PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government Monday said it had ratified the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States, which governs the temporary presence of US military-defence personnel here for mutually agreed activities. The government said the agreement is intended to strengthen the existing excellent relationship between the two countries in matters of national and regional security. “The terms of the agreement will only become operative and applicable to particular exercises in which both governments mutually agree to engage,” it said in a statement.