The Venezuelan government this afternoon criticised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s contribution to the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, citing what it said was a “rhetorical obsession” with Venezuela on Persad-Bissessar’s part.

The communique followed Persad-Bissessar’s sharp criticism of Caricom during the opening ceremony for the meeting of Caribbean leaders on Tuesday afternoon. During her contribution, Persad-Bissessar, who previously praised the US’ deadly boat strike campaign in Caribbean waters and explicitly supported the US Trump administration’s “counter narcotic” efforts since they began last year, said that the regional bloc had been unreliable.

She claimed that the group of Caribbean Island states offered no voice as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, she said, were both threatened by Venezuela.