Kamla slams Manning regime for bullying U.S. citizen

Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar lambasted the Manning government Friday night for "bullying" an American citizen and denying him entry to the country.

She was speaking about Bernie Campbell, a political strategist hired by the United National Congress (UNC) to help with the May 24 general election campaign.

When Campbell arrived in Trinidad Thursday night he was refused entry on the grounds that he was considered to be "an undesirable inhabitant or, or visitor to Trinidad and Tobago".

Speaking at a political meeting in Barrackpore, Persad-Bissessar called the moved
"a weapon of mass distraction" by the Manning administration and an attempt to stall the UNC’s election campaign.

She told supporters it won't work because the incident will only make people more dedicated to removing Manning from office.

The UNC leader produced a document, which she said showed that American Airlines was fined for bringing Campbell to Trinidad "because the passenger was refused due to instructions from the Minister of National Security."

She added, "Mr Manning...has shown his true colours to the international community. His mask falls off and he is seen as the man he truly is. This is about how far the nation has sunk.

"This is the state of our nation today," she stated, noting that the incident has been reported on major news channels around the world and it "sounded like something from Zimbabwe and not Trinidad and Tobago".

She was emphatic that "there is nothing about this man that makes him undesirable."

And she referred to the different treatment for Calder Hart, the former Executive Chairman of UDeCOTT who is subject to a criminal probe but was given VIP treatment when he arrived in the country recently.

Hart is a Canadian who also holds Trinidad and Tobago citizenship.

"The bullying of Campbell was pushing it too far," she said adding that the people will judge Manning for his actions.

She urged supporters to stay focused. She attacked the PNM campaign saying they have nothing to say, so instead they have adopted a negative agenda. "Instead they will talk about my clothes," she said.

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