If the March 27th meeting with Venezuela’s Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, was COVID-19 related as presented by the government, why wasn’t the Minister of Health, or any other medical professional for that matter, in attendance?

According to Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, the national security context of the meeting meant a medical doctor was not required at the table.   

“The discussion had nothing to do with the biological nature of the virus or its management,” he said, in response to a question from the Opposition during Friday’s sitting of the House of Representatives. 

Noting that Trinidad and Tobago is located a mere seven miles from Venezuela, Dr. Rowley said the discussions focused on how to tackle the possibility of “an un-ending flood of refugees” illegally travelling to T&T, many of whom he said  might be carrying the virus.

In a follow up question, Oropouche East MP Dr. Roodal Moonilal asked whether  any consideration was given  to include the Police Commissioner or Chief of Defence Staff. 

“No we did not,” he responded, adding that “the three members who they met with were members of the National Security Council.”

VP Rodriguez was appointed as lead in her country’s COVID-19 Task Force back in February.

The Opposition has long claimed that the March meeting with Ms. Rodriguez had a more sinister motive, namely  ‘under the table’ fuel discussions, in breach of US sanctions.

On January 28th, the United States imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA.

In a post on Friday, the Office of the Prime Minister dismantled a newspaper editorial which sought to make the same link. “I once again must confirm that, notwithstanding any list of names of passengers on any manifest or aircraft, the only persons from Venezuela, who attended a meeting with the Prime Minister, Minister of National Security and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Diplomatic Centre in March 2020, were Vice President Delcy Rodriguez accompanied by one other person Mr Chavez, who was not the President of PDVSA at that time,” the post read.