PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Thursday downplayed a potential rift with Venezuela over the Dragon gas project after Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez had earlier claimed that the twin-island’s economy would collapse without a deal involving the South American country.

“I have no comments, I have no official communication from Ms Delcy or from the Venezuelan Government and I will not comment on something we have no official communication about. I will not engage in a tit-for-tat. I am doing the best I can. I was elected by the electorate, we are all doing the best we can to uplift Trinidad and Tobago,” Persad-Bissessar told reporters.

Rodriguez, speaking at a function in her country on Wednesday, had warned that any gas deal with Port of Spain must be paid for and cautioned the country on relying on the United States (US) for access to Venezuelan gas.

“Your prime minister is leading you off a cliff by believing (US Secretary of State) Marco Rubio’s promise to give you Venezuela’s gas for free. Venezuela’s gas comes with a price tag. Every molecule exported, be it to Trinidad and Tobago or other neighbours as planned, must be paid for,” Rodriguez said.

“That is international co-operation and natural trade. Anything else is fantasy. They are deceiving her, and she is deceiving an entire country, misleading Trinidad’s business sectors. They will be left high and dry,” she told the Venezuela Productiva 2030 Business Expo Forum.

The Venezuelan vice president told the audience that Trinidad and Tobago needs Venezuela’s gas, and the only way is through the Nicolas Maduro administration.

“There is no other way. It is not Rubio who is going to give the gas to Trinidad and Tobago, it is Venezuela. You will see, sooner than later,” she said, referring to Persad Bissessar as being “like Marco Rubio’s puppet”.

She insisted that Washington is “feeding” the Trinidad and Tobago Government leader with false promises, referring to a Venezuelan idiom, “pregnant birds”, to describe the false promises.

“Marco is selling pregnant birds to the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, a country we have gas export agreements with.

“If Venezuela stops exporting gas to Trinidad, their economy will collapse, affecting the Caribbean. President Maduro has always been very responsible about this. It is part of Commander (Hugo) Chavez’s legacy, what Petrocaribe did for Caribbean countries,” she added.

But, as she visited the National Cycling Velodrome in Central Trinidad, Couva where a national recruitment job exercise is taking place, Persad-Bissessar told reporters that she believed Trinidad and Tobago’s economy was progressing and that she had no information on a war between the US and Venezuela.

Regarding the escalating tensions in the region, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said that in the event of war, the population would be alerted by the Government and urged citizens to remain calm.

“I think there are some people who are fear mongering, I assure you to be calm, if and when there is a war, we will let you know, we will keep you informed of what is happening. I have no information of a war, no information on missiles landing in Venezuela. There are some just determined with fear mongering. My name is Kamla, be calm,” she said.

Earlier this month, the Trinidad and Tobago Government said it had received a six-month Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licence from Washington to begin negotiating the development of the Dragon gas project with Venezuela

The licence, which is valid until April 2026, permits the Government and the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, along with partners like Shell, to conduct necessary transactions for negotiations with Venezuela.

This authorisation is part of a tiered approval process that requires the government to meet specific criteria at each stage.

But former Prime Minister and Minister Oo Energy, Stuart Young, criticised the current Government over the short-term OFAC licence, questioning its terms and demanding transparency.

Young, who had played a critical role in Trinidad and Tobago acquiring a 30 year licence before it was revoked by the United States Government before the last general election in April, said that the Persad-Bissessar government is not informing the public, despite a new license being granted to the government to negotiate with Venezuela.

When in opposition, the Government had been critical of the Dragon gas project and soon after coon coming to power declared the project “dead”.