Powell hopes for 2004 meeting with Manning

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell could have a private meeting sometime in 2004. This was hinted by Energy Minister Eric Williams during a news conference at Riverside Plaza on Tuesday. Williams noted that during the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington DC earlier this month, Powell was recovering from surgery for prostate cancer. The Minister said Powell sent his regrets to Manning and the other members of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation, but expressed the hope that he could meet with the Prime Minister “in the shortest possible time.”

During that visit, Manning held talks with US President George W Bush and US National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice on a wide range of issues from energy to regional security. Bush in turn asked for TT’s help in dealing with political tensions in Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela.  On Monday, the Prime Minister met with Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington to discuss the political situation in Haiti and what Caricom could do to stabilise the situation there. Manning said: “Caricom states are inextricably bound and therefore, Caricom is deeply concerned with the situation in Haiti and must quickly determine its way forward in dealing with Haiti’s current crisis.”