ROWLEY DID NOT MAKE THE DRAGON DANCE

THE latest stage of the Dragon gas deal again shows that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley’s bark is worse than his bite.

Despite much talk from Rowley and fellow Caricom leaders, they played no role in resolving the Venezuelan political crisis that led to monetising the Dragon field.

In fact, it is far-away Norway that brokered an end to the longstanding standoff between Venezuelan strongman Nicholas Maduro and opposition politicians.

The Norwegians organised the two-day negotiations at which it was agreed that there would be a free and fair Venezuelan presidential election next year.

The talks took place in Bridgetown, Barbados.

On the basis of that historic agreement, the United States authorities agreed to permit compensation money to pass from exploring gas from the bountiful Dragon field.

The Dragon deal is a lifeline for Trinidad and Tobago since it would provide critical feedstock to the LNG operations and Point Lisas petrochemical plants.

The field has an estimated 4.2 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Energy Minister Stuart Young immediately boasted that the Government could now “get done what needs to be done.”

The National Gas Company would finalise details with Shell, which would operate the field.

The amended US agreement now expires on October 31, 2025.

But the Rowley administration had sat back while the Venezuelan political emergency worsened, leading to thousands of nationals from that country fleeing to T&T and elsewhere.

It is estimated that at least a quarter of all Venezuelans have escaped to the Caribbean and Latin American countries.

Many of the migrants are illegal in T&T and are seeing trouble in getting jobs and sustaining their respective families.

Some have been deported.

This is the second regional crisis in which T&T and the rest of Caricom have declined to play a proactive role toward a settlement.

Kenya has provided global leadership in the Haitian humanitarian emergency, leading to the setting up of a multinational security force in that crime-riddled country.

Rowley and fellow Caricom leaders spoke at length on the Haitian issue during a regional anniversary conference in T&T in July.

But they did not follow up with any action, despite Haiti being in the midst of anarchy, which has caused widespread poverty and malnutrition.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “generations of Haitians are at risk,” and called for an international support mission.

The tough-talking Rowley and other regional bosses took no steps to intervene in the crisis, in spite of the loss of tens of thousands of lives.

The 50-year-old Caricom has long been seen only as an idle talk shop, with weak and inefficient leaders unable to resolve social and economic issues in the region.

Negotiating a single market and economy took several years.

Now the resolution of the Venezuelan and Haitian crises by distant countries is a further blow to the usefulness of the regional group.