“[…] We advise all, including local do-gooders and the international press and agencies, to cease and desist from encouraging and exposing ordinary Venezuelans to risk their lives in the waters between our two nations. “It might appear to some to be a short journey but these waters are very dangerous…” …
Read More »Noble: Bobbing on the ocean; how T&T’s fading regional influence led to migrant crisis
There was an outpouring of sympathy for the Venezuelan children and women, who were brought to our shores, after enduring cold weather and the high seas. And that is as it should be. However, there is no wailing for our own fates as represented by this turn of events. This …
Read More »Dear Editor: Young not ashamed of treatment of Venezuela children? He has skin like ‘crapaud leather’?
“[…] The children were treated in a cruel, inhumane and unusual way. It is utterly ridiculous for Stuart Young to pull some verbal sleight of hand, arguing that they were ‘escorted’ and not ‘deported’…” The following Letter to the Editor on the deportation of 16 Venezuelan children was submitted to …
Read More »Anna Levi: The right of asylum; the Venezuelan escape—in prose
And when they enter the waters of Delta Amacuro One last look at Tucupita The wind numbs everyone Blowing kisses Venezuela te amo En mi corazon The sign of the cross Ten Hail Marys The fishermen lifted the children on top of their mother’s plastic suitcases Then they stuff their …
Read More »Noble: We’re witnessing governance crisis on education, POS reform and Venezuelan migration
“We will never bring disgrace to this, our city, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice, nor ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks. We will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the city, both alone and with many. “We will revere and obey the city’s laws …
Read More »Dr Browne: T&T is a good neighbour, but we cannot simply open borders to Venezuelans
“[…] This hospitality continues even as our economy faces significant challenges that have affected all our people… “[…] Even developed nations with far greater resources face major challenges dealing with crossings of their borders, and no nation accepts non-nationals without due process…” The following statement on the government response to …
Read More »Demming: If we don’t address shortcomings, Venezuelan crisis will lead to harrowing disaster
Our history records Trinidad and Tobago’s fisherfolk dodging bullets from or being arrested by Venezuela’s Guardia Nacional for supposedly being in Venezuelan waters. Today we continue to metaphorically dodge different kinds of bullets from our Venezuelan neighbours. For years, the back-and-forth confrontational posturing was a trickle—the fisherfolk dispute, or the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Our treatment of Venezuela migrants will reveal Trinidad and Tobago’s true character
“[…] We should ask ourselves, ‘what would compel a mother to embark on a treacherous and uncertain seven-mile journey with her young child?’ They are human, not faceless migrants/refugees. This simple fact seemed to have been forgotten and disregarded by the authorities…” The following Letter to the Editor on Trinidad …
Read More »‘Charity begins at home!’ PNM NWL defends treatment of Venezuelans, accuses Opposition of ‘political trafficking’
“[…] Charity begins at home and regardless of our race, religion or political persuasion, we must love this island we call home, more than any hidden corrupt political agenda. “[…] Only persons void of vision and completely driven by a cultic obsession for power will suggest that the government should …
Read More »US ambassador: Maduro responsible for Venezuelan crisis, not sanctions!
“[…] It is [Nicholás] Maduro and his backers, not sanctions, who are to blame for the millions of Venezuelans living in dire economic conditions and who have fled their homes since he assumed power…” The following is a press statement from United States ambassador Joseph N Mondello on the Venezuela …
Read More »Amnesty Int’nl accuses T&T gov’t of human rights violation and ‘xenophobia’ in mass deportation of Venezuelans
“[…] To deport Venezuelan refugees back to the human rights and humanitarian emergency that they were fleeing, in the middle of a pandemic, is an outrageous violation of the obligations that Trinidad and Tobago has committed to under international law. “[…] The authorities of Trinidad and Tobago are pushing a …
Read More »Deyalsingh: Maraval RC case put over 200 contacts at risk, but new Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ not being considered
The decision to send an ill child to SEA classes at Maraval RC Primary School has forced the Ministry of Health to conduct contact tracing for 19 primary contacts and ‘upwards of 200 second contacts’, as Trinidad and Tobago reels from a sudden ‘upsurge’ in Covid-19 cases. Over the past …
Read More »