesday blamed “agents of the OAS, our Opposition and other Trinidadian and Venezuelan imps” creating the false narrative and “lying in the face of the available information”.

“These imps have now been pushing a narrative that these illegals and their criminal traffickers reached Trinidad but our Authorities here turned them back and that is why they drowned in waters off the coast of Venezuela at Guiria. This is their lie!” a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister read on Tuesday.

It added: “Our Coast Guard never saw or interacted with these traffickers and their cargo. These liars who operate in Venezuela and in Trinidad and Tobago now know that THEY are now to be held criminally accountable, not only for encouraging Venezuelans to break the law in trying to penetrate our borders but actually, physically arranging their dangerous transport and illegal reception in Trinidad.”

It added: “We, the Government, receive no help from any agency to look after these migrants, many of whom are relatively recent arrivals who entered or were trafficked to our country illegally, nonetheless, last year, in empathy, we registered them all and allow them to try and make an honest living within our borders.”

The government stated that regardless of the political or economic affairs in Venezuela, or any other territory, all persons interacting with Trinidad and Tobago must do so under an understanding that we all do so in strict accordance with the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.