Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, on his official visit to Venezuela, reiterated Saint Lucia’s position of non-interference in a country’s external affairs and the right of states to choose their friends, future, and policies.
Pierre described it as a fundamental right, a country’s determination of its internal affairs.
He said Saint Lucia would never support any intrusion in a country’s internal affairs.
“We reserve the right to have the friends we want, the friends we wish, but we respect each country. We respect the policies of every country. But we reserve the right to be friends with whom we want,” the Saint Lucia Prime Minister asserted.
He spoke during an interview with the Caracas-headquartered television news network TeleSUR.
Shortly after his Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) assumed office in an election landslide at the July 26, 2021 polls, Pierre re-established diplomatic relations between Castries and Caracas.
He recalled Saint Lucia and Venezuela had been friends since 1979, save for a brief official ‘disengagement’.
But Pierre noted that the friendship resumed after his party won the 2021 elections.
He explained that Venezuela had been a good friend, assisting Saint Lucia in many ways.
Pierre also praised the courage of Venezuela’s people.
He recalled having twice spoken at the United Nations requesting the removal of ‘unjust’ sanctions against Venezuela.
Nevertheless, despite the sanctions, Pierre said that during his short stay, Venezuela’s people seemed very resilient.
“I see a vibrancy in the streets. I don’t see a people who seem to be mourning. I don’t see a people who seem to be worried,” he told TeleSUR.
Pierre said he was impressed with what he had seen.
And he said he looked forward to developing relations with Venezuela.
During the visit which ended on October 7, Pierre and his delegation discussed various issues.
They included collaboration in education, culture, commerce, and energy security.
As usual he went begging lazy man
Funny how these folks talk big all that have to be done is suspend dem fellas Visa, nothing harsh.
Venezuela has nice people they not all drug smuggling traffickers that we only read about here on STLT****. This country might be at odds with the States bc they are so rich in natural amenities that does not project on any part of the connection and relationship with St. Lucia and Venezuela,… if they are willing to commit financially to identifying this country’s needSSS in our healthcare lack of system and weak doctors especially in Rodneybay and road way maintenance well like Russia I say bring em’ … Let them contribute like Taiwan.
” But we reserve the right to be friends with whom we want,” the Saint Lucia Prime Minister asserted. ” This statement clearly shows that you have no morale backbone, and are unfit to lead.
Sure a country can choose to be friendly, and affiliate with which ever country it wants, including bad actors and dictators.
Just understand that there are consequences, and repercussions for the administration and the country at large, for these kind of foolish and irresponsible decisions taken by you as a leader of the country.
The Free World is watching and taking notes accordingly. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Go ahead Philip the last thing we want is for us or uk to revoke St Lucian visa. That will be St Lucia done.
PJP am certain that you are aware of which currency our ECD is pegged on to….additionally, you saw the comments last week from the governor of the ECCB.
Now exercise caution in you decisions please. Leave my money in the bank with consistent stability and value which we all have enjoyed without any de -valuation please.
Are you following the BRICS nations and their intent.
Thank you.
Angel, because you dont speak to me no one should?
Other people dislike me because i dont follow them so should you?
Propaganda agianst me, you should beleive?
Why do we need a VISA to go to the US and they dont need one to come here?
When denied on your app for your US VISA do you get an explanation or partial refund?
As history shows, anyone who dont align with the Western beleif of democracy is always labelled as wrong and a tirant or dictator. In these societies how do people “REALLY” live? Anywhere the WEST goes is always damaged when it leaves.
Ever wondered what is the “PEACE CORPS” and who are the volunteers?
What has been the image of Africa shown to us for a long time?
Whats happening there now and why?
Just like our indoctrination you were led to beleive that “You are worthless, shaped in iniquity and full of sin” by a jealous GOD that unless you dont beleive in his son (your Brother) you cant see him and benefit from his kingdom. Really??
Be open minded. The world is a massive place and we all have opinions. People will disguise and benefit from all what they will tell you not to do so all is theirs.
A
@ The Local
Please try to get the geist of what I’m saying.
When you run a government, a country, you have a much greater responsibility to act in the best interest of YOUR country.
These countries are sanctioned by the Western World for a reason, their atrocities and bad behavior are well documented, ( a simple Google search will tell you ).
By aligning ourselves with sanctioned nations, we risk our own credibility, reliability, security and trust on the World stage.
We are a very small country, besides coming to enjoy our beaches, these countries DO NOT need us as much as WE need them, we literally depend on them to survive. Whether it’s for migration, education, business, training, investments, hand-outs etc.
You think if we get sanctioned as a result of aligning and doing business with another sanctioned country/entity/ individual, it’s not going to have a reverberating effect on our economy and way of life at large? Think again.
At the end of the day, we need to understand how our bread is buttered and protect that as much as possible.
No country is without flaws, but some are just more blatant than others. Sadly V*nezuela falls under the latter category.
I hope when the young boys reserve the right to hang with drug dealers and gun toting individuals we do not say anything. The PM speaks like someone whose brain is not intact.
South American countries are our neighbourbours. The Unites States of America has adopted the cancel culture with its sanctions or embargos. They owe China trillions of dollars, “hence everything is made in China.” They have a sour relationship with the Chinese, both are dictators. The time is coming when this will end, when Jesus Christ adopts the cancel culture. There will be no more death, our sanction. Forced to take vaccines, sanctions by west, guinea pigs for medical experiments since granny days, which country is good? The irony and the hypocrisy, is unbelievable. Besides, Venezuela still participates in international events like pageants … I have a good experience at the Venezuelan Institute when it was in operation, in the name of co-operation. Invest in your countries, and other parts of the Caribbean, and South America, the time is coming when the Laws will change. Those who love to mock God/Jesus better repent, pray and spread that gospel …
Spread that Gospel, look up!…..
A two year old speaks better English than this man do we expect anything better
Are you that Angel that was so wrong during this covid fiasco? Again you prove your lack of knowledge in yet another topic.
You really still think there is a “free world”? Or you just parroting the crap you’re force fed via CNN? Didn’t the US magically appoint Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela despite not having contested the country’s election. How is that free and democratic? Many observers made it clear the Venezuelan elections were held to a high standard. Same as Bolivia. Same as Nicaragua. Whenever election results don’t go the way of the US puppets, they get labelled as corrupt by OAS. Meanwhile 16 US states resist voter ID laws to allow them to manipulate elections. You can’t ask for an audit of voting machines to verify their operation. Yet they call other countries corrupt.
Several countries in the OECS have relations with Venezuela via the PetroCaribe initiative. They operate just fine without sanctions. Chevron is now drilling oil in Venezuela. Stop hanging on the teats of a dying empire. The world is moving on from US hegemony and the US dollar is a dying currency. Russia has proven sanctions mean nothing. And they are leading the world away from this madness going on in the western world. BRICS+ is where it is at.
Good move. Get us that discounted oil and stop gouging us at the pump.
Yawning 🥱 🥱 😴😴🥱🥱
@ Just Saying
You’re parroting a whole lot of nonsense. Spiraling down the rabbit hole with your faux news talking points. Here are a few facts to rebut some of the nonsense you spewed;
– The US did NOT magically appoint Guaido as President. Most of the international community rejected the election results stating that Maduro won, due to the elections being marred by violence and manipulation. Thereafter, the United States and other interested parties began exploring the possibility of invoking Article 223 of Venezuela’s 1999 constitution, which addresses vacancies in the office of the president, by appointing the head of the National Assembly, currently Guaido, as interim president until elections can be held. The National Assembly invoked this provision.
– The US$ is the World largest and most powerful currency. It’s a reserve currency, meaning it’s globally recognized, held by other countries, used in international trade and transactions. The status of the dollar in the global markets is due to its strong value, the size and strength of the U.S. economy, and the country’s political power.
As for your statement on BRICS, I have included a link below detailing more information on it’s origin, outlook and current state of affairs. I will leave it to individuals to draw their own conclusion regarding your statement on this matter.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brics.asp
Dare I ask, who’s lacking knowledge on this board….
This man is so naive’. Venezuelans are trying their best to abandon the sinking ship that is their county and this man is over there trying to make fiends. Venezuelas are illegally entering the US in a never ending stream.They don’t have no issues with America, but I suppose Pierre know more about their county than them. Pierre please keep your mouth shut and try and bring down the crime rate so we don’t end up like all these failed states in South America, although we not far from that.
In the spirit of nonalignment, I strongly support the Prime Minister’s embrace of Venezuela and the resumption of diplomatic relations. Historically Venezuela has been a generous partner. We should not let the developed countries dictate our foreign policy. The former administration bowed to the former USA president to cut ties with Venezuela. We don’t need to freely open our doors to Venezuelan immigrants. We can be selective in that process to advance our national interest. St. Lucia has enjoyed and benefitted immensely from it’s relations with Cuba. We have the right to make decisions that will best serve and advance our national interest. PM of Barbados has accused the rich countries of a double standard when it comes to dealing with China.
This article is a confluence of inept journalism & an amateur communications office of the prime minister! However, it did provide a comedic start to the day’s reading. I think the goal of Pip was to portray his government as completely sovereign, without allegiance to any foreign entity; an aim which completely missed the mark.
There is no doubt that Pip’s mish-mash of words were crafted by the constitutional lawyer, Kenny, in a failed attempt to make Chicken Little appear to be the cock-of-the-walk! The only walking Pip does is as a street walker for his pimp, Biden; he is no different than ti Chas being a call girl for the orange man, Trump!
Biden (the current face of the US empire) hopes to use weak CARICOM leaders (all of them chronic mendicants) to sweet-talk Maduro, while he builds a military base in disputed Essequibo territory between Guyana & Venezuela, for protecting Exxon’s daylight robbery, in progress; and as a staging area for invading Venezuela, now that the Ukraine adventure has back-fired so dramatically, and Colombia & Brazil will no longer yield to extortion.
Maduro will be gracious, but not be fooled by our “bay-gay-yeah-in-chief”. He knows that CARICOM has nothing to offer him but treachery, much as they’ve betrayed Haitians by providing cover for the US’ impending invasion of Haiti. His recent visits to Moscow, Beijing & Teheran would have taught him who his real friends are!
Mr prime minister be friends all you want but if you going to open that flood gate to Venezuela mass migration please look at trinidad and Tobago first these wired way different and what we considered unacceptable to us is quite okay with these people and with st lucia crime problem st lucia shouldn’t chance it
Now that been said thr root of the problem is united states of America and not the maduro government like usa wants people to think just like the situation in cuba nobody else is reponsible for the troubles of cuba but USA
Some of you Lucians just like to talk caca. You never support your people hence the reason the country remain backward.
The prime minister made a good statement. I don’t see why some of you criticizing. He said why he is friends with Venezuela and why he will remain friends with Venezuela.
What’s the problem?
Re Article.. when does I become we?
Inquiring minds want to know?