“WE have always had good relations with the Venezuelan people and will continue to do so.”

This was the response of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday to Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s statement at a news conference that her recent statements read like a “declaration of war against Venezuela and that he was certain the people of this country were against it.”

Maduro said: “The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago went crazy...because she was threatening that she was going to authorise attacks from Trinidad and Tobago against Venezuela. That is like declaring war against Venezuela.”