For­mer en­er­gy min­is­ter Stu­art Young is ques­tion­ing whether Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar is well po­si­tioned to en­gage Venezuela diplo­mat­i­cal­ly, rais­ing con­cerns about her stand­ing with that coun­try’s lead­er­ship and her past state­ments.

Speak­ing at an Op­po­si­tion me­dia brief­ing yes­ter­day at the Of­fice of the Op­po­si­tion Leader in Port-of-Spain, Young chal­lenged the Prime Min­is­ter to clar­i­fy whether she recog­nis­es Del­cy Ro­dríguez as Venezuela’s act­ing pres­i­dent and whether she re­mains per­sona non gra­ta to the Venezue­lan gov­ern­ment.

“All of a sud­den yes­ter­day, the Prime Min­is­ter an­nounces a diplo­mat­ic mis­sion to Venezuela,” Young said. “The first ques­tion is: do you recog­nise Her Ex­cel­len­cy Del­cy Ro­dríguez as the cur­rent act­ing Pres­i­dent of the Bo­li­var­i­an Re­pub­lic of Venezuela? We still have not got­ten a re­sponse.”