00:00U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave his latest assessment of support for the increasing presence of the U.S. military might in the Caribbean.
00:09A presence the government, led by President Nicolas Maduro, insists is about regime change in oil-rich Venezuela.
00:16When it comes to the Western Hemisphere, the single most serious threat to the United States in the Western Hemisphere is from transnational terrorist criminal groups,
00:24primarily focused on narco-trafficking, but they're on all sides' businesses as well.
00:27So, the good news is we have a lot of countries in the region that openly cooperate and work with us.
00:33You move to the Caribbean Basin, in Trinidad, in Guyana, in Jamaica, in the Dominican Republic, countries that openly cooperate with us.
00:40Secretary Rubio spoke during a media conference in Washington on Friday.
00:44There's one place that doesn't cooperate, and it's the illegitimate regime in Venezuela.
00:49Not only do they not cooperate with us, they openly cooperate with terrorists and criminal elements.
00:53For example, they invite Hezbollah in Iran to operate from their territory.
00:57On top of that, we know that they are in cahoots with drug trafficking organizations.
01:03During the Christmas supper held at the Diplomatic Center in St. Anne's on Thursday night,
01:07the Prime Minister of Venezuela's closest neighbor in the Caribbean, Kamala Passat-Besessa,
01:13spoke about the recently installed U.S. radar system in Tobago,
01:16which, according to the police, played a key role in a recent $171.2 million drug seizure in central Trinidad.
01:25Do not fear, because Kamala is here. Do not fear. Do not fear.
01:34And while you're worrying about the radar, I want you to know every one of you is on my radar.
01:41Every one of you is on my radar, because I'm looking out for you.
01:45So you worry about radar and you worry about Venezuela. Don't worry.
01:49While the Prime Minister previously said the radar is not for use in any action in Venezuela,
01:55the government's approvals for U.S. military aircraft to transit Trinidad and Tobago's airports
02:01in the coming weeks for logistical purposes has led to threatening language from Venezuela's government.
02:07If anybody comes up, tuck Trinidad and Tobago, whom you think will stand up to defend us?
02:14I know Phyllis once said, India will come in. You're not coming here, child.
02:19You're not coming here.
02:24They are too far away.
02:26They may come with your hearts and with your love, but they're too far away.
02:30So right seven miles away is one country.
02:33And a few more miles is the U.S.A.
02:36An apparent reference to comments previously made by a member of her government.
02:41So we have to depend on any defense assets and military might and power.
02:46Where is it? U.S.A.
02:48Like them or don't like them, that's not the issue.
02:51It's who will give us the best to put TNT safely and to put TNT first.
02:58I don't think people know this.
02:59The Prime Minister acknowledged the critics among them who have expressed their concerns.
03:13You want to go into people country, but you want to badmouth them.
03:18Isn't that hypocrisy from some?
03:21And careful, you don't end up like Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, who badmouthed in the U.S.
03:27And guess what happened? All their visas restricted now.
03:31They've cut their visas.
03:32Which Trini wants to cut their visas?
03:35So behave yourself.
03:35Understand where our help comes from.
03:40I don't want a single Trini or Tobago Union to lose their U.S. visa.
03:45If it happens, it won't be because of me.
03:47We remain in partnership with the United States of America.
03:51The Prime Minister said over 250,000 Trinis live in the U.S.
03:57Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
