Gov­ern­ment of­fi­cials are seek­ing to clar­i­fy that the State of Emer­gency (SoE), which is ex­pect­ed to be ex­tend­ed in Par­lia­ment to­day, is un­re­lat­ed to re­cent diplo­mat­ic ten­sions be­tween T&T and Venezuela.

The ad­min­is­tra­tion is prepar­ing to re­quest a fur­ther three-month ex­ten­sion of the SoE, which was first de­clared on Ju­ly 18, re­newed on Ju­ly 28, and ex­pired on Wednes­day.

Since its de­c­la­ra­tion, sev­er­al in­mates have been re­lo­cat­ed from the Max­i­mum Se­cu­ri­ty Prison in Arou­ca to a fa­cil­i­ty in Ch­aguara­mas, along with oth­ers held un­der de­ten­tion or­ders.