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Caribbean Islands FOREIGN RELATIONS
Since achieving self-governing status in 1956, Trinidad and
Tobago has followed a nationalistic and independent course in its
foreign policy, and it has taken an active role in international
and regional organizations, such as the UN and the Organization of
American States (OAS). Trinidad and Tobago has made a point of
insisting on its autonomy from United States foreign policy and its
right to maintain relations with communist countries, especially
Cuba. It has been an advocate of close Caribbean cooperation, as
long as this did not adversely affect the domestic economy.
Trinidad and Tobago was a founding member of the Caribbean Free
Trade Association (Carifta) and is also an important member of its
successor organization, Caricom, which was established in 1973.
Prior to independence in 1962, Williams took several positions
that emphasized the islands' sovereignty and their right to make
their own decisions. He fought for, and achieved, the right to sit
as a sovereign member with the United States and Britain at the
1960 conference that decided the fate of the United States base at
Chaguaramas (see The Road to Independence, this ch.). Prompted by
economic considerations, Williams also made the decision to pull
out of the West Indies Federation in 1962, thereby giving it the
coup de grace. Both of these decisions illustrate fundamental
policies of autonomy and zealous concern for a standard of living
that is much higher than that of the other Commonwealth Caribbean
islands. Implementation of both these policies was made much easier
by substantial oil revenues and the stability of the government.
Since independence, Trinidad and Tobago has associated itself
with, and participated in, many international organizations. Upon
independence, it became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations,
and later that year it was admitted to the UN. In March 1967,
Trinidad and Tobago became the first Commonwealth Caribbean member
of the OAS, and the following June it signed the Inter-American
Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) of 1947, thus becoming
a part of the inter-American regional security mechanism under the
framework of the UN Charter. In these organizations it has
traditionally followed a policy of nonalignment and respect for
sovereignty of states, a policy that in the late 1980s the Robinson
government made a point of endorsing.
Trinidad and Tobago has taken an independent stance in the UN.
In the fortieth UN General Assembly in 1985-86, only 17.8 percent
of Trinidad and Tobago's votes supported United States positions.
It opposed the trade embargo against Nicaragua and took opposing
sides on other issues important to the United States.
Trinidad and Tobago has also demonstrated its independence from
United States foreign policy initiatives in the OAS. In 1972
Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and Guyana defied the
United States and the OAS and established diplomatic relations with
Cuba. After the OAS lifted sanctions against Cuba in 1975, Williams
visited Cuba and also visited the Soviet Union, Hungary, Romania,
and China. He was not, however, impressed with Cuba and, in the
1976 campaign, used examples from Cuba to demonstrate the
superiority of capitalism. Trinidad and Tobago has been ambivalent
about closer ties with Cuba, maintaining correct diplomatic
relations but not encouraging Cuban initiatives.
Although Trinidad and Tobago denounced the 1983 coup against
Grenadian leader Maurice Bishop and imposed sanctions against the
Revolutionary Military Council, it opposed the subsequent United
States-Caribbean intervention in that country (see Grenada, Foreign
Relations, ch. 4). Prime Minister Chambers condemned the use of
force as a "first resort," arguing that a nonmilitary solution
should have been pursued. Chambers was angered that he had not been
consulted before the operation, as he was serving as Caricom
chairman at the time. The government took the position that the
Grenada crisis was a Caribbean affair and, as such, was the sole
responsibility of the people and governments of the Caribbean.
Chambers and his external affairs minister, Basil Ince, felt that
the United States-Caribbean intervention set a dangerous precedent
for invasions of other states in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the
government expressed willingness for Trinidad and Tobago to be part
of a peacekeeping force.
Public opinion in Trinidad and Tobago did not necessarily
endorse the government's position on Grenada. A poll taken by an
independent research group in Trinidad and Tobago showed that 63
percent felt that force was the only alternative. A majority (56
percent) thought that Trinidad and Tobago should have "joined the
invasion;" 61 percent maintained that the decision by a majority of
Caricom states to "invite" United States intervention was
"justified."
Trinidad and Tobago's Grenada policy affected its relations
with some of its Commonwealth Caribbean neighbors. Following the
coup against Bishop, Trinidad and Tobago deployed soldiers along
its northern and southern coasts to prevent illegal landings by
refugees from Grenada and put extra restrictions on Grenadian
immigration. Relations with Barbados were also strained, as the two
countries argued about whether or not the Trinidadian ambassador in
Barbados had been fully informed of the plans to send a task force
to the Caribbean.
Although nationalistic and independent, Trinidad and Tobago has
maintained a strong attachment to Britain. In April 1982, Trinidad
and Tobago joined Chile, Colombia, and the United States in
abstaining from voting on an OAS resolution recognizing Argentine
sovereignty over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands. The following month
it joined the same three countries in abstaining from a resolution
that condemned the British military operation and called on the
United States to halt its aid to Britain.
Trinidad and Tobago also demonstrated its respect for the
British in its Constitution by retaining the Judicial Committee of
the Privy Council in London as the highest court of appeal. Polls
taken just before the Constitution went into effect showed that
many citizens felt that resort to the Privy Council in London would
achieve a more just solution than that found in courts in Trinidad
and Tobago. The poll also revealed that 52 percent of those
answering agreed with the statement that "Trinidad and Tobago would
have been better off if it had not become independent." Only 18
percent disagreed.
Policy in Trinidad and Tobago has favored Caribbean economic
cooperation as long as that cooperation did not threaten the
nation's standard of living. After Jamaica's withdrawal from the
West Indies Federation in 1961, Trinidad and Tobago followed suit
the following year because it did not want to be responsible for
eight small, much poorer islands. Half of all Trinidadians
interviewed in a 1976 poll agreed with the statement that "Trinidad
and Tobago should go its own way and not worry about the
Caribbean." Nonetheless, Trinidad and Tobago was generous to its
Caribbean neighbors during the oil-rich years. Assistance from
Trinidad and Tobago totaled nearly US$300 million and included
issuance of grants to the CDB, establishment of an aid council to
provide loans to other countries, and creation of an oil, asphalt,
and fertilizer facility to help its Caricom partners pay for the
increased cost of imports. In the 1980s, however, oil prices fell,
and the Chambers government instituted a system of import licensing
and dual exchange rates that severely restricted Trinidad and
Tobago's importation of goods from Caricom. By 1986 intraregional
trade accounted for only a little over 5 percent of total imports.
Shortly after his December 1986 electoral victory, Robinson
promised that the NAR government would increase intraregional
trade. Robinson signaled his desire for closer relationships with
the Caribbean by inviting all the Caricom leaders to a ceremonial
opening of Parliament in January 1987. Six Caribbean leaders
accepted the invitation, among them Prime Minister Errol Barrow of
Barbados, who met with Robinson in April to discuss fishing rights
and to sign an agreement on Caribbean air service. Robinson also
offered to host the Caricom conference in May 1988. By mid-1987 the
Trinidad and Tobago government had removed the 12-percent import
duty for 8 of the other 11 Caricom countries.
Trinidad and Tobago's relations with Venezuela in the late
1980s were cordial but surprisingly distant, considering the
physical proximity of the two countries. President Jaime Lusinchi
of Venezuela visited Trinidad and Tobago in September 1986 at Prime
Minister Chambers's invitation, the first Venezuelan president ever
to visit the islands while in office. Disputes over fishing rights
were addressed in a 1985 fishing agreement, signed at the time of
Lusinchi's visit, along with a number of other agreements on
industrial and technical collaboration. At the same time, Spanish-
language courses were arranged for members of the Trinidad and
Tobago Defence Force coast guard. By 1987, however, the NAR
government was criticizing the fishing agreement as detrimental to
Trinidad and Tobago's interests. On a number of occasions,
Venezuelan guards detained fishing boats from Trinidad and Tobago
and seized the cargo. Both countries hoped to remedy this problem
by organizing joint patrols of disputed areas.
Trinidad and Tobago has strongly opposed apartheid in South
Africa. This has been a tenet of foreign policy with grass-roots
appeal, expressed in 1986 in a popular calypso chorus that chanted
"Botha, you need a kick in the bottom."
Data as of November 1987
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