It could be. The point was that they didn't want integration so they would use anything they could to cling to segregation.Would T&T be an argument against school integration among conservative Southerners like Haiti was for slavery?
It could be. The point was that they didn't want integration so they would use anything they could to cling to segregation.Would T&T be an argument against school integration among conservative Southerners like Haiti was for slavery?
That's just what embargoed cuba needs the most. T&T could become an early Venezuela. I mean only in the special relation with Cuba.Even worse, Trinidad has oil.
That's just what embargoed cuba needs the most. T&T could become an early Venezuela. I mean only in the special relation with Cuba.
Here’s a bit on US involvement during the crisis, I posted it earlier but I think it makes it somewhat more clear that the US was very much involved. Also some very interesting is the fact that Venezuela was potentially trying to become involved.I think that would be a very mixed blessing for a black power T&T government. On one hand, Cuban support can bring troops, weapons, and maybe even some Soviet support, but it would also bring even more direct attention from the US.
I think if Cuba and, worse, the USSR got too involved in T&T, the United States would do whatever it could to coup it.
If the black power movement goes more racial-nationalist than directly socialist (which I think is unlikely), you could see large overseas communities of ethnically Indian Trinidadians and Tobagonians in Guyana, the UK, and US, but since that’s very unlikely IMO, I’d expect white and mixed race elites (as in the richest of the rich) to be the ones to leave instead.
If things go in the direction if close a Cuban relationship than maybe something more happens and you see more middle class peoples leave, which could lead to a real chance of regime radicalization which could see big changes from there.
Shure, but they are a small island in the Caribbean and USA isn't friendly to them so they are gonna need help but the only places they could get it in such situation is likely gonna be Cuba, and therefore the USSR. Is how things rolled in the cold war for small countries.I’d also like to point out that this was mostly an anti foreigner, anti capitalist movement, and even though they may hate capitalists, I don’t think anyone would be very receptive to Cubans coming down to help. On the other hand, Venezuelan warships arriving offshore would play into the revolutionaries hands if they had already seized Port of Spain and Chaguaramas, both of them contain the majority of military outposts on the island. They would be in a advantage to claim that the country should unite behind them against the foreigners.
Time for the Monroe Doctrine!
East Indians weren’t very much a part of the political system at the time, they were barely on the radar of the “revolutionaries”.Based on Grenada's experience thirteen years later and the time period Britain would do nothing, the Governor-General remaining in place, even if he got booted out, its unlikely Britain would intervene directly, however, a little MI6 skullduggery isn't out of the question*. The US is a question mark again given the time, 1970 is definitely not 1983. Serious issues (Indians forced at gunpoint to hop on a boat/aeroplane) might cause more direct US involvement but I can't see troops landing, it's just not politically acceptable. Genuinely I'd find it more likely for Nixon to contact the UN, inevitably get rebuffed and corral Carribean nations to provide the troops, but really most realistically as long as they don't go absolutely mental the new regime invites Cuban advisors in and gets at least a decade of security.
*EDIT: Actually I can't see the CIA letting the British independently plot coups in their bailiwick even if its in a Commonwealth nation. More likely the CIA do any subversive actions. OR given the period they let them but its giving permission/cooperation.
On the possibility of the new regime booting out Indians, its another substantial group of British passport owning 'foreigners' the UK will be (rightly IMO) obliged to take in and so cause increased anti-immigration tension based on the Ugandan Indian experience. A far smaller number but in the eyes of Powellites and the National Front that isn't really the point.
With the example of Cuba hanging overhead, the US would not be pleased. The US has never liked socialist-looking leaders in the Caribbean, as evidenced by Guatemala, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and especially Cuba, where the US wasn't able to succeed in regime change operations. This regime would be walking on eggshells from day one. Even worse, Trinidad has oil.
That's just what embargoed cuba needs the most. T&T could become an early Venezuela. I mean only in the special relation with Cuba.
I think that would be a very mixed blessing for a black power T&T government. On one hand, Cuban support can bring troops, weapons, and maybe even some Soviet support, but it would also bring even more direct attention from the US.
I think if Cuba and, worse, the USSR got too involved in T&T, the United States would do whatever it could to coup it.
If the black power movement goes more racial-nationalist than directly socialist (which I think is unlikely), you could see large overseas communities of ethnically Indian Trinidadians and Tobagonians in Guyana, the UK, and US, but since that’s very unlikely IMO, I’d expect white and mixed race elites (as in the richest of the rich) to be the ones to leave instead.
If things go in the direction if close a Cuban relationship than maybe something more happens and you see more middle class peoples leave, which could lead to a real chance of regime radicalization which could see big changes from there.
So after several months of research, talking to many people that were involved, and way too much reading, I have basically found out that the revolution was already doomed if it had overthrown the government. This is an extremely simplified version of what actually happened. The CIA was already flying in arms, they had supplied the loyal police force with mortars and had at least one or two guys already down to monitor the situation. The British, US and the Venezuelan Navy were all poised to invade. The US had dispatched an entire Amphibious Ready Group (That includes a small aircraft carrier and five or six other warships) with over 2000 marines. The US was flying in ludicrous amounts of ammunition. If the mutineers had arrested or forced the Prime Minister to flee Port of Spain, we’re looking at a combination of Grenada and the US intervention in the DR in 65’.Shure, but they are a small island in the Caribbean and USA isn't friendly to them so they are gonna need help but the only places they could get it in such situation is likely gonna be Cuba, and therefore the USSR. Is how things rolled in the cold war for small countries.