Calls on CARICOM leaders to re-think St. Lucia’s position
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FORMER Prime Minister now Leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas is urging CARICOM leaders not to impose visa restrictions on Venezuelans who want to visit their country in light of the political turmoil in that Spanish-speaking South American country.
Dr. Douglas’ call came in the wake of an announcement made by St. Lucia’s Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet, who stated at a news conference on Monday (Aug. 14) that his administration is considering imposing visa restrictions on Venezuelans who might be seeking entry into that country.
According to the Curacao Chronicle, PM Chastanet said he had instructed the Ministry of Immigration to prepare a document for Cabinet to consider in relation to the visa restrictions and, “barring any impediment”, those restrictions would be imposed.
He expressed fear that the ongoing turmoil could be a potential security threat to St. Lucia, given Venezuela’s proximity to transhipment points for the illegal drugs and guns trade.
“If in fact the government is continuing to struggle to maintain law and order in Venezuela, we have seen an increase in the production of drugs coming out of Colombia. People are short of cash and therefore people are bringing drugs and bringing arms to sell in St. Lucia and other Caribbean Islands,” the media house reported him as saying.
“I don’t think that we should make it any easier than the logistics already have for Venezuelans to come here,” he added.
Curacao Chronicle also reported that PM Chastanet had cast a wary eye on Washington after President Donald Trump had announced that he would not rule out military intervention to bring an end to the turmoil in Caracas.
He reportedly maintains there should not be any foreign intervention in Venezuela.
“St. Lucia has always had the position that we would not support any foreign intervention in Venezuela, whether by the United States or anybody else – inside this hemisphere or outside this hemisphere,” adding that the hemisphere had let down Venezuela by failing to have a clear mechanism in place to solve problems.
However, Dr. Douglas, in a recent interview with Caribbean Media Corporation’s Peter Richards while on a visit to Port-of-Spain, said he would urge the region’s leaders to re-think the position being adopted by St. Lucia.
“I think it is really a difficult one for me to contemplate in the sense that aren’t we going to further isolate Venezuela if this is to be pursued and I would advise that the CARICOM leaders at this time pay very, very close attention to a decision of this kind.”
Dr. Douglas told CMC that the regional leaders should “think mainly on how it can affect the people of Venezuela, especially those who are genuinely attempting to move from a situation that has become almost too difficult to handle”.
He described the move by St. Lucia “as unprecedented”, adding “it is very unfortunate the situation has reached to this”.
“Venezuela has been a friend of the Caribbean over the years and even though it has gone through difficult period of economic and financial crisis we have seen Venezuela basically open its heart to the people of the Caribbean,” he told CMC.
The former St. Kitts and Nevis PM also told CMC that he agreed with Chastanet and other regional leaders regarding any foreign intervention in the affairs in Venezuela.
CMC reminded that President Trump had said he would not rule out a “military option” to quell the chaos in Venezuela, and that he had expressed displeasure at the July 30 election in the South American country to choose a 545-member constituent assembly with the power to rewrite the constitution and dissolve state institutions.
Reportedly, the opposition had boycotted the polls and it was criticised by many western countries. However, President Nicolas Maduro said the assembly would help bring peace to the country where more than 100 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded since the street protest began in April this year.
According to CMC, CARICOM leaders had met last week Tuesday to discuss Venezuela’s ongoing political situation, and while no official statement was issued by the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat, in a brief statement, Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the leaders who had participated in the video conference call had engaged in “varied and robust views” and that the meeting “centered on promoting dialogue among stakeholders within Venezuela geared towards resolution of the political and social challenges in that country”.
With regards to President Trump’s remark of military intervention, Dr. Douglas told CMC that “obviously this is not something that we would contemplate at all in Caribbean region, something that we would want to accept”.
He continued: “I believe that the people of the Caribbean and the leaders of the Caribbean would want to urge the United States government and specifically the remark made by President Trump to be seen as an extreme situation.
“We know that things are very difficult, but at the end of the day we do not think that military intervention would be the solution to the problem in Venezuela. I for one would definitely support the CARICOM leaders in urging greater dialogue among the contended parties in Venezuela so that there can be an arrival of a workable and practicable solution to what continues to be a human crisis taking place there.
“We have seen where military interventions, in the past, have not really helped to the desired solutions that we are looking for and I would hope that the CARICOM leaders would be urged to speak forthrightly and frankly to the United States powers that be so that this (military action) would be a last resort.”
