Beckles concerned for T&T nationals amid Venezuela reports

Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les has ex­pressed con­cern for the safe­ty of Trinidad and To­ba­go na­tion­als in Venezuela fol­low­ing re­ports of US mil­i­tary at­tacks in Cara­cas, in­clud­ing claims that Pres­i­dent Nicolás Maduro was cap­tured.

In a state­ment is­sued on Sat­ur­day, Beck­les said while some in­for­ma­tion re­mains un­clear and un­con­firmed, the sit­u­a­tion in Venezuela is a se­ri­ous con­cern for Trinidad and To­ba­go, Cari­com, and the wider Caribbean.

She not­ed that the Prime Min­is­ter’s brief state­ment made no ref­er­ence to the coun­try’s em­bassy in Cara­cas and placed on record her con­cern for the wel­fare of em­bassy staff and all Trinidad and To­ba­go na­tion­als in the coun­try. Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar said Trinidad and To­ba­go played no role in any Unit­ed States mil­i­tary op­er­a­tions in Cara­cas.

Beck­les reaf­firmed the Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment’s com­mit­ment to re­spect for sov­er­eign­ty, non-in­ter­fer­ence, and the peace­ful res­o­lu­tion of dis­putes, un­der­scor­ing the par­ty’s sup­port for main­tain­ing the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace. She cau­tioned against ac­tions that could fur­ther desta­bilise the re­gion or en­dan­ger civil­ian lives.

The Op­po­si­tion Leader urged all par­ties in­volved to ex­er­cise re­straint, re­spect in­ter­na­tion­al law, and pur­sue di­a­logue and diplo­mat­ic so­lu­tions, stress­ing that the pro­tec­tion of hu­man life must re­main para­mount.

She called for calm, the restora­tion of peace, and the safe­ty and well-be­ing of all those af­fect­ed.