Rowley tells Trinidad to rethink pro-Trump line after Democrats win Congress

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad. Opposition politicians in Trinidad and Tobago are urging the government to soften its strong support for the Trump administration after the Democrats took control of both the US Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm elections.

Critics warn that the new political landscape in Washington could leave the twin-island republic out in the geopolitical cold.

A run of pro-Washington decisions

Earlier this year, the government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar allowed US troops to prepare on Trinidadian soil for military action against Venezuela, permitted the US Defense Department to install military-grade radar in Tobago and encouraged American troops to train on local ground, to the discomfort of opposition parties and civil society groups.

More recently, it voted with the US, Israel and a few other countries against a UN resolution calling for the US embargo on Cuba to be lifted. This week it abstained in a UN vote on a resolution supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC), which the US opposes.

Rowley's criticism

Former prime minister Keith Rowley used social media to attack both votes. He said the US result "represents not just a rejection of a leader but more so the enablers who facilitate the destructive reign".

"They have shamed us by voting for cruelty and collective punishment for Cuba. Now they refuse to vote in defense of the ANR Robinson-led International Criminal Court," he said, urging citizens to "take stock of where we are going".

'Working together as normal'

Persad-Bissessar rejected the criticism and said close relations with the US would continue unchanged.

"These midterm results were very predictable and in line with the cycle of midterm election results going back decades," she told reporters. "I really don't understand why the PNM is crashing out, because tomorrow morning the US and Trinidadian governments will continue working together as normal."