Trade Minister downplays talk of Caricom fallout after PM’s criticism

Min­is­ter of Trade, In­vest­ment and Tourism Satyaka­ma Ma­haraj is dis­miss­ing fears of a diplo­mat­ic rift with­in Cari­com, fol­low­ing Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar’s sharp crit­i­cism of the re­gion­al bloc ear­li­er this week.

Per­sad-Bisses­sar had de­scribed Cari­com as “an un­re­li­able part­ner,” ac­cus­ing the body of sid­ing with Venezuela amid es­ca­lat­ing ten­sions be­tween Port-of-Spain and Cara­cas. Yes­ter­day, she an­nounced plans to “re­align” T&T’s for­eign pol­i­cy but stopped short of sug­gest­ing any with­draw­al from the bloc.

Speak­ing out­side the Red House, Min­is­ter Ma­haraj said he does not an­tic­i­pate the PM’s re­marks will lead to a ma­jor fall­out.