Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is neither denying nor confirming that the United States and Venezuela exchanged detained nationals in St. Vincent and the Grenadines last Saturday.
International media reported that Venezuela freed seven imprisoned Americans in exchange for the United States releasing two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro’s wife who had been jailed for years on narcotics convictions.
Gonsalves, who is also the Minister of National Security and Legal Affairs, was asked at a news conference on Tuesday whether the exchange took place at Argyle International Airport or in Canouan, in the Grenadines.
He was also asked to state when the island entered the negotiations as the exchange points and what qualified St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the most suitable neutral country for the exchange as well as whether it was the first time that the island had facilitated such an exchange.
But Ralph Gonsalves , one of the longest serving prime ministers in the region, told reporters that the policy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as encapsulated in its mantra, is “friends of all, we strive for a better world”.
He said that any government which thinks that St. Vincent and the Grenadines may be “helpful in any matter to resolve or facilitate in the resolution of any conflict or difficulty” it is “is always willing to help because we are friends of all”.
But he said St. Vincent and the Grenadines will never say what it is doing or not doing in any of these respects “unless it is necessary or desirable to do so in all the circumstances and with the consent and agreement of anyone in which we have been involved in any matter regarding peace, good relations between states, security, and progress.
“Given what I have just said, I will neither confirm nor deny what you particularly asked. I stated the general position of the government of Sr. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he added.
The Associated Press said that three people in Venezuela who were briefed on the matter had spoken on the condition of anonymity.
The news agency said that the Americans included five oil executives held for nearly five years and that the exchange came after months of back-channel diplomacy by senior U.S. officials — secretive talks with a major oil producer that took on greater urgency after sanctions on Russia put pressure on global energy prices.
CMC/
