Oct. 28 (UPI) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced the suspension of an energy agreement with Trinidad and Tobago for the joint development of offshore gas fields in response to the island nation’s support for a U.S. military operation in the Caribbean.
Maduro made the announcement during his weekly televised program. He said he decided to suspend the agreement after the board of state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons recommended ending it.
“Faced with Prime Minister [Kamla Persad-Bissessar]’s threat to turn Trinidad and Tobago into the aircraft carrier of the U.S. empire against Venezuela, there is only one option left. … I have approved the precautionary measure of immediately suspending all effects of the energy agreement and everything related to it,” Maduro said.
He added that the matter will be reviewed by higher authorities for a final decision.
“I am referring the issue to the Council of State, the Supreme Court of Justice and the National Assembly for their recommendations, as head of state, before adopting a structural measure on this matter,” he said.
The agreement, which allows both countries to carry out joint natural gas projects, was signed in 2015 and renewed earlier this year. Its suspension is expected to deal a heavy blow to Trinidad and Tobago, which depends on Venezuelan gas to sustain its industrial production and exports.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez posted a statement on her Telegram account Sunday condemning “military exercises carried out by the government of Trinidad and Tobago under the coordination, financing and control of the U.S. Southern Command, an action that constitutes a hostile provocation against Venezuela and a serious threat to peace in the Caribbean.”
The U.S. warship USS Gravely arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 26 to conduct joint exercises with local forces, NTV24 reported. The guided-missile destroyer is to remain docked in Port of Spain, the island’s capital, about 6 miles off Venezuela’s coast, until Thursday.
The Trump administration has carried out several attacks on vessels in the Caribbean that, according to the president, were involved in drug trafficking.
On Friday, the administration announced it would intensify its military deployment in the Caribbean with the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, the largest in the world, and its strike group of destroyers, frigates and possibly other vessels.
