“Every politician who has tasted power, and many who counted for little, has gone to war with the media. If they didn’t, that would signal that journalists were not doing their jobs, that they were too busy prostrating to power to do their duty to country.” Raffique Shah, 30 March …
Read More »Rowley: Black lives movement relevant in T&T too, sets re-opening dates for churches, bars and cinemas
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago will be back to ‘80 percent of its functionality’ by 22 June, as the country gets back to business—having flattened the curve of Covid-19 infections. However, Rowley said the threat of racism remains a real concern in the wake of ‘black …
Read More »Feeling lucky? NLCB, malls, inter-island travel and public sector re-open; next: barbers, churches and bars
“For those of you who feel lucky… don’t crowd the vendors but try your luck!” Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced today that phase three of the reopening of the local economy will begin on Monday 1 June, six days earlier than initially expected, with a number of add-ons. The …
Read More »Rowley: T&T media have interests to protect! PM pushes back on Venezuela narrative
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley launched a scathing attack on the local media today, which he accused of trying to paint him and his government as ‘liars’ with regards to its narrative on the visit of Venezuela vice-president Delcy Rodríguez and her contingent in March. In today’s …
Read More »Daly Bread: The windmills of the mind; a month of spin
Why do persons in circumstances requiring full disclosure and accountability to the public invariably send us ‘in a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel, as the images unwind like the circles that you find in the windmills …
Read More »MSJ: The problem with the Rio Treaty; and how gov’t, opposition and media got Venezuela imbroglio wrong
“[…] Central to this entire issue is the United States’ agenda with respect to Venezuela. If the US had not imposed sanctions on Venezuela there would be nothing for the government to explain about a visit by the vice-president of Venezuela, nothing to explain about the sale of fuel by …
Read More »Moses: Rowley, Young and myself had ‘cordial’ meeting with US Ambassador on Wednesday
“[…] The Prime Minister in the company of the Ministers responsible for Foreign and Caricom Affairs and for National Security held extensive and cordial discussions with US Ambassador Mondello and other officials from the US Embassy on Wednesday 20th May 2020. “Included in the wide-ranging discussions was Trinidad and Tobago’s …
Read More »Noble: Wasting a crisis; Le Hunte wanted Cabinet to invest in our future—and they didn’t listen
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before,” Rahm Emanuel, (2008). The context for that quote—which is really a riff off one made by Paul Romer, who in …
Read More »US Ambassador: I DID express concern to Young on Venezuelan visit! Embassy speaks out
“[…] Since the government has spoken publicly about my 6 May conversation with Minister [Stuart] Young, though, I wish to affirm that I expressed concern to the Minister in that conversation about the consistency of Delcy Rodriguez’s visit to Port of Spain with Trinidad and Tobago’s obligations as a party …
Read More »Water more than flour; Le Hunte quit as minister after Cabinet row over WASA
Robert Le Hunte’s shock resignation as minister of public utilities allegedly followed a row with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley over a proposal for major restructuring at WASA. Although, according to informed sources, the quarrel was one-way traffic. Le Hunte, who is also deputy chair of Rowley’s post-Covid-19 economy recovery team, …
Read More »T&T in a groove: Phase two starts early, fuel grant for taxis and Chin’s ‘humanitarian’ gesture explained
Trinidad and Tobago will enter phase two, on the road towards the full re-opening of its economy, on Thursday 21 May—some four days ahead of schedule—and it will be bigger than initially suggested. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said today that the country’s promising health figures satisfied chief medical officer …
Read More »Demming: Methinks thou doth protest too much! Three reasons to doubt Venezuela explanations
After managing the Covid-19 pandemic so well, why did Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley score this own goal with the high-power Venezuela meeting? His team was doing well. Couldn’t his handlers advise him to duck this one and move on to the good news of opening up the country? Instead, …
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