Background Notes: Trinidad and Tobago, March 1998

Released by the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs.

Official Name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 5,128 sq. km. (1,980 sq. mi.); about 1.5 times the size of Rhode Island.
Cities: Capital--Port of Spain (metropolitan pop. 300,000). Other cities--San Fernando, Arima, Chaguanas.
Terrain: Plains and low mountains.
Climate: Tropical; rainy season (June through December).

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective--Trinidadian(s) and Tobagonian(s).
Population (1995): 1.26 million.
Annual growth rate: 1%.
Ethnic groups: African 39.5%, East Indian 40.3%, mixed 18.4%, European .6%, Chinese and other 1%.
Religions: Roman Catholic 29.4%, Anglican 10.9%, Hindu 23.8%, Muslim 5.8%, Presbyterian 3.4%, other 26.7%.
Language: English.
Education: Years compulsory--8. Literacy--97%.
Health (1995): Infant mortality rate--15/1,000. Life expectancy--68 years male, 73 years female.
Work force (1995) (521,000): Trade and services--61%. Construction--13%. Manufacturing--11%. Agriculture--9%. Oil/gas--4%.

Government

Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Independence: August 31,1962.
Present constitution: August 31, 1976.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--bicameral parliament. Judicial--independent court system; highest court of appeal is Privy Council in London.
Subdivisions: 7 counties, 4 municipalities (Trinidad); Tobago House of Assembly (Tobago).
Political parties: People's National Movement (PNM), United National Congress (UNC), National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) and others.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.

Economy (1996)

GDP: $5.4 billion.
Annual growth rate: 3.1%.
Per capita income: $4,287.
Natural resources: Oil and natural gas, lumber, fish.
Economic sectors: Hydrocarbons (25% of GDP)--crude oil, natural gas, petrochemicals.
Agriculture (2% of GDP): Sugar, cocoa, citrus, poultry.
Industry (8% of GDP): Processed food and beverages, manufacturing, printing.
Trade: Exports--$2.4 billion: crude oil and petroleum products (49%), petrochemicals (26%), iron and steel, sugar and agricultural products. Major markets--U.S. (44%), CARICOM, Puerto Rico, France, Colombia, Dominican Republic. Imports--$1.7 billion: machinery and transport equipment (37%), manufactured goods (28%), food and agricultural products (13%), chemicals (13%). Major suppliers--U.S. (38%), U.K., Germany, Canada, Brazil, CARICOM.
Exchange rate (1997): TT $6.5=U.S.$1.

RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES

Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. enjoy cordial relations. U.S. interests focus on investment and trade, and on enhancing Trinidad's political and social stability and positive regional role through assistance in drug interdiction and legal affairs. A U.S. embassy was established in Port of Spain in 1962, replacing the former consulate general.

Indicative of this strong relationship, Prime Minister Panday joined President Clinton and 14 other Caribbean leaders for the first-ever U.S.-regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados in May 1997. The summit strengthened the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counter-narcotics, finance and development, and trade issues.

In 1996, bilateral assistance from all sources to Trinidad and Tobago amounted to over US $3 million, mostly USIA grants, International Military Education and Training (IMET funds), Department of Agriculture scholarships, and counter-narcotics assistance. Assistance to Trinidad from U.S. military and law enforcement authorities remains important to the bilateral relationship and to accomplishing U.S. policy objectives.

U.S. commercial ties with Trinidad and Tobago have always been strong and have grown substantially in the last several years due to economic liberalization. U.S. firms plan to invest over $2.5 billion from 1996 to 1998-mostly in the petrochemical, oil/gas, and iron/steel sectors. More than 50 of America's largest corporations have commercial relations with Trinidad and Tobago, and more than 20 U.S. firms have offices and operations in the country. The U.S. Embassy actively fosters bilateral business ties and provides a number of commercial services to potential investors and traders. Two bilateral treaties-Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance-and a Maritime Cooperation Agreement were signed in March 1996 on the occasion of the visit to Trinidad of then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher. A tax information exchange agreement was signed in 1989, and a Bilateral Investment Treaty and an Intellectual Property Rights Agreement were signed in 1994. The Bilateral Investment Treaty entered into force in December 1996. Trinidad and Tobago is a beneficiary of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI).

There are large numbers of U.S. citizens and permanent residents of Trinidadian origin living in the United States (mostly in New York), which keeps cultural ties strong. Approximately 20,000 U.S. citizens visit Trinidad and Tobago on vacation or for business every year, and over 2,700 American citizens are residents.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

Ambassador--Edward E. (Terry) Shumaker, III
Deputy Chief of Mission/Charge--Edward T. Smith
Economic/Commercial Officer--Oliver Griffith
Political Officer--Randy Depoo
Consul General--James Flynn
Administrative Officer-Sura Johnson
Public Affairs Officer-David Bustamante

The U.S. embassy in Trinidad and Tobago is located at 15 Queen's Park West, Port of Spain (tel. 868 622-6371, fax: 809 628-5462).

OTHER CONTACT INFORMATION

U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Trade Information Center
14th and Constitution, NW
Washington, DC 20230
Tel: 1-800-USA-TRADE

American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago
Hilton International-Upper Arcade
Lady Young Road
Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I.
Tel: (868) 627-8570/7404, 624-3211
Fax: (868) 627-7405
E-mail: amchamtrinidad.net
Internet: http://www.trinidad.net/chambers/acchome.htm

CULTURE AND HISTORY

Columbus landed in Trinidad in 1498, and the island was settled by the Spanish a century later. The original inhabitants-Arawak and Carib Indians-were largely wiped out by the Spanish colonizers, and the survivors were gradually assimilated. Although it attracted French, free Black, and other non-Spanish settlers, Trinidad remained under Spanish rule until the British captured it in 1797. During the colonial period, Trinidad's economy relied on large sugar and cocoa plantations.

Tobago's development was similar to other plantation islands in the Lesser Antilles and quite different from Trinidad's. During the colonial period, French, Dutch, and British forces fought over possession of Tobago, and the island changed hands 22 times, more often than any other West Indian island. Tobago was finally ceded to Great Britain in 1814. Trinidad and Tobago were incorporated into a single colony in 1888.

In 1958, the United Kingdom tried to establish an independent Federation of the West Indies comprising most of the former British West Indies. However, disagreement over the structure of the federation and Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago's withdrawal soon led to its collapse. Trinidad and Tobago achieved full independence in 1962 and joined the British Commonwealth.

Trinidad and Tobago's people are mainly of African or East Indian descent. Virtually all speak English. Small percentages also speak Hindi, French patois, and several other dialects. Trinidad has two major folk traditions: Creole and East Indian. Creole is a mixture of African elements with Spanish, French, and English colonial culture. Trinidad's East Indian culture came to the island with indentured servants brought to fill a labor shortage created by the emancipation of the African slaves in 1833. Most remained on the land, and they still dominate the agricultural sector, but many have become prominent in business and the professions. East Indians have retained much of their own way of life, including Hindu and Muslim religious festivals and practices.

ECONOMY

Endowed with rich deposits of oil and natural gas, Trinidad and Tobago became one of the most prosperous countries in the Western Hemisphere during the oil boom of the 1970s. Oil revenues let the government embark on a rapid industrial and infrastructural development program. Part of this was the acquisition of more than 60 state-run enterprises, most of which eventually became serious drains on public finances.

With the collapse in oil prices in the early 1980s, Trinidad and Tobago slumped into a recession from which it only emerged in 1994. With the help of a stringent adjustment program, which began in 1988, Trinidad and Tobago's economy has shifted from central planning to free market policies, with extensive trade and investment liberalization, divestment of state enterprises, and an emphasis on economic diversification and export-led growth.

However, Trinidad and Tobago's economy remains tied to the hydrocarbon sector, which still accounts for more than 25% of GDP. Although the government, with the help of several foreign oil companies, is pursuing an aggressive oil exploration and exploitation campaign, natural gas is rapidly replacing oil as the foundation of the economy. It has become the input or power source for ammonia, urea, methanol, iron carbide, and steel production. U.S. multi-nationals dominate the oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors.

Other successful Trinidadian enterprises are primarily in services-banks, insurance firms, and other financial institutions-as well as trading and distribution companies. Tourism, which only accounts for about 3% of GDP (mostly in Tobago), is targeted for expansion and is growing, especially in the pleasure boat sector.

Trinidad and Tobago's agricultural sector, which usually generates less than 2% of GDP a year, is dominated by sugar. However, the parastatal agricultural firm, Caroni Ltd., has diversified into rice, citrus, and aquaculture, with limited success. Cocoa and coffee production have declined over the years.

Trinidad and Tobago purchases a broad range of goods and services abroad, 38% of which are from the U.S. which, in turn, buys 44% of Trinidad and Tobago's exports. Policy changes to make Trinidad and Tobago more attractive to foreign investors have been implemented, including privatization of state firms, revisions of tax and tariff rates, and removal of import restrictions on nearly all products.

According to the Trinidad and Tobago Central Statistical Office, real GDP growth averaged 2.3% in 1995, following on 3.5% growth in 1994--a marked improvement after a decade of economic decline. Debt-service payments, inflation, and most other macroeconomic indicators have also improved dramatically over the past several years. Persistent unemployment of over 16% remains one of the chief challenges of the government.

GOVERNMENT

Trinidad and Tobago is a unitary state, with a parliamentary democracy modeled after that of the U.K. From 1962 until 1976, Trinidad and Tobago, although completely independent, acknowledged the British monarch as the figurehead chief of state. In 1976, the country adopted a republican constitution, replacing Queen Elizabeth with a president elected by parliament. The general direction and control of the government rests with the cabinet, led by a prime minister and answerable to the bicameral parliament.

The 36 members of the House of Representatives are elected to terms of at least five years. Elections may be called earlier by the president at the request of the prime minister or after a vote of no confidence in the House of Representatives. The Senate's 31 members are appointed by the president: 16 on the advice of the prime minister, six on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and nine independents selected by the president from among outstanding members of the community. Trinidad's seven counties and four largest cities are administered by elected councils. Tobago was given a measure of self-government in 1980 and is ruled by the Tobago House of Assembly. In 1996, Parliament passed legislation which gave Tobago greater self-government.

The country's highest court is the Court of Appeal, whose chief justice is appointed by the president with the concurrence of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. Final appeal on some matters is decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Principal Government Officials

President--Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson
Prime Minister--Basdeo Panday
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Ralph Maraj
Ambassador to the U.S. and the OAS--Michael Arneaud
Ambassador to the UN--vacant

The embassy of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is located at 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 (tel. 202 467-6490; fax. 202-785-3130)

POLITICAL CONDITIONS

The first political party in Trinidad and Tobago with a continuing organization and program-the People's National Movement (PNM)-emerged in 1956 under Dr. Eric Williams, who became Prime Minister upon independence and remained in that position until his death in 1981. Politics have generally run along ethnic lines, with Afro-Trinidadians supporting the PNM and Indo-Trinidadians supporting various Indian-majority parties, such as the United National Congress (UNC) or its predecessors. Most political parties, however, have sought to broaden their purview.

The PNM remained in power following the death of Dr. Williams, but its 30-year rule ended in 1986 when the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), a rainbow party aimed at Trinidadians of both African and Indian descent, won a landslide victory by capturing 33 of 36 seats. Tobago's A.N.R. Robinson, the NAR's political leader, was named Prime Minister. The NAR also won 11 of the 12 seats in the Tobago House of Assembly. The NAR began to break down when the Indian component withdrew in 1988. Basdeo Panday, leader of the old United Labor Front (ULF), formed the new opposition with the UNC. The NAR's margin was immediately reduced to 27 seats, with six for the UNC and three for the PNM.

In July 1990, the Jamaat al Muslimeen, an extremist Black Muslim group with an unresolved grievance against the government over land claims, tried to overthrow the NAR government. The group held the prime minister and members of parliament hostage for five days while rioting shook Port of Spain. After a long standoff with the police and military, Black Muslim leader Yasin Abu Bakr and his followers surrendered to Trinidadian authorities. In July 1992, the Court of Appeal upheld the validity of a government amnesty given to the Jamaat members during the hostage crisis. All 114 members of the Jamaat jailed since the coup attempt were released. The government appealed the ruling.

In December 1991, the NAR captured only the two districts in Tobago. The PNM, led by Patrick Manning, carried a majority of 21 seats, and the UNC came in second. Patrick Manning became the new Prime Minister, and Basdeo Panday continued to lead the opposition. In November 1995, Manning called early elections, in which the PNM and UNC both won 17 seats and the NAR won two seats. The UNC allied with the NAR and formed the new government, with Basdeo Panday becoming prime minister. Prime Minister Panday has continued free market economic policies and has worked to boost foreign and domestic investments. Panday has shown significant cooperation with the United States and leadership in the regional fight against narcotics trafficking.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Trinidad and Tobago is a democracy that maintains close relations with its Caribbean neighbors and major North American and European trading partners. As the most industrialized and second-largest country in the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago has taken a leading role in the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), and strongly supports CARICOM economic integration efforts. It is also active in the U.S.-initiated Summit of the Americas process and fully supports the establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

As a member of CARICOM, Trinidad and Tobago strongly backed efforts by the United States to bring political stability to Haiti, contributing personnel to the Multinational Force in 1994.

After its 1962 independence, Trinidad joined the UN and the Commonwealth. In 1967, it became the first Commonwealth country to join the Organization of American States (OAS). In 1995 Trinidad played host to the inaugural meeting of the Association of Caribbean States and has become the seat of this 35-member grouping, which seeks to further economic progress and integration among its states. In international forums, Trinidad and Tobago generally supports U.S. and EU positions, while guarding an independent voting record.

TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION

The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program provides Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include information on immigration practices, currency regulations, health conditions, areas of instability, crime and security, political disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. posts in the country.

Spain received the island of Trinidad as part of the fief of Christopher Columbus and controlled the island for nearly 300 years. The Spaniards subdued and enslaved the native Caribs and Arawaks but until the late 1700s paid little attention to Trinidad as other ventures were more profitable. As a result, Trinidad's population was only 2,763 in 1783. Amerindians composed 74 percent of that total (2,032). Although African slaves were first imported in 1517, they constituted only 11 percent of the population (310) in 1783. Indeed, the slave total was barely larger than the 295 free nonwhites who had emigrated from other islands. The remaining 126 Trinidadians were white.

In an effort to make Trinidad more profitable, the Spanish opened the island to immigration in 1776 and allowed Roman Catholic planters from other Eastern Caribbean islands to establish sugar plantations. Because French Catholic planters on the islands that had been granted to Britain after the Seven Years' War (1756-63) were subject to religious and political discrimination, they were attracted by Spanish promises of land grants and tax concessions in Trinidad. In seeking immigrants, Trinidad linked landownership to the ownership of slaves; the more slaves, the more land. Land grants were also given to free nonwhite immigrants, and all landed immigrants were offered citizenship rights after five years. As a result of this new policy, thousands of French planters and their slaves emigrated to the island in the 1780s and 1790s. By 1797 the demographic structure of the island had changed completely. The population had expanded dramatically to 17,718, about 56 percent of whom were slaves. There were also 4,476 free nonwhites and 2,151 whites. The Amerindian community declined by 50 percent from the level achieved 14 years earlier and represented only 6 percent of the total population. As of 1797, there were hundreds of sugar, coffee, and cotton plantations producing for export.

The British, who were at war with Spain and France, conquered Trinidad in 1797 during the Caribbean unrest that followed the French Revolution. Trinidad was formally ceded to Britain in 1802. After debating how to govern the new island, the British finally decided on crown colony rule under a governor. As this was occurring, investors and colonists expanded the sugar plantations to take advantage of high sugar prices. During the first five years of British rule, the number of sugar estates increased markedly. The British census of 1803 counted 28,000 people, a tenfold increase in 20 years; of these, there were 20,464 slaves, 5,275 free nonwhites, and 2,261 whites. About half of the free people and most of the slaves spoke French, and the rest of the population was divided between Spanish and English speakers. The Amerindian population continued to decline, with several hundred members scattered in rural settlements.

A decade after slavery was abolished in 1834, the British government gave permission for the colonies to import indentured labor from India to work on the plantations. Throughout the remainder of the century, Trinidad's population growth came primarily from East Indian laborers. By 1871 there were 27,425 East Indians, approximately 22 percent of the population of Trinidad and Tobago; by 1911 that figure had grown to 110,911, or about 33 percent of all residents of the islands. Small numbers of Chinese, Portuguese, and other groups also immigrated, contributing to the multiracial character of the island.

Tobago, Robinson Crusoe's island, changed hands twenty-two times between 1626 and 1814, as various European countries tried to secure possession of its safe anchorages. Its population in 1791 was 15,102, about 94 percent of whom were slaves. The British finally acquired Tobago permanently in 1814, after several previous attempts to conquer the island. The British continued to govern through a local assembly that they had installed during an earlier conquest of Tobago in 1763. Under this arrangement, political control rested with a number of British civil servants and the assembly, elected by a tiny electorate and supported by the sugar plantations.

By the late nineteenth century, Trinidad and Tobago were no longer profitable colonies because sugar was being produced more cheaply elsewhere. In 1889 the British government united Trinidad and Tobago in an effort to economize on government expenses and to solve the economic problems of the islands. In 1898 Tobago became a ward of Trinidad, thereby losing its local assembly, which was not reinstated until 1980. Subsequently, Britain ruled Trinidad and Tobago as a crown colony until 1956. Between 1889 and 1924, the government of Trinidad and Tobago included, in addition to its governor, a wholly appointed Legislative Council. The first step toward self-government was taken in 1925 when there were limited elections to the Legislative Council and to the governor's Executive Council.

As noted, the populations of both Trinidad and Tobago owe their main origins to massive eighteenth- and nineteenth-century importations of African slaves and East Indian indentured servants who were needed to work on the sugar plantations. When the sugar industry declined, unemployment became widespread. In the early twentieth century, oil replaced sugar as the major export; oil is a capital-intensive industry, however, and it did not solve the problem of unemployment in Trinidad and Tobago.

The labor movement began to assume importance after World War I, spurred by the return of Trinidadians who had fought with the British armed forces. The most important of these was Captain Andrew Arthur Cipriani, a white man of Corsican descent, who had served as commander of the West India Regiment. Cipriani resented the fact that the West India Regiment was not allowed to fight for the British Empire but instead was sent to Egypt, where its forces served as labor battalions. Upon his return to Trinidad, Cipriani organized the masses, giving them national pride and teaching them to oppose colonialism. He revitalized the Trinidad Workingman's Association, which was renamed the Trinidad Labour Party (TLP) in 1934; by 1936 the TLP had 125,000 members. Because Cipriani was white, he was able to transcend the black-East Indian racial dichotomy and became known as "the champion of the barefoot man." In the first elections held for the Legislative Council, Cipriani was elected in 1925 and remained a member until his death in 1945. He was also elected mayor of Port-of-Spain eight times. In these two offices, Cipriani struggled against racial discrimination and fought for constitutional reform, universal suffrage, and better rights for workers.

During the 1930s, Trinidad and Tobago suffered severely from the effects of the worldwide depression. Living standards deteriorated as workers were laid off from the plantations. The situation was aggravated by unjust labor practices. Wages on the sugar estates and in the oil fields were kept low while shareholder dividends in London rose. Workers moved away from Cipriani's moderate policies, and the labor movement became radicalized. Between 1934 and 1937, there were strikes and riots on the sugar plantations and in the oil fields throughout the Caribbean. Tubal Uriah Butler, a black Grenadian who had been expelled from the TLP for extremism, emerged as the leader of the black oil workers, who were the best paid and most politicized laborers on the island. Butler called for racial unity among black workers and organized strikes, heading a highly personalized party that was known as the "Butler Party." Although the British labeled Butler as a "fanatical Negro" during the 1930s, Trinidad and Tobago has since recognized him as a man who sensitized the common man to the evils of colonialism. The strikes in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930s included many incidents of racial violence, culminating in twelve deaths and over fifty injuries in 1937.

The British responded by deploying marines from Barbados and appointing two successive commissions from London to investigate the causes of the riots in Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Both commissions noted the low wages and poor working conditions throughout the region. The second commission, chaired by Lord Moyne, which completed its report in 1940, was very critical of the British colonial system in the Caribbean and recommended housing construction, agricultural diversification, more representative government for the islands, and promotion of a middle class in preparation for eventual self-government. Although the Moyne Commission's findings were not made public until after World War II, some of its recommendations were put into effect under the Colonial Development Welfare Act of 1940.

The British government had encouraged the formation of trade unions in the belief that labor organization would prevent labor unrest. After the islandwide strikes of 1937, Butler succeeded Cipriani as the leader of the Trinidadian labor movement. Butler's associate, Adrian Cola Rienzi, an East Indian, organized both oil workers under the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and the sugar workers under the All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers Trade Union (ATSE/FWTU). Railroad and construction workers were organized under the Federated Workers Trade Union (FWTU), and a number of smaller unions were also formed.

Following a recommendation of the Moyne Commission, government was made more representative. Constitutional reform in 1925 had provided for six elected members on the twenty-five-member Legislative Council, but franchise restrictions limited voters in the 1925 election to 6 percent of the population. In April 1941, the number of unofficial elected members on the Legislative Council and the governor's Executive Council was increased, giving the elected members a majority. Some of these elected members were included on official committees and the governor's Executive Council, although the governor retained ultimate authority and veto power.

Trinidad and Tobago had been profoundly changed by World War II. For the first time since British annexation, the islands were widely exposed to another foreign influence. The 1941 Lend-Lease Agreement (also called the Bases-for-Destroyers Agreement) between the United States and Britain included ninety-nine-year leases of the deepwater harbor at Chaguaramas to the United States Navy and of Waller Field in central Trinidad to the United States Army. Many United States and Canadian personnel were brought in to work at these bases, and thousands of Trinidadian workers were employed at the bases for higher wages under better conditions than ever before. As a result, by the end of World War II many Trinidadians had become used to a higher standard of living and wanted to keep it.

Although the election in 1946 was the first under universal adult suffrage, less than half of the registered voters cast ballots. The trade unions did not consolidate into a cohesive political entity. The labor vote fragmented, as blacks and East Indians divided and as racial slurs became a common part of campaign rhetoric. Butler, who had been detained throughout the war, was released from jail and campaigned for the Legislative Council, but he was defeated by Albert Gomes, a trade unionist of Portuguese descent. The labor movement was unable to gain a majority because no leader could command the widespread support of both the blacks and the East Indians, a pattern that continued throughout the ensuing forty years. The middle class--comprising primarily blacks and a smaller number of East Indians--came to dominate the political scene in the crucial elections that led to independence and has dominated it into the late 1990s.

Self-government was gradually increased between 1946 and 1961. The elections of those years served as dress rehearsals for independence. From 1946 to 1955, East Indians were the best organized group in Trinidad and Tobago. Comprising only 35 percent of the population in 1946, East Indians united under the leadership of Bhadese S. Maraj and won almost half of the elected seats in the Legislative Council that year. They used their votes to finally secure the legal right to marry and bury their dead according to Hindu and Muslim rites. Since their arrival in Trinidad more than a century earlier, many East Indians had been classified as illegitimate because no unregistered marriage was considered legal for inheritance purposes.

Political parties remained fragmented in the 1950 elections, often united, as one historian has put it, by nothing more than a "common passion for the spoils of office." One hundred forty-one candidates contested the eighteen elected seats; the single largest bloc of seats on the Legislative Council, eight out of twenty-six, was captured by an alliance between the "Butler party" and East Indian leaders. The British and the non-East Indians disliked the idea of having Butler and his supporters come to power. After the 1950 elections, none of Butler's party was chosen to sit on the Executive Council, the result being that Gomes practically ran the government. Within the restrictions of his semiautonomous government, Gomes tried to function as a mediator between capital and labor and to placate both Britain and Trinidad and Tobago. He had limited success, however, and constitutional reform was postponed until 1955, with elections scheduled for the following year.

The election of 1956 was a watershed in the political history of Trinidad and Tobago because it determined the course of the country for the next thirty years. Gomes was defeated, and a new party, the PNM, captured power and held it until 1986. PNM founder and leader Eric Williams dominated the political scene from 1956 until his death in 1981.

Williams was a native Trinidadian who had spent almost twenty years abroad in Britain and the United States. Although his family was poor, Williams had received a very good education by winning scholarships and had earned a First Class Oxford degree. Williams's academic prowess set the standard for all Trinidadian and Tobagonian political leaders through the late 1980s. While at Oxford, Williams was subjected to a number of racial slights, and he also suffered racial discrimination when he worked for the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission in Washington from 1948 to 1955, an organization created in 1942 to coordinate nonmilitary aspects of Caribbean policy. This discrimination profoundly and permanently affected Williams's outlook on life and his politics. He was a man who knew himself to be the intellectual equal of educated people in Oxford, London, and Washington, and he felt that he had not been accepted as such. Returning to Trinidad in 1948 as deputy chairman of the Caribbean Research Council of the Caribbean Commission, Williams involved himself in cultural, educational, and semipolitical activities and became well known. In 1956 he decided to enter politics and to forge a political party, the PNM. The PNM was created by middle-class professionals who were mainly but not exclusively black. Its main support came from the black community, although Williams was also able to attract some whites and East Indians. Williams gained a public constituency and a loyal party following by giving lectures in Woodford Square, the main square in Port-of-Spain. His lectures on Caribbean history were attended by thousands, and Williams dubbed his interaction with the crowd the "University of Woodford Square." There, Williams forged a bond with the people that remained even after his death twenty-five years later. Trinidadians and Tobagonians were proud to have an international scholar in their midst. Williams gave them a sense of national pride and confidence that no other leader was able to match. His charisma and leadership made it possible for the new party to be independent from existing political organizations and from trade unions. PNM leaders envisioned a broad national party that would include both capitalists and laborers; as such, the PNM rejected socialism and welcomed foreign capital investment.

In 1956 the PNM captured a slim majority of the elected seats on the Legislative Council, receiving 39.8 percent of the vote. Butler's party and the TLP split the other elected seats. The British governor, who controlled five appointed seats and two ex officio seats, filled all of these with men acceptable to the PNM, thus giving the party a majority of two-thirds of the seats on the Legislative Council. Because the British were hoping to form a Caribbean federation or, as a second choice, to launch viable independent countries, it was in their interest to support Williams, a charismatic black leader who had founded a strong political party, who had international education and experience, and who believed in private domestic and foreign investment. Between 1956 and 1962, Williams consolidated his political base and resolved two very important issues: federation and the presence of United States bases on Trinidad.

The British created the West Indies Federation in 1958. During the next four years, ten island nations, including Trinidad and Tobago, struggled without success to make the federation into a government. The two largest nations, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, had opposing viewpoints; the former advocated a strong federal government, whereas the latter preferred a weak one. Trinidad and Tobago, with its higher revenues, preferred representation according to financial contribution, but Jamaica, with its larger population, wanted representation on the basis of population. After Jamaica decided in September 1961 not to remain in the federation, Trinidad and Tobago also decided to withdraw, not wishing to be tied to eight small, poor islands for which it would be financially responsible.

Despite British assistance and Williams's compelling personality, the PNM did not come to rule Trinidad and Tobago without a struggle. A number of groups united to oppose the PNM in the federal elections of 1958 under the banner of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Once again the campaign became racially polarized as the DLP attracted the East Indians and others who were left out of the PNM. East Indians felt that their cultural identity might be lost if they did not stick together. They deplored marriages between East Indians and blacks because they considered blacks to have an inferior culture; East Indians were less hostile to marriage with whites. Blacks also looked with disfavor on intermarriage with East Indians. In addition, the East Indian middle class, which had developed since the 1930s, seemed a threat to the black professionals who were just coming to power. The PNM increased its share of the vote in the 1958 election from 39.8 percent in 1956 to 48 percent; under the winner-take-all rule, however, the DLP won 6 out of the 10 contested seats, as most of its victories came in regions where the East Indians had an absolute majority.

The PNM profited from the British policy of granting increasing self-government to Trinidad and Tobago. Cabinet government was introduced in 1959; the governor no longer presided over the Executive Council, the Executive Council and chief minister were renamed cabinet and premier (the preindependence title for prime minister), and the premier had the right to appoint and dismiss ministers. Mindful of their slim majority in the 1958 election, leaders of the PNM determined to take whatever steps were necessary to win the 1961 elections and be the party to lead Trinidad and Tobago into independence. The PNM decided to use the issue of the withdrawal of the United States from the Chaguaramas naval base to unify the country and solidify their political base. In party rallies in 1959 and 1960, Williams pledged that the flag of Trinidad and Tobago would soon fly over Chaguaramas and also declared independence from Britain and from the 1941 Lend-Lease Agreement. Declaring that Trinidad and Tobago would not exchange British colonialism for the United States variety, Williams rallied the country to oust the United States from Chaguaramas and to support the PNM.

When British prime minister Harold Macmillan came to Port-of- Spain in June 1960, he told the government that he would open negotiations between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago over Chaguaramas and that Trinidad and Tobago would be an independent participant. Once Williams had won the right for Trinidad and Tobago to sit as an equal with the United States and Britain, he cooled his anti-imperialist rhetoric. The December 1960 settlement gave the United States base rights until 1977 and granted Trinidad and Tobago US$30 million in United States Agency for International Development assistance money for road construction and education. The United States closed the naval base at Chaguaramas in 1967.

The December 1961 election, which took place after Trinidad and Tobago had received full internal self-government within the West Indies Federation, was characterized by the use of racial appeals by both parties. The main constitutional issue was the drawing of electoral boundaries. Pro-PNM supporters broke up DLP meetings with stone throwing; the government declared a state of emergency in areas where East Indians were a majority and called out 3,000 police. The PNM used its government leadership to good advantage. Responding to labor unrest, Williams gave all government workers a raise during the summer of 1961. He also moved politically to the right, purging some left-wing supporters who had been prominent in the Chaguaramas fight. The PNM profited from the fact that the DLP was not a unified party. Its leader, Maraj, had been ill, and younger East Indians felt that his lack of education was a liability when contrasted with Williams. During the DLP political infighting, the new generation of East Indian professionals chose R.N. Capildeo, a high-caste Hindu, to head the DLP. Although Capildeo was highly educated, a Ph.D. and a fully qualified barrister, he lacked Williams's ability to appeal to the masses. Eighty-eight percent of the voters turned out for the December 1961 election; in a vote that largely followed ethnic lines, Williams and the PNM won with 57 percent. Reflecting the ethnic split, Williams filled the twelve cabinet slots with eight blacks, two whites, and two East Indians--one Christian and one Muslim. Appointees for the newly created Senate followed similar lines. As Trinidad and Tobago faced independence, the black middle class was firmly in power.

Trinidad and Tobago in the late 1980s was a bicameral parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster model. The Constitution, which took effect at the time of independence in 1962, was revised in 1976 to provide for an elected president to serve as head of state and commander in chief, a function filled earlier by a governor general appointed by the British monarch. Under the Constitution, Trinidad and Tobago remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Since independence, Parliament has been the major ruling body in Trinidad and Tobago. The Constitution provides for a bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The executive consists of the president and the cabinet, headed by the prime minister. The president is elected by the Senate and House of Representatives to serve a five-year term as head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. He also has the authority to grant pardons under constitutional provisions. The president must be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, at least thirty-five years old, and a resident of the country for the preceding ten years. In case of incapacity, the president is succeeded by the president of the Senate, and then by the speaker of the House of Representatives.

The leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the House of Representatives is named prime minister. The prime minister is by far the most powerful figure in the government and is responsible for running the government. The prime minister chooses cabinet ministers from Parliament, who are then appointed by the president, and he can change ministers and ministries at will.

Bills may be introduced in either house, with the exception of money bills, which must be introduced in the House of Representatives. Bills passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, and signed by the president, become law. The president must call Parliament into session at least once a year and may dissolve Parliament at any time. No Parliament may sit for more than five years; in case of a vote of no confidence, Parliament must be dissolved in seven days. After dissolution, a general election of the House of Representatives must be held within three months. Elections are by secret ballot, and citizens over the age of eighteen are eligible to vote. From independence through 1986, Parliament was never dissolved in less than four years, nor had there been a vote of no confidence.

The Senate is an unelected body; all thirty-one members are appointed by the president. Sixteen senators are appointed after consultation with the prime minister, six on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and nine from among outstanding leaders who must be citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and at least twentyfive years old. A Senate quorum is ten, and all senators are required to leave office upon dissolution of Parliament.

The House of Representatives consists of thirty-six members and has a quorum of twelve. Its number equals the constituencies in the nation, plus the speaker of the House, if the speaker is not already a member of the House. Two of the thirty-six constituencies must be in Tobago. Representatives must be citizens over the age of eighteen who have been residents of Trinidad and Tobago for at least two years. As is the case with senators, representatives must vacate their seats upon dissolution of Parliament. Members of Parliament are protected from prosecution for "words spoken in Parliament."

The Constitution provides for an ombudsman to be appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. The ombudsman serves for a five-year term and may be reappointed. He investigates government acts that do not come under the jurisdiction of the courts, after a complaint of injustice has been filed.

In the late 1980s, government continued to be the largest employer. Although government employment traditionally has been considered a privilege, that perception has changed somewhat as salaries in the public sector have failed to keep up with those in the private sector. Since political administrators are expected to be in positions to influence policy, the Constitution authorizes independent public service commissions that are empowered to appoint, promote, transfer, and discipline personnel in the public career. These commissions are intended to protect career officers from political pressure. The public service commissions oversee the appointment of permanent secretaries, as well as judicial, teaching, and police service personnel. A public service commission review board was established in 1966 to receive appeals on disciplinary action taken by the public service commissions.

Public service workers have been categorized as administrative, professional, executive, technical, clerical, and manual. Each division has required an appropriate university, professional, or technical degree or general certificate of education (similar to a high school certificate), although personnel could also be hired in a temporary capacity pending completion of the required degree. The hiring process has included entry exams and an interview process. Although public servants have been allowed to join political parties, they have been barred from appearing on a political platform or campaigning openly for candidates.

The legal and judicial system is based on English common law and practice, and its powers derive from the Constitution. The Supreme Court consists of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. Other courts include courts of summary jurisdiction and petty civil courts. According to the Constitution, the High Court of Justice consists of the chief justice, who serves ex officio, and a prescribed number of other judges. The judges have equal power, authority, and jurisdiction. There is vested in the High Court the same original jurisdiction as is vested in, or exercised by, the High Court of Justice in Britain under the provisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation Act of 1925 [U.K.]).

The Court of Appeal consists of the chief justice, who serves as president, and a prescribed number of justices of appeal. The Court of Appeal is a superior court of record and, unless specified by Parliament, has all the powers of such a court. The Constitution provides that appeals from the Court of Appeal may be made to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London under certain circumstances. In 1987 Prime Minister Robinson proposed replacing the Privy Council in London with a Caribbean Court of Appeal. This idea was discussed at the 1987 Caricom summit and endorsed by a number of other Caribbean politicians and jurists and by the British, whose taxpayers support all the costs for the London Privy Council; as of late 1987, however, no action had been taken.

The chief justice is appointed by the president, after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. The other judges of the Supreme Court are also appointed by the president, acting on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission.

Financial institutions expanded rapidly as a result of the oilbased liquidity that the financial system experienced in the 1970s. This was especially true of nonbanking intermediaries, such as finance houses, which underwent the fastest growth. In the late 1980s, the islands' financial network included the Central Bank, various government development organizations, commercial banks, finance companies, mortgage and trust companies, insurance companies, a stock exchange, and other business services. Although legislation granted the Central Bank generous control over the financial system, bank intervention was generally restrained. Increasing regulation over nonbanking financial institutions was instituted in the mid-1980s, however, as several poorly managed finance companies collapsed and were subsequently rescued by the Central Bank. The sector as a whole contracted after the country's assets peaked in 1982. Government policies generally favored tight monetary policies to restrain inflation and help stabilize national and international accounts during the post-boom adjustment period.

The Central Bank was established in 1964 and was authorized to issue currency, regulate credit, buy and sell securities and discount notes, and underwrite government loans. Although the Central Bank contained about 30 percent of the nation's assets in 1985, its share was declining as international reserves were being depleted. The government also owned and managed numerous development finance institutions, most notably the IDC, the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), and the Mortgage Finance Company (MFC). These organizations controlled about 4 percent of national finances. The IDC, established in 1959, was the most important development finance organization and was one of the top lenders to industry. The portfolio of IDC lending generally reflected government industrialization strategies and also contained purely government projects. The ADB was the most important lender to agriculture, especially to the livestock subsector. Although the MFC was the key lender to the construction industry, in 1985 the government created the Home Mortgage Bank to serve as a major institution in the construction industry.

The country had 8 commercial banks with 117 branches, almost all of which were controlled by Trinidadian and Tobagonian nationals as prescribed by law. The process of localization of the islands' banks began in the 1970s, which eventually placed a large share of Canadian and British banks in the hands of nationals. The islands' largest bank was the Republic Bank, formerly the British Barclays Bank. Commercial banks contained 56 percent of the nation's assets in 1985. Twenty-seven percent of commercial bank loans went to individuals, primarily for automobiles, followed by government, particularly public bodies, with 15 percent, manufacturing 13 percent, distributive trade 12 percent, construction 8 percent, and the balance to various other services and productive activities. Interest rates for deposits and loans averaged 8 and 12 percent, respectively, in the mid-1980s, roughly comparable with industrial nations and low compared with most developing countries. Reserve ratios were freely utilized to control the money supply and credit; in 1985 the cash reserve ratio was 17 percent, and the liquidity reserve ratio reached upwards of 22 percent. In 1986 the government introduced the Deposit Insurance Fund, which protected and insured savings up to about US$14,000.

Nonbanking financial institutions, encompassing finance houses, trust and mortgage companies, insurance companies, and other business services, have proliferated since the 1970s. These institutions contained over 10 percent of the country's assets in 1985, trailing the commercial banks and the Central Bank. In the mid-1980s, there were twenty-two finance companies with some seventy-six branches. After the 1984 collapse of International Trust and the faltering of other nonbanking institutions because of cash flow problems, the Central Bank increased regulation of these services. As of December 1985, there were fifty-nine insurance companies registered on the islands, although some of these were also faltering. There were eight trust and mortgage finance companies, devoted mostly to real estate. Unlike other Commonwealth Caribbean countries, financial services in Trinidad and Tobago were operated predominantly by citizens of that nation, and laws specified strict limitations on the extent of the participation of foreigners.

Trinidad and Tobago also operated a small stock exchange, which was established in 1981. In 1985 nearly 50 million shares of stocks were sold, involving over 11,000 transactions at a market value of US$62 million. The exchange's composite index was declining in the 1980s because of the falling value of most stocks and discouraging economic indicators. The exchange was limited by extensive government involvement in the economy and the large number of family-run businesses, which limited the number of companies whose shares were publicly traded. In addition, few firms sought the sale of stocks as a viable way to raise capital, instead opting for commercial bank loans.

In 1964 the Trinidad and Tobago dollar replaced the British West Indian dollar as the national currency. Eastern Caribbean dollars--the common currency of members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and pegged to the United States dollar at EC$2.70 equals US$1.00--and other currencies also circulated. From 1972 to 1976, the Trinidad and Tobago dollar was floated against the British pound sterling; after 1976, however, the Trinidad and Tobago dollar was pegged to the United States dollar. The first major depreciation of the Trinidad and Tobago dollar since June 1976 occurred in December 1985, when the country's currency was devalued 50 percent against the United States dollar. As a result of the devaluation, the exchange rate moved from US$1.00 to TT$2.40 to US$1.00 to TT$3.60. This reduced international reserves but was expected to increase export competitiveness. Government foreign exchange controls existed, particularly for foreign travel by nationals.

The tourism sector played a rather minor role in the economy of Trinidad and Tobago compared with other Commonwealth Caribbean islands. In the mid-1980s, tourism represented only 3 percent of GDP, slightly above the 1960 level of 2 percent but below the 1970 level of 4 percent. Annual foreign exchange earnings derived from tourism averaged about US$200 million during the mid-1980s, making the sector the third largest earner behind oil and overseas investment. As the most southern and eastern of the Caribbean islands, Trinidad and Tobago did not enjoy the close proximity to the large North American tourist market of other Commonwealth Caribbean nations such as the Bahamas and Jamaica. Nonetheless, tourists were attracted to Trinidad and Tobago to enjoy its worldfamous carnival, steelband and calypso music, Hindu and Muslim festivals, and the unspoiled natural beauty of Tobago. Government policies have historically sought to limit and control tourist activity through prohibiting private beaches, casino gambling, and land sales to foreigners (although the latter was available through long-term leases). Substantial tourist growth was realized in the 1960s as a result of fiscal incentives offered under the Hotel Development Act of 1963. The advent of the oil boom in the 1970s diverted attention away from tourism as a source of foreign exchange revenues; as a result, by the mid-1980s no major hotel construction projects had occurred in nearly a decade. By the late 1980s, however, the government looked to tourism as a way to diversify away from a dependence on oil-based export revenues and as a stimulus to domestic agriculture and employment.

Trinidad and Tobago recorded 187,090 tourist arrivals in 1985, a number that was rather typical for the first half of the decade. In addition, over 6,000 cruise ship visitors were registered, which was well below the 28,000 level of 1981. Over half of all tourists were classified as private holiday tourists; this category consisted primarily of expatriate Trinidadians who stayed at private residences while visiting the country. Roughly 20 percent of all arrivals were for business purposes, and only about 10 percent were vacationing hotel tourists. North Americans comprised about 45 percent of tourist arrivals, of which the United States share was over 30 percent. Tourists from the Commonwealth Caribbean represented 35 percent of total arrivals, followed by West Europeans and South Americans. Trinidadians also frequented Tobago in large numbers as well, creating a rather large domestic tourist subsector. Some 45,000 Trinidadians traveled to neighboring Tobago during 1985. Hotel occupancy rates in the mid-1980s averaged 55 percent, below the industry's estimated break-even point of 60 percent.

The lack of physical infrastructure for the tourist industry was the main obstacle to further development of the sector. The country contained only about 2,000 hotel rooms and 300 guest rooms, or about one-fifth of the number of rooms in Jamaica. Tobago, much more dependent on tourism than Trinidad, possessed only 600 rooms and also suffered from water distribution problems. Although government plans called for 3,000 first-class hotel rooms to be operative by 1990, some observers doubted that this goal could be achieved. The lack of adequate airports also hindered tourism. Both of the country's major airports needed some upgrading and expansion to handle the growth of tourism envisioned by the government. The Piarco International Airport, located twenty-six kilometers east of Port-of-Spain, was the nation's principal facility. As of 1987, the government had not yet implemented longstanding plans for the complete expansion and renovation of Piarco. These plans included five-star hotels, longer and emergency runways, aircraft maintenance facilities, a bonded industrial park, and a cargo warehouse, all with the objective of making Piarco the air transportation hub of the Eastern Caribbean and northern South America. Crown Point Airport, located on Tobago, was the nation's other major airport. Although it received upgrading in the 1980s, these limited provisions were not expected to allow it to accommodate greatly increased international traffic. For example, in 1987 Tobago received only one direct flight a week from Miami.

Ports represented another tourist infrastructure problem. One of the reasons for the sharp decline in cruise ship arrivals in the early 1980s was the congested conditions at the Port-of-Spain docks. This problem was expected to be partially relieved in 1988 with the completion of the deepening of the inner harbor of Tobago's major port, Scarborough, allowing the smaller island to receive large cruise ships. Tobago's infrastructure for tourism was expected to expand in general after 1987 as a consequence of the 1986 election of a native Tobagonian as prime minister.

As with the rest of the economy, government involvement in the tourist industry was quite widespread. The most prominent example of government's role in tourism was its ownership of the British West Indian Airways (BWIA). BWIA, the oldest airline in the Caribbean, not only served Trinidad and Tobago but also was a principal carrier for other Eastern Caribbean islands. Despite its important role in the country's tourist industry, BWIA and the government's Tourist Board pursued only limited promotional activities overseas, especially in Western Europe; this was perceived to have hindered the performance of the sector. The government also owned or had an equity share in many of the islands' hotels. Since 1960 the government's Trinidad and Tobago Hotel and Catering School has trained workers for the tourist industry. In addition, the government operated the Hotel Management Company, offering various inn services to smaller lodging operations on a contract basis.