Monthly Archives: January 2023

General T&T, Parliament, PNM, Politics

If you start with a lie…

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 30, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI wish to congratulate Christine Kangaloo for having been elected to the highest office of the land. Whatever her strengths and/or weaknesses, she now represents all Trinbagonians and so we ought to pledge our allegiance to her. As she said in her acceptance speech: “Now that the election is over, I look forward to serving our country in the only way I know how—with love for all and with an unwavering belief in the innate goodness of our people.”
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General T&T, Guyana, Oil and Gas, Politics, USA, Venezuela

Thanks, USA – for nothing

By Raffique Shah
January 30, 2023

Raffique ShahI suppose Trinidad and Tobago, being a small-island-state, very literally, has to be thankful for small mercies dished out by the super-powers of the world. In this case, big, bad USA, has finally agreed to issue a waiver on the sanctions it has imposed on Venezuela that will allow TT and Caracas to monetise an estimated 4.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from the Dragon field, which lies close to the international boundary between the two countries, but which belongs to Venezuela.
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General T&T

An apology

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 21, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeApart from the years that I have spent abroad, I have lived most of my life in Tacarigua, a village that is located about ten miles east of Port of Spain. In 1976 Lance Murray, an official of the Trinidad Sugar Estates (known then as the Orange Grove Estates), sent Fr David Benjamin, the pastor of the St Mary’s Anglican Church, a letter offering the church an opportunity to purchase a plot of land adjacent to the church. Elated by the possibility of expansion, the members of vestry voted unanimously to accept the offer; they built a parish hall on the land.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, PNM, Politics

Talk Done

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By Raffique Shah
January 23, 2023

Raffique ShahWill the Prime Minister tell the nation what he expects to achieve by staging a national consultation on crime, which he announced recently? When he made the headline-grabbing proposal, which seemed to me an outburst triggered by extreme frustration, Dr Keith Rowley came across as a leader who had nothing more to offer the population on the one issue that impacts their lives daily, although statistics might well reveal that in reality, fewer that ten percent of them have come face-to-face with violent crimes, and far fewer have been victims.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

It’s always political

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 16, 2023

“Democracy is not maintained by legal and constitutional texts alone.”

—Attorney Kiel Taklalsingh

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA few days ago, the Prime Minister defended his Government’s choice of Christine Kangaloo for President of Trinidad and Tobago. He argued that those people who objected to the Government’s nomination were indulging in “nothing but pure politics… There are people in this country who set out deliberately to mislead the country, and I go as far as to say, incite the population”. (Express, January 9.)
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

Patriotism and its vulgar application

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 09, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOver the past two weeks Minister Stuart Young has proclaimed his patriotism and his commitment to the central tenet of our National Anthem: “Here every creed and race find an equal place.” Anyone who objects to his interpretation of this aspect of the anthem is accused of being a racist or, as he said recently, of playing “the unsavoury race card”. He has accused me of attacking him “on the basis of race” (Express, January 2).
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Culture, General T&T

Celebrating Our Bards

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By Raffique Shah
January 09, 2023

Raffique ShahUpon rereading my column last Sunday, I thought I did grave injustice to Leroy Calliste, the Black Stalin, by attempting to evaluate his immense contribution to calypso, the art form, and culture as a whole in Trinidad and Tobago, or indeed in the Carribbean, by summarizing his works in a few paragraphs. My apologies to the late bard who passed on and was given one of the most impressive funerals I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch

Pride in our origins

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 02, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo weeks ago I cautioned the People’s National Movement about the Prime Minister’s desire to foist Stuart Young upon the party as its next political leader. I also asked party leaders to recognise how important black people are to the sustenance of the party.

In his response, Minister Young accused the editor of the Express and me of being racist for publishing my observation. He commented: “The Express editor has taken a conscious decision to use racism as the foundation for an attack against me and I reject this… It is important at moments like this when media and others attempt to attack persons based on race, and a promotion of racism, that we, the citizens, reject them and their messaging, and I do so.” (Express, December 19.)
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Carnival, Culture, General T&T

Black Stalin: calypsonian, crusader

By Raffique Shah
January 02, 2023

Raffique ShahBy a strange coincidence, last Tuesday, the fourth day of a very long Christmas weekend, I set up my music system around two in the afternoon, inserted a USB “stick” on which I have, over many years, collected hundreds of tracks from CDs I had bought or recorded music that was freely available for download from several sites on the Internet, and prepared for a treat I had not enjoyed for quite some time.
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