The Prime Minister has strongly declared he will ensure the sovereignty of Trinidad and Tobago in the wake of remarks made by US Secretary of State Marc Rubio's statement about restricting US visas of government officials whose countries employ Cuban health-care workers.

Speaking at the ceremony marking the opening ceremony of the central block of the Port of Spain General Hospital, Dr Rowley said TT relied on specialists for its health-care delivery which over the years have come from India, the Philippines, Africa and mainly from Cuba.

“Out of the blue now, we have been called human traffickers because we hire technical people who we pay top dollar, equal to local rates. We are now being accused of taking part in a programme where people are being exploited. That’s somebody’s interpretation. Of course, there are local people here encouraging them to take away our US visas.