Roseau, Dominica — Prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, has condemned a reported coup plot against the president of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro.
Maduro announced last Thursday that his government had foiled an attempted coup, which resulted in the detention of civilians and members of the military.
Skerrit stated that the Venezuelan government has been duly elected by the people of Venezuela and any illegal attempt to remove it must be condemned.
“The government of Venezuela, which is led by President Maduro, has been duly elected by the people of Venezuela. Any attempt to remove the constitutionally elected government must be condemned by all, in no uncertain terms. The rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution must at all times be respected,” Skerrit stated.
Meanwhile, Maduro visited Cuba last week and met with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Tuesday.
“I’ve been to Cuba (…) I took advantage of the fact that it was carnival Tuesday and visited Commander Fidel Castro, who sent greetings to the Venezuelan people,” said Maduro during a speech broadcast on national television.
Maduro pointed out that his conversation with Castro focused on topics of world interest.
“We talked about the world, about peace, about climate change; we spoke about many issues,” he added.
During his stay in Havana, Maduro also met with President Raul Castro.
Maduro is also due to make a working visit to Trinidad and Tobago this week.
The visit follows an invitation that was extended by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar during the third Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit in Costa Rica at the end of last month.
According to a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister on Sunday, one of the important aspects of Maduro’s visit is the re-affirmation of a commitment to bilateral cooperation on energy matters of interest to both countries.
“Since coming into office in 2010, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar and the People’s Partnership government actively sought to move discussions forward on the exploitation and development of the hydrocarbon resources located in several fields which cross the maritime delimitation line between the two nations. These include the Loran-Manatee, Cocuina-Manakin and Kapok-Dorado fields,” the release stated.
It is estimated that approximately ten tcf (trillion cubic feet) of gas lies in the Loran-Manatee field, of which about 7.3 tcf lies in Venezuela, and the remaining 2.7 tcf in Trinidad and Tobago. Bilateral collaboration on the development of these resources is expected to yield considerable socio-economic benefits to both countries.
Maduro last visited Trinidad and Tobago, as a special guest at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government meeting, in July 2013.