In 2009, I am told that Trinidad is just three years behind the States,
and I believe it's true. The malls have become mega malls filled with
American and European brands alongside upscale Trinidad-produced
copycats like Rituals, a Starbucks knockoff. In West Moorings, the
luxury mall constitutes a kind of tiny Rodeo Drive filled with
local-haute couture and foreign imports--all at American prices.
At Port of Spain's Queens Park Savannah, the iconic vendors' selling
coconuts from the back of old flatbed trucks now sport neon signs with
corporate advertising. On the other side of the Savannah, the massive
National Performing Arts Center recalling the Sydney Opera House is
being built while the rest of the city skyline is becoming crowded with
half-built skyscrapers, all pa
rt of Prime Minister Patrick Manning's
plan to make Trinidad the only first world country in the Caribbean by
2020.
The Tru Value supermarket in Trincity, about 15 miles from Port of
Spain, features a wine market, bakery and upscale dr ugstore. Packaged
foods, once a scorned oddity in this country of home cooking,
proliferate the shelves. You can buy frozen Shark and Bake, a local
specialty particular to Maracas Beach and a "callaloo kit," in which
the low-cost tubers and greens that comprise the national dish,
callaloo soup, are put together for easy convenience at a premium price.
Standing in line next to me at Tru Value, the Saturday of the summit, a
young man sports two-carat diamond studs in each ear, his shirt is
airbrushed with an elaborate vine of "flowers" that resemble stacks of
American dollars. I wonder to myself, ironically, whether he knows the
dollar has lost its bloom.
I anxiously observe all this progress. Three years lag behind the
United States in today's economy is a sinister projection. In 2006, we
too, were flying high, paying a premium for convenience, the more
conspicuous the consumption the better. And then the crash came.
Addressing summit attendees on Saturday evening, Manning said that the
seven-year economic growth Trinidad enjoyed until last year is
already=2 0declining.
But why should it matter to us in America? Being here in the midst of
the Fifth Summit of Americas,
I realize it matters a great deal. With
the question of Trinidad's role as a leader being considered within the
Latin Americas/Caribbean, we would do well as Americans to understand
that Trinidad's prosperity affects the United States' both directly and
indirectly. Unlike other Caribbean nations that largely depend upon
tourism or exports of sugarcane to sustain them in a post-colonial
world, nearly a quarter of Trinidad's gross domestic product is based
in a rich petroleum and the natural gas industry, comprising nearly
three-quarters of the nation's export revenue.
Seventy percent of the natural gas used in Boston comes from Trinidad.
Trinidadian asphalt from the La Brea, the world's largest pitch (tar)
lake lines much of our roads. Sir Walter Raleigh first used it in the
16th century to caulk his ships. Petrochemicals like fertilizers are
made here, second only to the Soviet Union in world production.
Because of its economic might, Trinidad is often called the "America of
the Caribbean" or even "Little New York," wielding fiscal influence on
neighboring countries in the form of trade and humanitarian aid. Its
proximity (a mere eight miles) to Venezuela, places it directly in eye
of the political storm between the U.S. and Venezuela, perhaps
providing a calm zone where those two nations can find common ground.
This seems to have already been proved by the warm personal
interactions between Presidents Obama and Chavez duri
ng the summit
weekend.
Regarding other matters of world diplomacy, Trinidad is defined as an
area of interest in intelligence circles, and the FBI has set up a base
there. Muslim extremist groups are on the rise, and there is
supposition that al-Qaida is making inroads toward using Trinidad as a
base of operations.
In the years since I have been visiting Trinidad, the evidence of
Trinidad's morphing society is apparent in more than just economic
ways. Over the past 10 years, I've observed more overt displays of
religious orthodoxy among the island's 6% Muslim population even while
the rest of the nation is rushing headlong into full-fledged
participation in over-the-top consumerism in the American style.
The social and, particularly, economic divide that has always been the
blight of Trinidad society has become crystallized with the frenzied
preparation for the arrival of world leaders. Public works projects
including road clean-ups, infrastructure repair and increased public
safety constitute a good public face. Yet on the darker side, the
homeless are being corralled out of view, and many there believe that
quality of life improvements will not continue once the dignitaries
have left.
Even as caviar is sold in the once humble Hi-Lo supermarket in Port of
Spain, it is not uncommon for families in deep rural areas to live20on
what they can farm and their children go to school shoe-less, while in
urban Po
rt of Spain, a thriving community called Beetham Gardens
forages an existence amid the Sea Lots garbage dumps.
The government recently built a four-foot wall around Beetham Gardens
to contain the rampant crime therein (the official reason to protect
residents from increasing traffic nearby). But crime is not centralized
to that location; violent crime is on the rise in a country of just 1.2
million people. As of the second day of the summit, the murder rate
stood at over 150 for 2009. Projections are that it will reach 508 by
the end of 2009 and 650 by 2010. By comparison, the New York City
murder rate stood at 89 by the end of March of this year.
These are all pressing issues for the nations of Trinidad and Tobago,
but they are also matters of concern for the U.S. as well. If Trinidad
follows the United States' economic trajectory with a lag of three
years, then we can suppose a major crash is coming their way--in fact,
the real estate bubble of two years ago there seems to ha ve just past
its zenith. Trinidad enjoys foreign investments second only to Canada
and maintains one of the highest credit ratings in the world. Now, we
have a global economy that sees Western nations increasingly unable to
make foreign investments or extend credit.
If Trinidad crashes, the nation will have to cope with social issues at
home that will require many dollars to solve. This could have major
consequences with
its ability to become the broker of Latin American
and Caribbean diplomacy and aid to deeply poverty stricken areas like
Haiti.
Given all of this, it's time for Trinidad to take advantage of the
three-year telescope it has been granted and make provisions for the
future, or being the "America of the Caribbean" may prove less
appealing after all.
Ramin Ganeshram has written for The New York Times, Forbes Four
Seasons, National Geographic Traveler, Newsday and many other
publications. She is the author of Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from
Trinidad & Tobago.
