Head of Government—Prime Minister Arthur Napoleon Raymond ROBINSON (since 18 December 1986)
Political parties and leaders: National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR),
A. N. R. Robinson; People's National Movement (PNM), Patrick Manning;
United National Congress, Basdeo Panday; Movement for Social
Transformation (MOTION), David Abdullah
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: House of Representatives—last held 15 December 1986 (next to be held by December 1991); results—NAR 66%, PNM 32%, others 2%; seats—(36 total) NAR 33, PNM 3
Communists: Communist Party of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and
Tobago Peace Council, James Millette
Other political pressure groups: National Joint Action Committee (NJAC), radical antigovernment black-identity organization; Trinidad and Tobago Peace Council, leftist organization affiliated with the World Peace Council; Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce; Trinidad and Tobago Labor Congress, moderate labor federation; Council of Progressive Trade Unions, radical labor federation
Member of: ACP, CARICOM, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT,
IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development
Bank, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, IWC—International
Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Angus Albert KHAN; Chancery at 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 467-6490; Trinidad and Tobago has a Consulate General in New York; US—Ambassador Charles A. GARGANO; Embassy at 15 Queen's Park West, Port-of-Spain (mailing address is P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain); telephone [809] 622-6372 or 6376, 6176
Flag: red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side
- Economy Overview: Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy has been in decline since 1982. During the first half of the 1980s, the petroleum sector accounted for nearly 80% of export earnings, 40% of government revenues, and almost 25% of GDP. In recent years, however, the economy has suffered because of the sharp fall in the price of oil. The government, in response to the revenue loss, pursued a series of austerity measures that pushed the unemployment rate to 22% in 1988. Agriculture employs only about 11% of the labor force and produces less than 3% of GDP. Since this sector is small, it has been unable to absorb the large numbers of the unemployed. The government currently seeks to diversify its export base.