The Attempted Coup of 1990
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| Winston Dookeran & Jones P Madiera on C’s First Up |
Today marks 17 years since the attempted coup and the media is doing its part to keep us from forgetting - coincidentally it’s a Friday too. I don’t remember it all like it was yesterday. It’s all pretty blurry actually. I do remember that that day my sisters and I went to my uncle’s house in D’Abadie to spend the week. It was all riotous fun till my my mother called to tell us what had just happened. I don’t even know if we knew at that moment what was a “coup” really was but we knew something big had happened.
So of course we turn on the TV and see Imam Yasin Abu Bakr on the television telling us that he and his men have overtaken the country. From what it looked like on TTT’s end, our country was in some kind of war. We had no idea what that was going to mean for us so we were terrified.
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| Yasin Abu Bakr informing the Nation |
That cut our D’Abadie vacation short and my uncle drove us home the very next day where I think we (our family) stayed indoors till well after Abu Bakr and his men were arrested.
The stories around the coup itself were incredible - bombs, looting, fires, decaying bodies, a dead MP, a Prime Minister who yelled “Attack with full force”, an amnesty and then the arrest.
The terrifying thing for me was wondering what Town was going to look like. I went to school in Town and I spent a lot of that August vacation wondering what I was going to meet. Was I going to have to walk down a smoky Frederick Street? Was I going to have to avoid rubble and sidestep corpses? Was the stench of decaying bodies at the Red House going to fill our classrooms? Obviously these thoughts were all irrational, but then so was the coup.
It turned out none of these things happened. Port of Spain was burnt and battered, but it wasn’t completely unrecognizable. The only good thing was that it was perfect conversation fodder for a new term. (Did school start on time that year or was the new term delayed? I can’t remember.) We traded stories about what we were doing at the time, what we see, what we hear. Thank God my parents did not get me new sneakers for the new term because everyone who sported new footwear got tagged as a looter.
What I want to ask you is where were you during the attempted coup of 1990?
28 Responses to “The Attempted Coup of 1990”
By Dirk Dagger on Jul 28, 2007 | Reply
I was in Canada at the time taking in the action on CNN. I have to admit I almost cried (and I wasn’t exactly a little kid at the time) because CNN gave the impression that the whole of Trinidad was in shambles, hundreds of bodies were in the streets and there was total anarchy throughout. I couldn’t contact my family and I was in a mess. It was only until the day after that I was able to get on to them and to hear them say the worst thing that was happening in San Fernando was nothing good to watch on TV.
By Jumbie on Jul 28, 2007 | Reply
I’d just finish building a 1000 watt MOSFET amp (we blew out close to 22 speakers that night if I recall correctly) and we were having a banging house party. Heard the news about 11 PM, kept on partying till about 1 AM when we heard the police station was bombed in Penal. (Yeah, I was from south).
Turns out the bombing story was not true but we still went home. I was working at SFGH at the time, so we had access to emergency passes, coup didn’t affect us much curfew wise…
South wasn’t affected much…. not from what I saw.
By Hottie Hottie on Jul 28, 2007 | Reply
I was on August holidays as we called it then and my cousins had come to visit (by the way, what part of D’Abadie your uncle’s from? I know we have a connection yuh know). My mom and aunt had just returned from making groceries and were packing them away with the TV on and nobody watching. I always remember my mom saying that when she saw Abu Bakr on TV at first she thought it was a play. I was too young to go to the coup fetes and too far to get the coup TV (the so called Disney movies they were reportedly running all the time during the coup) so my family and I just stayed home. The holidays progressed more or less the same but with a tangible friction in the air. We knew something was up but could neither comprehend nor envision what. I remember playing with the other kids in the neighbourhood and us stopping to look up when a helicopter passed low overhead. Since then I’ve met journalists who were directly involved in the coup and they’ve spoken of the horror of the experience. We the public have no comprehension of how terrible the coup really was. If you’re ever in the position to speak to Dennis McCombie about it, please do. That is one helluva brave man. He certainly does not deserve what he’s going through now. Trinidad is full of people who are capable of such extreme goodness and courage. I think we manage to forget or not see that.
By Ed on Jul 28, 2007 | Reply
I lived in Cascade at the time, home to the worst looted Hi-Lo supermarket (they had to completely rebuild it afterwards, people even took the giant freezers!!) To be honest, everything was pretty calm from where we were. No-one in the ‘burbs seriously thought that Abu Bakr was going to take things over. The biggest thing was that some friends lived within the 22-hour curfew zone downtown, and so they came to stay with us.
I also remember that a couple days after they surrendered, I was put on a BWIA flight to Barbados on the instructions of my panicked grandmother. There I saw what CNN was reporting on the coup, and yes, they made it look like all hell had broken loose. I can see why people more than a couple of miles from the Red House thought that town had been reduced to rubble.
By Frances-Anne on Jul 28, 2007 | Reply
I was living in london, as far as could be from “home” and watched the news of the bbc, where honestly i could not comprehend or take in what was happening. it seemed surreal and to bear no relation to the place i knew as trinidad.such things did not happen there, except in a “jokey” sense. so i thought it must be a joke, and didn’t take it completely seriously. it still feels kind of jokey to me in a sick sick way. no disrespect meant to those who endured it.
By Mani on Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
Dirk, now that you mention it, I do remember the impression that CNN gave about hundreds of bodies lying in the streets. I remember thinking back then that they mistook the vagrants for corpses - sad but true.
But Jumbie, you is a real boss boy, lol. Coup going on and you partying? You have to be a Trini boy, lol.
Lol, Hotts, my uncle live on Beharry trace. But oh gosh Hotts, my mother said the same exact thing! She thought it was a play too. Geez and ages, that is freaky. But I didn’t see any Disney Movies either….which I am still sour about till this day. This may be a dumb question, but has anyone ever written a book about their experiences during the coup? That will make for a good read.
Ed, I for one thought town was reduced to rubble. So Ed yuh run and lef we here boy?
Frances-Anne, you know in some way the whole thing is still surreal to me. For one it never felt like this was a place where anything like that could happen and now after they’ve repaired the old Police Headquarters, it feels even mroe like the whole thing was a fable - a very sick fable.
By Karel Mc Intosh on Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
I distinctly remember that I was walking behind my grandmother’s couch, heading to her bedroom, while she was watching the news, and all of a sudden this man - who I now know is Abu Bakr - came onscreen.
I was nine years old. Too young to understand the real implications. But I knew I was going to be inside for a while.
By ed on Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
Ha ha Mani, I was nine — I had no choice in the matter. The Bajan side of the family insisted on getting me out. Not that I complained — that was back when you couldn’t get apples in Trinidad, so I used to love going to Bdos and eating plenty apples, pears and grapes. Simple pleasures.
By ed on Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
Well, I can make you all jealous, because I got all the Disney movies. I specifically remember The Little Mermaid coming on like 10 times. Good fun. good thing too, because we were bored out of our minds since we weren’t allowed outside.
Also, I think one of the NAR MPs wrote a play about his experience. I seem to recall reading it and not thinking it was very good. There must be a good book out there somewhere, though. You’d think that Robbie would’ve written something about “attack with full force”.
By Jumbie on Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
Mani, what going on with your blog, boy? Several times I click on the link from my own, and I get a message saying yours doh exist (parked).
Problems with your host?
By Hottie Hottie on Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
Well look how me eh know where Beharry trace is. I tell you we was meant to be. What yuh think ah de blog, doh mind is a work in progress.
By Hottie Hottie on Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
Yeah, what happen boy?
By Karel Mc Intosh on Jul 31, 2007 | Reply
Hottie and Jumbie, Mani was experimenting. Ent Mani?
By Mani on Jul 31, 2007 | Reply
Ed, that’s true, you think Robbie would have after all this time.
lol, Hotts. I like the blog though.
Jumbie, Hotts and Karel, well I moved my blog to another hosting account this weekend and I had some trouble figuring it all out. I knew that I was going to get a little trouble but I didn’t expect my site to go down for 2 days. But the trouble was with me and not my host. Karel, yeah I am contemplating a move to Wordpress, but that in itself wasn’t the cause of the trouble.
By al Bert on Jul 31, 2007 | Reply
I remember the coup too, although quite vaguely, because I would have recently turned eight, I remember that we were house-sitting on Point-A-Pierre Road, Vistabella, San Fernando. My mother was watching the news and I don’t recall if I saw Abu on TV too or if it is just a forced distorted memory since we have all seen the clip at some point. But that whole play scenario is what I remember hearing also.
My only other memory is being back home playing blissfully in my yard, in San Fernando proper, until I heard then saw a huge army truck laden with men coming up the hill. I remembered being quite startled, looking at them in awe and then I running inside. That is pretty much it.
I don’t remember really being kept inside at all, I wasn’t in the road playing with the neighbors as usual but our yard was big enough for me to entertain myself. And I also don’t remember the Disney movies. Did that really happen? That’s funny to me. Some sort of psychological warfare. Lol!
By Mani on Jul 31, 2007 | Reply
I forgot to ask, are you all still having trouble viewing my site? Thanks for the heads-up, too.
By Karel Mc Intosh on Jul 31, 2007 | Reply
The site good to go. You know I’d email you if anything goes untowards. Yuh in order.
By afrobella on Jul 31, 2007 | Reply
My sister had just gotten paid, so we were coming from Westmall with a bag of all kinds of snacks for the weekend, and stuff we had bought. I distinctly remember trying to find a radio station and being confused that there were none. We noticed the streets were relatively empty, but we had to pick up family at Royal Bank in St. James. As we enter St. James — right there at the corner by Yufe’s on George Cabral, we saw a soldier in fatigues with a machine gun race across the street. That was our first sign that something was seriously wrong. We went through back roads and picked up our family, they all knew what was happening. (this was pre-everyone has a cell phone). My mother was working in the ministry of National Security so she had all the scores. Some other friends of ours were frightened and wound up coming home with us, following us in a second car.
After St. James, we found out that Westmall was being evacuated, so we had to go and pick up my aunty Opal who was working there at the time. Man… memories. I think at that point we owned a store in the mall and we were concerned about it being looted, too. At the mall, everyone was streaming out to the parking lot. I remember some people just standing there not knowing what to do or where to go. So we picked up aunty, and a good family friend I haven’t seen in years - he was a body builder who worked at that gym in the mall. Body Works? Can’t even remember the name. Then we all went home to bunker down, family, and a very random group of friends who we’ve lost touch with over the years.
I remember watching the news with my brothers and they recognized one of the gunmen as their geography teacher from Polytechnic, Mr. Ali. We used to go to the same hairdresser as Muriel Donowa McDavidson, and I remember finding out that her driver George was killed during the coup. He was a really nice guy, and I was very sad to hear that. I remember knowing we were on curfew, and it was a big deal the first time we left the house — to go to a grocery store my neighbor used to own in Diego. That was like a mob scene of people trying to all get groceries. Definitely remember the repeats of The Little Mermaid. For me as a child, the coup all seemed like a big, crazy adventure. Like Karel, I was too young to really get what was happening at the time. Great post, Mani. You took me back to some memories I haven’t thought about in a while.
By Trini Down Under on Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
I was in a maxi-taxi from Chaguanas to Town going to see a football match. I think we were playing Jamaica that night at the stadium. When the maxi got to Town we saw lots of people heading across the square (it used to be de square) and someone told us that the jail, police station, Red House, KFC, and everything else they could quickly list, were on fire. Needless to say, no one left the maxi-taxi, “driver we go take it in Chaguanas”, and we all stayed on as the driver headed back to Chag. It was all quite surreal. We knew something big was happening but were unsure of what it was. I got home in time to see the culprits on tv explaining what they had done.
At first I was very shaken. This was serious business. But the thing I remembered clearly, the thing that indicated to me how stupid and naive these people were, was that they announced that from the next day there would be no VAT. Does anyone else remember that? I actually thought at the time that it was funny. Being of scientific bent, my first reaction was that this no-VAT thing could not be affected by as early as the next day, what are they thinking? The next thing I rememberd thinking was, what about carnival? And lots of people were thinking that coup and carnival don’t mix. It was obvious there was no plan, no clear thinking that went into the “coup”. It was ah coup jus to have ah coup. It wouldn’t last.
Some of the indelible memories I have are of those black and white photograps in the newspapers of those still young men and women of the regiment stationed on the rooftops of buildings and of Robbie’s call for them not to hold back. I think we still owe those young men and women “ah big big t’anks”.
Does anyone remember curfew parties? Did anyone go to them?
Anyway Manni, someone needs to do some serious investigating and then write the definitve account of the “coup” because there are still too many unanswered questions. Yuh must know somebody who could do dat.
By Hottie Hottie on Aug 3, 2007 | Reply
But Mani, yuh doh come and visit meh again?
By flippant on Aug 3, 2007 | Reply
i remember that my whole family was visiting my aunt in tobago when it happened. an unusually graphic episode of Star Trek: TNG had just finished (the one where insidious parasite aliens had infiltrated starfleet; picard and riker had to basically melt the hive leader’s host body with phasers - yuck) when the news should have come on, it was abu bakr instead. Being 8 yrs old i had no comprehension of what was really happening, my older brother went to call the adults to the tv. The worried looks on their faces told me what i needed to know: some bad s— was going down. looks like we can’t go back home for awhile. i vaguely remember my uncle setting up his CB radio for long-range broadcast, and trying to contact someone - anyone - outside of T&T to ask them if they knew what was going on, if help was on the way, if anyone cared. i think all he got were a few new amigos across the gulf.
By AKK on Aug 3, 2007 | Reply
Whats interesting to me here is that everyone has a story, everyone remembers exactly what they were doing and what happened afterwards.
I was actually at summer camp with my older sister and younger brother. This camp strangely enough was being held in those army offices…not even sure what the place is now, down chagaramas. I know that afterward they converted some part of these buildings into the court room to hold all 114 muslimeen. So we were there in the middle of the army, at camp. I remember the soldiers who were left on base, surrounding where we were camping out and we were not allowed to go outside. The one tv the counsellors had didn’t show very well so all we knew was that there was a ‘coup’, town was burnt and abu bakr take over. My father was the first parent to come and find his children. He drove from Arima to Chagaramas, was searched a couple times, had his car searched and everything. We lived in Santa Rosa Heights at the time, so we of course missed out on the endless Disney movies. I am still bitter about this like someone else who commented higher up and to this day I have never seen The Little Mermaid. On the other hand I’m not sure if I missed it because we were too far in the east or because we spent all our time playing in the road and not bothering to turn on the tv. We were pretty much sheltered from the entire thing the whole time. However like everybody else, I’m pretty sure i’ll be able to relate this story well into my old age even though some of the details will continue to get blurry.
By Mani on Aug 3, 2007 | Reply
Thanks Karel!
Afrobella, gosh gyul, I saw and experienced a whole lot more than I did. Yeah Body Works is the name of the gym. Thanks for taking the time to share that.
Trini Down Under, I knew there was a football match going on. I thought I was wrong about it. Thanks for confirming me. I remember people criricisint the TTFF or whoever was responsible for not stopping the match. I believe it went on to completeion, but I may be wrong. I agree that there needs to be an inquiry, but a lot of people don’t want one, and have never wanted one, for whatever reason.
Hotts, ah sorry sweetie, I doh even visit my self often enough.
Flippant, are you a Trekkie? lol. No worries. I don’t think as children we had any real comprehension of what was going on, but we knew it was big.
akk, that was me who said that I missed out on all the free Disney movies. You see people, I’m not alone. There are other people who are bitter as I am. I still haven’t seen the Little Mermaid either.
Thanks to everyone who has commented on this so far. I’m enjoying reading these stories.
By Vami on Aug 3, 2007 | Reply
i remember that night real good mani. we were all in the kitchen with some of my mom’s friends. she was currying baigan and aloo when the neighbor from across the road ran straight into our kitchen and said “abu bakr take over the country with violence.” So lime finish and the people went home and really, i thought it was unreal. you know, lil dominic kalipersad was sitting there in the back and abu bakr was saying something. i was really young, and I thought that abu bakr was a new reporter and kalipersad was training him. lol!
By Chennette on Aug 4, 2007 | Reply
Hey Mani, I’ve been on vacation. I read this post on the day, but didn’t get to post my 2-cents.
I was in the village mosque. It was a Friday, we had classes in the evening and my mother called her aunt who lived next to the mosque to tell us there was a coup. My first reaction was “a what?”. The word didn’t seem real for me. Not for Trinidad.
And then when we went home, saw the tv, had the parents explain (well, whatever they could) and I cried. I couldn’t believe a Muslim in Trinidad would do something like that. Truthfully, I cried because even though I was 13, I was sure he’d ruined life for Muslims in this country, especially those who wore hijab etc. That got me soooo mad. And there was some of that kind of backlash, but in the end, T&T prevailed I think over that reaction.
I do recall hearing stories about looting after the fact. About soldiers dropping off goods too. And my aunt, who had a store in the Croisee, got looted and brought her remaining stock to the safety of our Central village. She and my mother had real fears stemming from memories of 1907s when their house in San Juan was attacked.
We played almost normally. An occasional (very rare) police or army vehicle would remind us that we were supposed to be inside. And yes, we got the Disney. Little Mermaid…Pinocchio etc. Actually, our house was the only one on our little stretch of road that got it, so we had the neighbour children over.
By nandi23 on Aug 5, 2007 | Reply
Abu Bakar was allowed to walk free, isn’t Trinidad wonderful?
By Mani on Aug 7, 2007 | Reply
LOL, Vami, you made me laugh at the thought that Kalipersad was in training.
Chennette, to be truthful, the coup was my first real introduction to muslims being in Trinidad, but like everyone else I was young and didn’t know better….like you said i’m glad that T&T prevailed after the initial reaction. But how everybody get Disney so boy?
By Mani on Aug 7, 2007 | Reply
Nandi, it’s priceless, lol.