Opposition says PM Skerrit should stay out of US-Venezuela dispute

In a press statement, the United Workers Party (UWP) said it is reminding Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit that "Dominica has no issue with the United States of America where thousands of Dominican born human beings have been able to earn a living, make their homes and support their relatives and friends in Dominica who are struggling more and more every day to make ends meet under his administration".

The statement said Opposition Leader Lennox Linton is of the view that "by unreasonably challenging America's right to determine if, when and by whom its national security is being threatened, Mr. Skerrit is threatening the security of our own US-based Dominican and other Caribbean brothers and sisters who are dependent on the US government for their protection and the enhancement of their quality of life".

"The UWP is therefore calling on Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit to stop compromising the public interest of Dominica by thoughtlessly poking his nose and selfishly taking a side in yet another diplomatic flare up between the United States and Venezuela," the statement said.

"Speaking at a specially convened Caracas meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), which was called to show solidarity for Venezuela, Skerrit said the US action was "unfair and inexplicable." But he made no mention of the US concerns of undemocratic governance, criminalization of legitimate protest action, violation of human rights, public corruption and provocative anti-US diplomatic posturing by Caracas".

The UWP statement said Dominica must stay out of the dispute and allow America and Venezuela to sort out their differences through dialogue and diplomacy.