Trinidad and Tobago will open airports to US military as Venezuela tensions grow

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — The Government of Trinidad and Tobago said Monday that it would allow the US military to access its airports in coming weeks as tensions build between the United States and Venezuela.

The announcement comes after the US military recently installed a radar system at the airport in Tobago.

The Caribbean country’s government has said the radar is being used to fight local crime, and that the small nation wouldn’t be used as a launchpad to attack any other country.

The US would use the airports for activity that would be “logistical in nature, facilitating supply replenishment and routine personnel rotations,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

It did not provide further details.

Trinidad’s prime minister previously has praised ongoing US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

Only seven miles (11 kilometres) separate Venezuela from the twin-island Caribbean nation at their closest point.

It has two main airports: Piarco International Airport in Trinidad and ANR Robinson International Airport in Tobago.

Hours after the announcement, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said her country was immediately cancelling any contract, deal or negotiation to supply natural gas to Trinidad and Tobago.

She claimed that the government of Trinidad and Tobago participated in the recent US seizure of an oil tanker off the country’s coast, calling it an “act of piracy.”

She also accused Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, of having a “hostile agenda” against Venezuela, noting that the US military installed an airport radar in Tobago.

“This official has turned the territory of Trinidad and Tobago into a US aircraft carrier to attack Venezuela, in an unequivocal act of vassalage,” Rodríguez said.

The office of Trinidad’s prime minister did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Trinidad and Venezuela had previously reached a deal over the development of a gas field in Venezuelan waters, near the maritime border separating the two countries.

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