Venezuela warned Trinidad and Tobago on Monday that it will respond if the country allows its territory to be used for an attack against it, amid rising tensions with the United States, which maintains a military deployment in the Caribbean Sea and has seized two Venezuelan oil tankers. "Venezuela is not fighting with anyone, but we are left with no alternative, if Trinidad lends its territory to attack Venezuela, we have to respond and we have no other choice to prevent them from attacking us," said Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. During an event broadcast on state television channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), the number two of chavismo stated that they are already "using Trinidad's territory" against his country, something with which, he assured, the Trinidadian people "do not agree," since, he added, both nations have "always lived in peace." Last Friday, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, assured that the "best defense" for the country is its current military cooperation with the United States. "I am not going to declare war on Venezuela, but I have the duty to protect the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and at this moment, this is the best defense mechanism we can have," she commented. Additionally, U.S. military aircraft are permitted to access the airports of the country, which is a neighbor of Venezuela. On Monday, the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Carla Barnett, urged unity among the organization's 15 members in the face of the "unprecedented adverse geopolitical winds" battering the region. Barnett's year-end message came a day after divisions erupted within Caricom with exchanges of accusations between Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda over their positions towards the U.S. and Venezuela. Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana support the U.S. in its offensive against Venezuela, as the latter has installed a radar system on the island of Tobago, where marines are currently still deployed. Many other Caricom members have shown cautious criticism, warning that a conflict would have consequences for the entire Caribbean. The origin of the escalation of internal tensions was a statement by Persad-Bissessar, who assured that Caricom "has lost its way" and is "no longer a reliable partner."
