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Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles yesterday chastised the Government for resorting to inflammatory rhetoric and adopting a hostile posture towards Venezuela, without engaging in any diplomatic contact.

Speaking at a news conference at her Charles Street office, Beckles called on the Government to clarify the situation. She said the Prime Minister’s statement of the “use of force” policy in respect of unidentified Venezuelan vessels had caused fear of potential military action. “It is no wonder that people were doing their research and comparing the equipment and size of the Venezuelan military versus T&T military (on TikTok and other social media). “We look at it as though it is a joke because we have a tendency to do that sometimes. But behind that joke is a serious fear,” she said.

She said the Government had conducted itself in such a way that a regional leader such as the Prime Minister of St Vincent Ralph Gonsalves felt compelled to advise that “the rhetoric should be toned down ...we should be reducing tension and, of course, relying on diplomacy.” She said former ministers like Winston Dookeran, Dr Amery Browne as well as persons like Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdulah and even Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro himself felt constrained to advise the Prime Minister to “tone it down”.