FORMER foreign affairs minister Dr Amery Browne chided the government for allegedly having put up three different positions towards the impending presence of a US fleet off the coast of Venezuela. The opposition senator and former MP gave his views when approached by Newsday after the Feast of Santa Rosa de Lima at the Santa Rosa RC Church in Arima on August 24.

Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles was also present and said the opposition would fully address what she termed a "complex issue" at a briefing on August 25.

US President Donald Trump vowed to deploy the US military (included 4,500 marines and sailors) against narco-traffickers in the Southern Caribbean and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro heads a trafficking organisation named the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns).