Trinidad and Tobago to give US access to its airports as Venezuela tensions grow

Critics fear country will be drawn into Trump’s pressure campaign against Maduro after radar installed in Tobago

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has announced it will allow the US military access to its airports in coming weeks as tensions build between the US and Venezuela.

The announcement follows the recent installation of a radar system at the airport in Tobago. The Caribbean country’s government has said the radar is being used to fight local crime, and that it would not be used as a launchpad to attack any other country.

But critics of the government say Trinidad and Tobago risks being drawn into Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

The US would use the airports for activities “logistical in nature, facilitating supply replenishment and routine personnel rotations”, Trinidad and Tobago’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement on Monday. It did not provide further details.