A new chapter of bilateral engagement between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela is set to open this week, as a senior Trinidad and Tobago government delegation departs for Caracas for targeted working talks with senior Venezuelan officials, with an eye to deepening decades of friendship and collaboration across multiple sectors.
Led by Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Sean Sobers, the delegation includes key senior diplomatic figures: permanent secretary and Head of the Foreign Service Randall Karim, and Claire de Bourg, acting Foreign Service Officer III and head of the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Americas Division. Alvaro Enrique Sanchez Cordero, Venezuela’s ambassador to Port of Spain, will also accompany the group during the visit, local media outlet Trinidad Express has confirmed.
The working visit will see the delegation hold formal discussions with Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Relations and Foreign Trade Felix Plasencia and other top Venezuelan government representatives. Scheduled to depart Port of Spain on a Caribbean Airlines flight early Wednesday morning, the delegation is expected to return to Trinidad and Tobago the same evening. Beyond diplomatic talks, the mission carries a significant humanitarian component: the group will deliver three tonnes of medical and humanitarian aid collected by the Venezuelan Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago from donors across the twin-island nation. This donation marks the latest round of assistance from Port of Spain to Caracas, following a previous shipment of 230 tonnes of disaster relief supplies and additional air-freighted medical equipment sent after devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela in 2026.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who first shared details of the visit with the Express, noted that the deep historical connection between the two nations is also personal: she has familial ties to Venezuela through her husband, Greg. She emphasized that the push to renew bilateral cooperation extends far beyond the energy sector, with opportunities for mutual gain in trade, agriculture, and other key areas that will benefit working people on both sides of the border.
“Our two countries share a long, intertwined history, and my administration is eager to reconnect and reignite the productive partnership that has served both our peoples for generations,” Persad-Bissessar said, recalling past cordial, productive meetings with senior Venezuelan officials including current interim president Delcy Rodriguez.
Sobers, for his part, credited Persad-Bissessar as the driving force behind the high-level meeting, pointing to her long-standing diplomatic relationships with both Venezuelan and United States officials that cleared the way for the current round of engagement. He recalled that during Persad-Bissessar’s first term as prime minister in 2011, her government advanced the implementation of the landmark cross-border agreement for the Loran-Manatee gas field between the two nations. More than 15 years later, under her current leadership, the agreement has come full circle, with major progress achieved in 2026, Sobers added.
Four core priority areas have been set for the bilateral discussions during Wednesday’s working visit. The two delegations will negotiate terms for expanded trade and economic cooperation, explore new partnerships in agriculture and fisheries, coordinate on national security priorities including maritime security, border management, and immigration, and advance plans for shared energy security and shared prosperity for both nations. Sobers explained that the working visit is the culmination of months of ongoing high-level talks between the two governments, which began after Persad-Bissessar and Rodriguez held an initial meeting in June 2026 in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes that prompted Trinidad and Tobago’s large-scale humanitarian relief effort. Following that meeting, the foreign ministries of both countries have worked to finalize the ambitious agenda for this week’s in-person talks.
The Trinidad and Tobago delegation’s visit comes just one day after a senior United States delegation met with Rodriguez in Caracas to formalize new cooperation agreements covering energy, mining, and commercial trade. International media reports confirm that US Energy Secretary Chris Wright oversaw the signing of the agreements, which involve major energy firms Chevron, ENI, and GE Vernova. Speaking alongside Rodriguez during the signing event, Wright stated that the eight new agreements represent tens of billions of dollars in new investment, calling them a critical first step to building peace, expanded opportunity, and widespread prosperity for the Venezuelan people. For her part, Rodriguez expressed hope that the major 65-billion-barrel oil production agreement signed between Venezuela and the United States on August 28 would deliver tangible benefits to the people of the United States as well as Venezuela.