Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has moved to clar­i­fy Trinidad and To­ba­go’s po­si­tion amid Venezuela’s deep­en­ing po­lit­i­cal cri­sis, in­sist­ing her Gov­ern­ment will not back any in­di­vid­ual leader but sup­ports a de­mo­c­ra­t­ic tran­si­tion an­chored in free and fair elec­tions.

“I have no is­sue with who­ev­er is se­lect­ed to run a tran­si­tion gov­ern­ment as long as free and fair de­mo­c­ra­t­ic elec­tions are the end re­sult in the near fu­ture,” Per­sad-Bisses­sar said in a What­sApp ex­change with Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day.

“I want to make it clear, I sup­port free and fair de­mo­c­ra­t­ic elec­tions, I do not sup­port any spe­cif­ic per­son or or­gan­i­sa­tion. The Venezue­lan peo­ple must choose their lead­ers, if they choose Del­cy Ro­driguez or Maria Macha­do, or any­one else through fair elec­tions, my Gov­ern­ment will work with them.”