Two mem­bers of the Op­po­si­tion are rais­ing sev­er­al ques­tions about the Gov­ern­ment’s an­nounce­ment of joint train­ing ex­er­cis­es with the Unit­ed States 22nd Ma­rine Ex­pe­di­tionary Unit.

For­mer na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty min­is­ter Mar­vin Gon­za­les said that while the ex­er­cis­es form part of a tra­di­tion of co-op­er­a­tion be­tween the US and Trinidad and To­ba­go in law en­force­ment, they should be con­sid­ered against the back­drop of mil­i­tary ten­sion in the re­gion.

Gon­za­les said the lat­est de­vel­op­ments were “not nor­mal” and ques­tioned whether the re­cent an­nounce­ment that cul­tur­al events, in­clud­ing fetes, would not be held at the Bri­an Lara Crick­et Acad­e­my was to fa­cil­i­tate the ar­rival of US troops.