Caption: Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Photo: US State Department/Freddie Everett
Summary
- Persad-Bissessar says she was invited to a Miami summit of Latin American leaders next month.
- She said the invitation came during talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the CARICOM summit in St Kitts and Nevis.
- Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali also confirmed an invitation; no official agenda has been released.
- Persad-Bissessar said discussions covered Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela, with more details expected at a March 7 meeting with President Trump.
- Energy and security cooperation were also discussed, including efforts to reopen the Petrotrin refinery.
BASSETERRE – Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Wednesday said she has been invited to a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami early next month.
Persad-Bissessar told reporters the invitation was extended during bilateral talks with visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, ahead of his meeting with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders on the first working day of the bloc’s 50th regular summit, which ends Friday in St Kitts and Nevis.
Guyana President Dr Irfaan Ali has also confirmed he was invited. The United States, under President Donald Trump, has sought to reassert its influence in the Americas and has already invited leaders from Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, El Salvador, Ecuador and Honduras.
No official details of the Miami summit have been released, but media reports have said it is expected to focus on countering China, a major trading partner for several Latin American countries.
“Today with him, we talked about Haiti, we talked about Cuba, of course, we talked about engagements with Venezuela on the way forward,” Persad-Bissessar told reporters. She said Rubio committed to sharing more details “on the seventh (of March), when we meet President Trump,” on issues she raised.
She said the talks also covered greater cooperation in energy and security.
“We discussed the reopening of the Petrotrin refinery. As you know, we have been very serious about getting that refinery reopened, and the Secretary agreed that he would connect us with the Department of Energy. That will assist us in finding the best partner to reopen that refinery,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said several parties have expressed interest. “At the end of the day, we’ll choose the best that we think we can get,” she added, noting that the Minister of Energy had met with one prospective partner and that she met another at the summit. (She did not name the companies.)
She also said the African Development Bank wants to hold bilateral talks with Trinidad and Tobago, and that several CARICOM states have requested one-on-one meetings.
Persad-Bissessar described Rubio as “very brisk, very bright and very articulate.”
“If you noticed this morning when he addressed the (CARICOM heads) gathering earlier, I said to (Foreign Affairs Minister) Sean (Sobers), he doesn’t have a teleprompter. He’s not looking down. He was just speaking off the top of his head,” she said.
She said Rubio’s first engagement with regional leaders was “very generic” and that more details would be addressed at a CARICOM-US joint meeting scheduled for later Wednesday.
Sobers said the government remains hopeful that “our continued close relationship with the US will see Trinidad and Tobago’s fortunes continue to grow.”
He also defended Persad-Bissessar’s remarks at the CARICOM summit opening on Tuesday, where she criticised the lack of democratic rule in Cuba.
“The Prime Minister made it abundantly clear yesterday. We are all here as elected members of Parliament, democratically elected, and it is really hypocritical to call ourselves so elected and then support a system that holds up dictatorship,” Sobers said. “We stand with the people of Cuba, but we call for free and fair elections.”
He said Port of Spain was not concerned about backlash. “We are totally within the confines of the Treaty of Chaguaramas…which says nation-states are free to pursue their foreign policy decisions,” he said.
Rubio also met CARICOM chair and St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew, as well as Guyana’s President Ali.
In a brief statement, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Rubio thanked Drew for St Kitts and Nevis’ leadership and hospitality.
“They discussed strengthening regional security cooperation to combat transnational crime and ending illegal immigration. The Secretary emphasized the United States’ dedication to working closely with St Kitts and Nevis as a valued partner and also discussed St Kitts and Nevis’ strong and enduring partnership with Taiwan,” the statement said. (CMC)
