![\"SAXoPicture-000000000DDBDC70-969587793.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/trinidadexpress.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/c\/a3\/ca35a8dc-8b77-11e9-9065-676932665c9a\/5cfe471e226e4.image.jpg?resize=200%2C134)
<\/div>\n<\/div>While stating the decision to leave Venezuela was \u201ca personal one\u201d, Perez also left some questions\u2014such as whether a cap should be placed on the \u00adnumber of migrants allowed into T&T\u2014up to the Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very good initiative from the Government of T&T,\u201d Perez told the radio station.<\/p>\n
He noted the process, which began on May 31 and ends on Friday, allows migrants and those claiming refugee status to regularise their status and seek gainful employment for up to a year, while under the protection of the law.<\/p>\n
Further, those successful in the registration process will likely be able to apply for T&T citizenship or obtain a work permit.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the T&T Government should place a cap on the number of migrants allowed into T&T, Perez said: \u201cThat answer should come from the Government of Trinidad and \u00adTobago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez said migration was a personal decision, and was not within the control of any government.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, when you migrate, it\u2019s a personal decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Perez was also asked to address Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar\u2019s stated support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaid\u00f3, who in January declared himself interim presi\u00addent and called for President Nicolas Maduro to step down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing I can say is there is only one president in Venezuela and that is Nicolas Maduro,\u201d Perez stated.<\/p>\n
However, as he represents the government of Venezuela, Perez said he is able to \u201csit\u201d with anyone in T&T \u201cwithout a problem\u201d.<\/p>\n
The ambassador said he would be open to meeting with Persad-Bissessar.<\/p>\n
He went on to state his support for the position of \u201cnon-intervention\u201d into Venezuela\u2019s sovereign affairs adopted by the T&T Government and Caricom.<\/p>\n
No interference<\/strong><\/p>\n While he has not visited any of the Government\u2019s three registration centres in Port of Spain, San Fernando and Scarborough, Perez said the embassy has noted the process is an internal one, but is being monitored by the embassy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to create any disruption,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cWe will see. Maybe you will see me around sometime before the process ends.\u201d<\/p>\n Perez, who arrived here on May 31, was hopeful the Montevideo mechanism, established between Caricom and the governments of Mexico and Uruguay, would eventually lead to a peaceful resolution for his country.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, it\u2019s like the light at the end of the tunnel of this process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said social media content in Venezuela has also shown that Guaid\u00f3 does not have total support within the opposition, and that there are \u201cdissenting voices\u201d.<\/p>\n As for reports of police and military brutality against protesting citizens in Venezuela, Perez said police officers and soldiers who used excessive force against citizens during protests have been jailed, pending investigations.<\/p>\n Saying only the Venezuelan \u00adpeople could decide their president\u2014either in the next presidential election or through a referendum\u2014Perez said efforts to oust Maduro were tied to attempts to take control of that country\u2019s vast natural resources.<\/p>\n He said the Venezuelan constitution provided all the mechanisms needed for the Venezuelan people to make that decision, and chided that United States sanctions on his country were \u00adworsening an already difficult situation.<\/p>\n Perez said the Venezuelan government continues to do its best to provide basic amenities, and Venezuela remains grateful for the support of its foreign partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government\u2019s registration programme for Venezuelan migrants has been welcomed by that country\u2019s ambassador to Trinidad and \u00adTobago, \u00adCarlos Perez, who said yesterday the embassy has not interfered in the \u00adprocess so far. Speaking to I95 FM, Perez praised the State\u2019s move to regularise some of those fleeing the troubled Latin Ameri\u00adcan neighbour amid economic … <\/p>\n Continue reading “How many Venezuelans can T&T accept?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false],"landscape":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false],"portraits":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans-1024x683.jpg",760,507,true],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false],"depicter-thumbnail":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",200,133,false],"music-lite-featured-large":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false],"music-lite-featured-medium":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false],"music-lite-featured-small":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",640,427,false],"music-lite-featured-square":["http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/tt_venezuleans.jpg",1104,736,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"jeewan","author_link":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/author\/jeewan\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The Government\u2019s registration programme for Venezuelan migrants has been welcomed by that country\u2019s ambassador to Trinidad and \u00adTobago, \u00adCarlos Perez, who said yesterday the embassy has not interfered in the \u00adprocess so far. Speaking to I95 FM, Perez praised the State\u2019s move to regularise some of those fleeing the troubled Latin Ameri\u00adcan neighbour amid economic…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7712,"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7711\/revisions\/7712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/novocommunications.net\/hott93\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"SAXoPicture-000000000DDBD8F0-523822440.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/trinidadexpress.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/c\/8e\/c8e61c8c-8b77-11e9-93fc-6379832272dd\/5cfe471be5e2f.image.jpg?resize=200%2C144)
<\/div>\n<\/div>
\nSubscribe now and get access to the Trinidad Express E-paper<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>