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Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has accused Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of "mortgaging" TT's sovereignty, suggesting that her government is compromising control over its own land or resources through pressure from external forces.

Maduro said Persad-Bissessar is "entangled because she mortgaged the sea and territory of TT to house a military force against Venezuela, 15 kilometres from the Venezuelan coast."

Maduro accused the Persad-Bissessar-led government of allowing the installation of a foreign military force, referring to the presence of the US Marine Corps 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in TT for military exercises alongside the TT Defence Force, It is the second time the unit is in TT in less than a month, following similar drills from October 26-30 when they arrived aboard the USS Gravely warship.