Good morning from Port of Spain, where the Prime Minister has announced she is sending a delegation to Venezuela to collect oil and gas money that T&T partly owns. This is the geopolitical equivalent of going to your neighbour’s house to politely retrieve the lawnmower you lent him three governments ago. Good luck to the delegation.

KAMLA ON VENEZUELA: “WE WANT WE GAS”

PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar, at a fire tender handover ceremony in Penal — because that’s where major international energy policy gets announced — said a diplomatic delegation will shortly depart for Venezuela to ensure T&T gets its “just share” of oil and gas it partly owns through the NGC. The National Gas Company has interests in Venezuelan fields. Those fields are currently managed by a government that manages things in its own particular way.

The delegation has our full confidence. We also have full confidence that this will be ongoing.

On a related note, the Energy Chamber says T&T’s gas sector could receive a “meaningful boost” from 2027. It is currently April 2026. We have noted the timeline and will circle back.

KAMLA ON CARICOM: “WE WANT TRANSPARENCY”

The PM has doubled down on her criticism of how Carla Barnett was reappointed as CARICOM Secretary General. She wants transparency. She wants process. The Heads of Government, who reappointed Barnett in the way that Heads of Government generally do things, have not responded. In regional politics, not responding is itself a response.

PATRICE ROBERTS ORDERED TO PAY

A High Court judge in Trinidad and Tobago has ordered soca artiste Patrice Roberts to pay her former Canadian-based management company US$25,104. The company provided services while briefly managing her career. The career has continued. The relationship, clearly, did not.

We note without further comment that this is the second Caribbean jurisdiction in one week managing a dispute involving a woman, a Canadian, and the phrase “services rendered.”

DOWNTOWN MERCHANTS ON THE ECONOMY

The Downtown Owners and Merchants Association says recent business closures reflect a “long-standing economic decline,” not a sudden downturn. There is something almost comforting about the distinction. It is not crisis. It is merely the continuation of a very long, very gradual thing that everyone was hoping would reverse itself.

It has not reversed itself.

TOBAGO 2026 EVENTS CALENDAR IS PACKED

Heritage Festival in July. Blue Food Festival in October. Tobago Carnival in November. The island is busy. The island is always busy. The mainland has opinions about this. The mainland’s opinions have not stopped Tobago from having a Blue Food Festival.

The Trini Dispatch. Dry, accurate, and still waiting for the gas money.