For VP Biden, a plain-talk welcome

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, Express - US vice-president Joe Biden has come all the way to Trinidad and Tobago, via Bogota, Colombia, surely having been briefed on matters topping the agenda of US-Caribbean relations. The veteran US senator, now second in command to President Barack Obama, can be assured of a warm T&T welcome and hospitality during his visit, which will also be the occasion for a special regional summit. It’s unlikely, however, that Government leaders, other officials, and media people he meets will show reticence about raising questions the vice-president ignored in his interview with Express political editor Ria Taitt. Of those unanswered questions, Washington’s request for the extradition of Ish Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson, both facing indictments in the US, holds specific and abiding interest for T&T. That the US-wanted two are still openly at large in this country is directly attributable to rulings by the T&T High Court. In the latest decision on the matter, Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh assigned trial priority to T&T courts over those in the US.