Port of Spain History and Practical: Eric Williams, the 1990 Coup, Laventille, the Red House, V.S. Naipaul Birthplace, and Visitor Logistics
The political history of Port of Spain encompasses the Oxford scholar Eric Williams who led Trinidad to independence, the dramatic 1990 Muslimeen coup attempt, the steelpan birthplace of Laventille, and the parliament Red House, with practical information on the Piarco airport, the TT dollar, and the taxi transport network.
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Eric Williams and Independence: The Caribbean Oxford Scholar
Eric Williams, the Oxford-educated historian whose Capitalism and Slavery demonstrated the economic dependence of the British Empire on the slave trade, became the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago at independence in 1962 and led the nation for the first 19 years of nationhood. The Eric Williams Memorial Collection at the National Library is the most complete archive of the independence movement in the English-speaking Caribbean.
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The 1990 Coup Attempt: The Muslimeen Crisis
The July 1990 attempted coup by the Jamaat al Muslimeen led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, in which 114 armed men stormed the parliament building and the national broadcasting station and held Prime Minister A.N.R. Robinson and members of parliament hostage for six days in the most dramatic political crisis in Caribbean history, resulted in 24 deaths and the eventual pardon of the coup leaders, creating an unresolved political controversy that persists in Trinidad political discourse.
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Laventille: The Hill of Steel
Laventille, the hillside community east of Port of Spain that is the birthplace of the steelpan tradition and the spiritual home of Carnival in the East Port of Spain yards where the pan orchestras emerged from the Tamboo Bamboo bands of the 1930s, is simultaneously the most creative and the most economically disadvantaged community in Trinidad, creating the paradox of extraordinary musical innovation in conditions of persistent poverty that is the central social tension of Port of Spain.
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Red House: Parliament of the Republic
The Red House, the neo-Renaissance parliament building of Port of Spain completed in 1907 and painted in its distinctive red color, is the seat of the Trinidad and Tobago parliament and the most recognizable colonial institutional building in the capital, having survived the fire of 1903 that destroyed the earlier building and the 1990 coup attack. The parliament chamber is open to visitors for the public gallery during parliamentary sessions.
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Chaguanas: The Indian Heartland
Chaguanas, the largest town in central Trinidad and the birthplace of V.S. Naipaul, is the commercial and cultural center of Indo-Trinidadian life, with the Masjid Ghaus-e-Azam mosque, the Divali Nagar cultural site that hosts the national Divali celebrations, and the Lion House of the Capildeo family that provided the fictional material for A House for Mr. Biswas. Chaguanas represents the most complete expression of the Indian migration experience in the Caribbean.
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Port of Spain Practical: Visas, Currency, and Getting Around
Port of Spain, served by the Piarco International Airport, uses the Trinidad and Tobago dollar at a rate of approximately TT6.8 to USD1, with credit cards widely accepted in the formal tourism sector and cash essential in the street food and market economy. The taxi system rather than rideshare is the primary transport option for visitors, with fixed-rate taxis from the airport to the hotel zone and the route taxis serving the intercity transport network.