For the generation that has grown to adulthood since July 27, 1990, photos and videos cannot fully convey the terror and fury of that day, with the black smoke rising from the fire at Police Headquarters, the gunfire and explosions in Port-of-Spain, and the fear and uncertainty that gripped the nation.
However, they live daily with the consequences of that failed coup and the permanent scar it has left on this society.
After 33 years, there still has been no justice for the 24 citizens killed, or the hundreds more maimed and traumatised during the attempted overthrow of the Government.
The commemorations taking place today are occasions to remember, to honour the memories of the citizens violently struck down during those terror-filled days, to reinforce the difficult lessons of that experience but most of all, to never forget that assault on democracy.
The truth about July 27, 1990, must never be hidden or watered down. Citizens who did not live through those horrific events must be taught the facts and equipped with the knowledge they need to avoid a repeat.
In many respects, it had been an uneventful Friday until 42 insurgents led by Bilaal Abdullah stormed the Red House, and Prime Minister ANR Robinson and most of his Cabinet were taken hostage in the Parliament chamber.
Simultaneously, another 72 rebels, including Jamaat Al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr, invaded State-owned Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT).
The bombing of Police Headquarters at around 5.50 pm, followed a few minutes later by Abu Bakr’s appearance on television to announce that the Government had been overthrown, marked the beginning of six days of unrest, with gunfire ringing out across the city and looting in several parts of the country.
By August 1, 1990, when the insurgents surrendered, the capital had been reduced to a smouldering heap of rubble and the stench of death was heavy around the Red House.
In the decades since, T&T has struggled for closure and there is a real danger of the facts being distorted.
That is why the truth told about July 27, 1990, must always include the social fallout, economic hardships in the months and weeks preceding the failed coup. There are lessons to be learned in examining the prevailing conditions at that time—declining petroleum production, falling oil prices, tax increases, and a devalued TT dollar. The unemployment rate, then in the range of 22.3 per cent, was the highest in the country’s history.
These factors contributed to high levels of discontent among citizens. Protests were frequent. In the months before the attempted coup there had been a one-day strike, a March Against Hunger and several trade unions had joined with civil society groups and the Jamaat Al Muslimeen to form the Summit of People's Organisations (SOPO).
The search for the truth about the failed coup continues to this day, even after a commission of enquiry (CoE) that found that "the burgeoning crime and the changing nature of contemporary crime in Trinidad and Tobago have their origins in the events of 1990 and the aftermath thereof”.
Crime and violence are frightening features of daily life in this country—a wound inflicted during that assault on our democracy that continues to fester.
T&T must find ways to heal, grow and regain all that was lost on that terror-filled Friday 33 years ago.