By Ken Ali,
STUART Young’s recent photo opportunity with Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez was aimed at two women in his political sights.
The picture of Young and Rodriguez at Miraflores Palace was meant to gain one-upmanship against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles-Robinson.
The meet-and-greet between Young and Rodriguez resulted from initiatives of top energy executives but attracted no media attention in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan presidential office did not issue any statement.
The primary media reporting was done by Guardian-CNC3.
Publication of the picture was clearly designed to indicate that Young has international clout, including with respect to the all-important energy sector.
While in government, he visited Venezuela several times to advance cross-border natural gas exploration, a project that eventually stalled under his prime ministership.
Between August 2022 and June 2024, Young travelled to Venezuela 13 times, at a total cost of $1.2 million to taxpayers.
Young’s public relations ventures are taking place against a quickening tempo to take over PNM leadership from Ms. Beckles-Robinson.
There are insidious attempts to have Young become Opposition Leader but he lacks the support of seven Members of Parliament in order to replace Ms. Beckles-Robinson.
An unrelenting campaign is being waged against the current leader, revealed in, among other things, the Balliram Maharaj and Public Administration and Accounts Committee (PAAC) issues.
Party sympathisers of Young have been pressing Ms. Beckles-Robinson to replace Maharaj as Arima’s Mayor.
But the leader, grateful to Maharaj for his longstanding support, has been hanging tough.
Ashton Ford, a known political nemesis of Ms. Beckles-Robinson, has been turning the screws on Faris Al Rawi on the PAAC issue.
Al Rawi, who was appointed to the Senate after losing the San Fernando West seat in the 2025 general election, is a major figure in the PAAC storm.
He assisted in editing the statement of former Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh to be submitted to the PAAC.
Ford told the Guardian that Al Rawi “has underperformed” and the PAAC matter “adds to that record.”
He added: “Having served as Attorney General and as a Member of Parliament, he should have advised the young senator (Janelle John-Bates) against that course of action.”
There has been a cold war between Young and Al Rawi since the PNM was in national office.
Partisans of Young have criticised Ms. Beckles-Robinson for appointing Al Rawi and Foster Cummings, another failed candidate, to the Upper House.
The leader of the PNM and Opposition has been portrayed as lacking political imagination and charisma.
Young, a former Energy Minister, has been publicly sulking on matters pertaining to the sector, claiming there is no advancement in oil and gas.
But the administration of Ms. Persad-Bissessar has reported gas supply growth and expansion in new offshore projects.
BPTT’s Cypre field has come on stream ahead of schedule, and drilling has resumed in the Central Block.
The LNG industry is being restructured, the investment system has been made easier, and there are renewable and green transition ventures.
The mothballed Pointe-a-Pierre refinery is earmarked for re-opening.
But Young, aged 50 and with the backing of former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley and deep-pocket financiers, is aggressively pressing his political ambitions.
That is the backdrop to his latest photo op.
