Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, has condemned a recent helicopter attack on the Venezuelan Supreme Court and Interior Ministry describing it as an “act of terrorism,” and said Dominica stands in solidarity with the government and people of the troubled South American country.
He was speaking at the function observing the 12th anniversary of the Petro Caribe Agreement on Thursday, June 29th, 2017.
Reports from Venezuela indicate that grenades were dropped on the court and 15 shots fired from the helicopter at the Interior Ministry in Venezuela on Tuesday, June 27th, 2017. It was reportedly stolen by a police pilot.
Skerrit said for the world to be silent on such matters is a very “unbecoming.”
“For us to sit as a country, as global institutions, and not condemn violent actions is unbecoming of the world irrespective of who is perpetrating this violence, it must be condemned by us, all of us. This has nothing to do with Petro Caribe, it has nothing to do with ALBA, it is simply a matter of principle,” he said.
Skerrit added that such an attack, whether it happened in Dominica, Venezuela, the United States or anywhere else in the world, “they are terrorist acts,” and so, they must be condemned.
“We all have a responsibility to condemn it. Whether the police officer commandeers illegally the property of the state, in that case, a helicopter which is armed with grenades and firepower, military firepower, and sends up grenades at the Ministry of Interior, and also the Court House, what else can we define to be an act of terrorism?” Skerrit stated.
He assured the Venezuelan Ambassador to Dominica that the Dominican government stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan government “as a matter of principle” and “not because of Petro Caribe or what Venezuela has provided for Dominica.”
“We so because we understand what friendship is, we understand what solidarity is, and we do so as matter of principle,” he said.
Skerrit noted that no one has a right to “seek to want to remove the President of Venezuela from office” as he is there based upon Venezuelan laws and the Venezuelan constitution.
“The government of Venezuela, led by President Nicholas Maduro, was elected by the people of Venezuela, in accordance with election laws of Venezuela, and in accordance with the provision of the constitution of Venezuela. So which one of us in this world has the right to seek to want to remove the President of Venezuela from office? That is a matter for the Venezuelan people in accordance with the constitution of Venezuela, and in accordance with the election laws of Venezuela,’ Skerrit added.
According to him, there is a “growing tendency” by political parties, organizations and individuals to believe that “the best way to remove a legitimate government from office is through violent means.”
He said such tendencies are being attempted in Dominica.
“…And we see it attempt to manifest itself here in Dominica. That people believe that by any means necessary they must remove a government.”
At least 76 people have died in the unrest since April, the latest a 25-year-old man shot in the head near a protest in the Petare slum of Caracas, authorities said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
I believe in just and righteous revolution! One does not have to always face the ballot to remove a rogue government! Once the government becomes extreme and the people suffer,it’s got to be a people’s revolution!!! You this rogue prime mistake of Dominica, the time is overdue for your removal by any means!!!
Skerrit give it up. That well done dry. Time to move on. Start prostituting Dominica to some other sugar daddy. One with money.
“That is a matter for the Venezuelan people in accordance with the constitution of Venezuela, and in accordance with the election laws of Venezuela”
Somebody need to tell the PM that those same laws allow for a referendum to revoke the presidency, after two years of office, when the president is considered unfit for the office, as endorsed by Hugo Chavez himself.
Now he also need to ask his friends in the PSUV why they didn’t allow for the referendum to go through when all the sufficient requirements, including the collection of hundreds of thousands of signatures, were met. Also why is Maduro now forcing a vote for a constitutional amendment at a time of intense political crisis, a move that would solve absolutely nothing and more than likely create even more problems.
By the way those are questions and concerns of the Venezuelan people which is the very reason why people are still out in the streets even though so many have been killed already.
Where was the voice of Skerritt when homeless and deranged citizens as well as other citizens become victims of crime and murder in Dominica.The leader is not heard from yet.No condolences to the surviving relatives because I guess they don’t have Petro dollars to offer the beggar in chief Skerritt.
Skerrit needs to go! Maduro needs to go. These two will do anything for power.
“…And we see it attempt to manifest itself here in Dominica. That people believe that by any means necessary they must remove a government.”
Skeritt what do You mean by that?So long this has manifested here ask the Man You nominated to be President of Dominica He should tell You how He was instrumental in the removal of Patrick John from Office as the Prime Minister,He should be able to tell You How His actions and influence caused our first Sitting President Mr. Degasson to flee the Country and live in exile.
If nothing else Mr. Skeritt You do not deserve to be holding this Office because of Your continuous deception that You keep spouting at the Citizens of this Country .
It is an insult to the intelligence of the Citizens to attempt to change their History the way You are attempting to.
Finally in Your defense of Maduro and Chavez let me just remind You that Mr. Chavez attempted a Coup that landed Him in jail Yes He attempted to remove a Democratically elected Government by…
Having read your statement it is very clear to me now that you share the same principles as Maduro; power at all costs.
skerrit you think those poor starving people listening to you
Mene, mene, tekel, parsin (the writing is on the wall). Daniel 5.30-31.
Remember Idi Amin of Uganda, who in the end had nowhere to run but Saudi Arabia where he died in ignominy. Such is the destiny of dictators.
wonder why he did not speak out more forcefully when the people did not have food to eat, when a soldier shot a civilian point blank and others where being killed on the streets of Venezuela…..are you kidding me mr.PM. Months and months the people are suffering down there and you can only speak out on an attack on the supreme court? why? is it because it affect your friend Mr. Maduro’s government?
Crazry….crazy…Crazy
Lip Service, that’s all..Like Skerrit is one to talk of principle..What happened to Dominica’s Diplomatic passports sold to criminals, arrested like common thieves all over the world..
Let Venezuelans fight for their freedom, ’cause soon Dominicans will have to fight for theirs too..I can’t understand why demagogues cling to power when it is clear that a part of the population DON’T want them in power..
As a matter of Principle Maduro should pack up and go on with his merry life..same as Skerrit!!
Skerrit you will do the same to remain in power,Chavez was gone like dust,Maduro karma is coming.You are supporting a man that jails and kill people smh.
I will never believe that recent activity after UWP meeting was an action of UWP. Unless if they are the most stupid group of people ever to grace the political scene.
Is there a similar tendency to temove Dominica ruling party by all means? Only one time in her 38 years this has happened . Why present such bad info when you know Dominicans are relatively peaceful , but quite aware of their rights to protest. ln a real country the now seating President would never be seated but was allowed and even that tells it all
What about a government doing all in its power by all means to remain in office
Shut up Roosevelt, just shut your mouth!
There is as much terrorism in Dominica as in any place you know terrorism exists.
The worst form of terrorism is poverty; the poverty which you brought on the people of Dominica, while you accumulate personal wealth at the expense of the poor in our country! Maduro is a brutal dictator drinking the blood of the poor of Venezuela; while your evil kind supports him in the brutality of the Venezuelan poor!
You stand in solidarity with Venezuela? What can you do in support of that communist dictator, besides running your mouth off, spewing rubbish! You Roosevelt Skerrit, you are on the wrong side of history.
Your words are like smoke, when you speak; the sound of your voice and the useless words you spew are like smoke, which simply makes its exists into thin air without a trace. A lost man in the wilderness when he screams for help his voice does not reverberate only he hears his voice!
No, terrorism is not poverty. Terrorism is a voluntary act; poverty is a state of relative lack of money. Poverty makes no statement about why anyone is poor. You can be poor in rich Seattle where no one is allowed to get a job for under $14. In other cities, no one can make money braiding hair without spending 1000 hours studying how to barber white people. Some poverty is caused by a decision not to report to work and to blame it on your hangover. Poverty is not a single act with a purpose, and sometimes poverty thrives despite “anti-poverty” programs that typically take even more choices away from the poor. Francisco, “Your words are like smoke.”
any act of the government against its own people is not right so why condemn one wrong and not speak against the other wrongs ?
I don’t like Maduro, but without him Dominica would have been in a worse state. Cheaper petroleum, houses to petit savanne victims, assistance in other areas. We need to put our country first. Sorry, I know it’s morally wrong
Kareem? Kareem? Kareem?
Simple my boy … lead from THE FRONT.
PUT ON YOUR FREAKING MILITARY GEAR AND GO FIGHT……..
What in Petro faire when we not getting petroleum from Venezuela . All the refineries break down they have to exchange crude for the finish product to sustain themselves not Dominica they will give fuel. That’s what we have to ask ourselves, Venezuela is not giving this product because they are not refin8ng any more.
pm skeritt condemns the helicopter attack just as he condemned the attempted coup with the truck of speakers..
So 60 plus people are killed in protest with video of police and armed guerrilla militia supportive of the government killing protestors (I can show solid proof of this) and in all these months not a word. Now all of a sudden an attempted “terrorist act” is so despicable that you feel you cannot keep quiet and even need to “pledge your support”. What are you going to do? Send some of the dominican police to kill venezuelans too? This is sickness and hypocrisy of the highest level.
What can I say Dante, our leader also supported that madman Gaddafi, even when he was cornered hiding in that concrete pipe like a scared dog. Don’t think there is a cure for him.
Shaka Zulu My Brother well said
Why won’t this Punjab PhD just shut up instead of opening his mouth to remove all doubt; he has not said a word to the nation on his recent trip to Russia or any of his previous overseas bogus trips.
Well Dictator have to support one an other, but if SKERRIT and his corrupt supporters think that they are going to bring us like Venezuela they lie, a lot of things will happen before we can find our selves like the Venezuelans, because every body knows every body in D/ca
List of victims, killed protesting their democratic rights in Venezuela, Reuters 12 June 2017.
www. news.trust.org/item/20170612231004-eskmj
i want to know when he will condem what his police did to salibury people and what hapen in good will a copple years ago.
The attack on the court in Caracas was illegal but to dub it a terrorist attack is unbecoming and cheap. Doubtlessly mr. Skerrit would also have condemned the failed assassination of Adolf Hitler by one of his own trusted army officers in 1944 on the same grounds. No one was killed or injured in the Caracas helicopter attack unlike the 79 victims who have died so far in anti-government protest in Venezuela over the past three months, mostly killed by the governments security forces.
Not a word of David Jose Vallenilla,for example, a 22 year old student and one of the latest casualties, shot at point blank range by a policeman while exercising his democratic right to demonstrate.
Mrs. Skerrit should take heed and understand that he does not speak for all Dominicans, when he expounds such views.
My sympathy is also with the people of Venezuela, not Presient Maduro and his regime.
That’s right; terrorism is an attack on uninvolved civilians in order to create a political groundswell or provoke fear. The helicopter attack was directed at an agency of an oppressive government, presumably to reduce its power to act. However, the fact that no one was killed is irrelevant. Dropping grenades out of a helicopter is a lethal act…even if you miss.
Who is going to form the government? Do you think that Skerrit supporters would just sit back and allow Lennox to government if their beloved Skerrit is removed from office by a revolution? Just asking
Lennox to govern
When a GOVT is ruling against a people will, that is exactly what happens.
GOVT are rigging voting system to get into power and masking it as been voted in constitutionally and they don’t expect consequences somewhere done the road…………
If I recall Chavez and Castro were responsible for COUP in their countries…….as they were trying to unseat an elected GOVT. For the record I am a big fan of Castro.
Coup and revolution are sometime part of the process to form a GOVT of the people.
Go ahead Skerrit, keep supporting Mad-uno with the nonsense he doing, speak for yourself and leave me out of your nonsense. Only now you want to talk but law and constitution?
There are many people in the caribbean and the world over,who read the comments on certain issues being published in your WEB page, Dominica News ON LINE, for example in Trinidad, the news coming out of Venezuela,and the comments of Trinidad nationals are totally different from what is read and analyze in Dominica. The level of mis-information and dis-information seems to be rampant in Dominica. Presently, there are vast numbers of Venezuelans in Trinidad, the island is only 6 miles from the Venezuela. It it very Dogmatic of some Dominican to print hear say and influence others with innuendos, before seeking the facts.The Venezuela issues,are identical to what Cuba,Grenada, and other developing nations have to go through in seeking true sovereignity. The foreign forces are at work in destabilizing Venezuela, creating a civil war to get what they want. the fingers are pointing to one direction. Knowing the issues , the T&T gov’t is doing the best they can in supporting our neighbor…
Take it from someone who’s actually been in Venezuela for many years, talked to hundreds of venezuelans and still has many venezuelan friends today – the government of Venezuela, the PSUV, Chavez and Maduro are all woefully incompetent and the fault for the state of the country as it is right now rests squarely on THEIR shoulders.
Socialism doesn’t work period. It’s even worse when it’s accompanied by authoritarian leadership that scares business investments away since no sane person wants to do business in a country where your property can just be seized at any moment on the whim of a tyrannical idiot who hasn’t the slightest idea how to run a country.
I could go on about the rampant corruption, nepotism, mishandling of finances, ideological insanity etc but that would be too long for the comments. I think I might write a book someday because I’ve seen and heard A LOT.
But… but what if an elected official is breaking or trying to get rid of the constitution he was elected under? What then?
Indeed! Although Mr. Skerrit is going way out on a limb this time, condemning an armed attack on a government institution, how can you be in solidarity with the Venezuelan government and people when the Venezuelan government is not in solidarity with the Venezuelan people?
Well Skerrit when the backs of a people are against a wall,they have to push back.This is the result of a FAILED CHAVEZ model of developing Venezuelathat he has passed on to the Caribbeans most inept,myopic and incompetent leader. Chavez passed around giving money and toilets,and building materials,and money for so called small business,and galvanize,etc ONLY to his supporters.Can a country grow like that?NO SIR!! He,Chavez was super rich,he insulted the opposition,he was DEAD SCARED of losing election,he hobnobbed with millionaires and billionaires,etc..Thanks Skerrit you know what to condemn.As for me i also condemn TREATING and BRIBING,and those who wanted to tell me that its legal.No,its not legal.It is corruption..
FIGHT ON VENEZUELAN!!
FIGHT ON VENEZUELAN!
FIGHT ON VENEZUELAN!
The only thing u missing is your feathers. Dam parrot.
All Linton has t do is just say heck and all u repeating heck.
Sac way sot zor yay.
But is a good thing we not taking all u on.
The opposition cannot call them self the people. Because the president received much more votes dan dem.
Same thing here Linton saying is his 400 people is the people.
All u so lucky Skerrit went to school and using his common sense you.
That is y he can kool us down. Because hmmmmmmmmmmm that’s all I will say for now.
But our patients isn’t much more again. This is our country we paying taxes for yours while Lennox was paying none. because by his own admission since he lost his job at DCP he sent numorous applications and not ones acknowledgement he reserved. So wen he talking about we are the people one who u telling dat to.
So never think wat is happening in other countries will happen here.
We are contented and very happy with our leadership style which…
When Maduro start fighting why don’t you grab your lil puppets in the CDPF and go over to Venezuela help him. The excuse now for those clinging to power is to say no one has right to use violence to remove a government. You guys want to stay forever doing crap. Tell that to Hugo Chavez who took over in a coupe. I say any government in power too long doing crap should be removed by any means necessary. Revolution is necessary when all else fails. One way to solve is term limits. If the government in charge does not listen or realize the people and country suffering only solution is revolution. France did it worked out fine. America did it worked out fine. Without the will to revolt against self serving autocracy slavery would still be around. The government of the day believe blacks were things. The laws of the country promoted. So are you pm telling me we should not have revolted. Keep on the path you are and you will find out.
@ Shaka ZULU, Say what you like about Doctor Pm Skerrit, And administration we in Dominica will keep him in Power as long as he wants to if Mr Skerrit,resign tomorrow their are many more in the Labour party to carry on the good work. I will tell you one thing you little pan cakes idiots supporters both in Dominica and America, will never see another so called Workers bobol party in Dominica again your apposition leader is trying like mad to get in Power as to pay back the the foreign people millions of dollars for last election campaign and lost just like you lots all Loooooooooooooooooosers
Man bites Dogs there is no conviction in what you are trying to say.Not even you believe what you are saying.Answer this,why is Skerritt begging that there not be a leadership change in Dominica,this doesn’t sound like total confidence at all.
Hugo Chavez did not come to power in Venezuela by a coupe. You seem to be espousing cases for revolutions as though you are an expert knowing when they are needed making generalized assumptions. Revolutions do not always bring a change for good especially in regards to politics,such thing is relative. There are many examples of this through history. Look at Iraq and Libya, did such revolution bring happiness and peace to the people in these Countries. Do you know a change of a belief can also be a revolution and revelation.