Now I appreciate a good story as the next when they consist of facts and not just assumptions and make believe.

I live in the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago more specifically I reside in Trinidad, in east Trinidad as a matter of fact.

I 400% disagree with the statement that Trinidad is as bad as or violent as Johannesburg or Baghdad. For one in those places there is civil unrest and there are bombings and killings daily. It is unsafe to walk about or even use public transportation. Where as in Trinidad, while there may be murders daily, 99% of them are gang related and there is the rare occurance of family fighting eachother , and friends falling out and killing eachother and maybe the occassional robbery.

This is a far cry from Baghdad and Johannesburg! The Trini culture is typically about having a good time all year round and partying! So it is unfair and unjust when you cast into a catergory that does not suit us therefore tarnish our name in the world's eyes. For those who do not know better they will really think we are a country of disorder, chaos and extreme violence , when we are truly not.

The few in our society, in our nation are in the minority less than 2% of our 1.3 million population is the ones that commit these crimes. And it is a fact that they hardly ever involve innocent by standers unless they are a means to end or linked to their rivals in one way or another.

If we were so bad Mr. Townsend why would foreigners flock from all around the world year after year to come be part of the greatest show on earth, (Carnival)! Why would people throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, The African States, Middle East, Asia, Europe and North American come to live here??
When you come experience the REAL Trinidad and Tobago for a few monts then you can write about our "tiny" island with supposedly "no navy to defend itself" We do have an army and while we maybe a small army we can adequately defend our island state if the need arises.

So Mr. Townsend do us all a favour and start reporting facts and not your deluded assumptions or notions to get your story published. Thank you.

I think this is a fair overview of the drug/crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago. I'm also Trinidadian but that doesn't mean I should be deluded by misplaced patriotism that makes me blind to the most alarming statistics. That attitude is what the government counts on to convince people that we're not as terribly derailed as we obviously are.

What worries me most about our failed governance though is, as the author proposes, it invites inroads into our sovereignty. Because if the natives can't handle the situation themselves, well...

"A coalition of governments -- including the United States and Britain, whose navies patrol the region -- should step in to help patrol the lane between Trinidad and Venezuela."

Yes I'm sure that would suit the purposes of the US just fine.

Very fair and REAL overview of Trinidad; it's a pity that a great majority of our citizens are like Tekarey - the never-ending party mentality. I know so many people who have been hit so close to home and who were killed or had family members or fiends killed who also had nothing to do with drugs; who've been there during a shoot out and he's definitely had his head in the sand when he says this doesn't affect the innocent. The truth is when there's chaos, it filters through all aspects of life - like traffic offenses - so many offenses yet so few tickets.

Trinidad is one of the few places where you can sometimes stop your car from being wrecked by cursing off the wreckers. If you get on bad enough or if you're a woman with extra charm, you get away. That's a joke and a party mentality because some Trinis are actually very proud of these things.

As many Trinis of his type too, he conveniently forgets the period of bombings we suffered in Trinidad in 2005 - which seemed to have stopped suddenly through contract killings - if you can;t get them legally, then take out contracts to kill them - saves on spending money for them to go to jail too.

You have to feel sorry for people who are not like Tekarey as HE is definitely happy with things the way they are - ignorance is truly bliss!

Juanito ,what can I tell you but to go Jamaica or some other Caribbean island for summer and before you go there let Mr Dom Townsend and the others who continue to make us believe that crime exist only in Trinidad and Tobago send you a report on drugs and gang killings and impoverished young men behind those killings in those islands.
A lot of us like to talk and put forward a lot of stats but will not admit that every country is fighting this scourge of crime that has gone up to a different level.
We only focus on the crime we see and read about but nothing can be done before the people change and stop crime from within the home and family.
Mr Townsend should write about how the impoverished youth are getting drugs,guns,cars etc to do their crime?They do not have import license to import and export containers that are used to smuggle narcotics onto ships to the US and UK ,nor do they have speed boats or yachts that make the trips to and fro the mainland to Trinidad.
Yet,we blame the impoverished youth because they are the ones that die and are seen and not the businessmen who make it all happen and we all know them and their activities but we do nothing to stop White Color crime because of who is involved.
So,we continue to talk all the stats and negative but still put forward no solutions to help stop crime in the entire country because its popular to do so.
Juanito,as any traveler does when visiting a new country or Caribbean island,he checks for the in's and out's and where and where not to go and also safety tips while visiting and recommended places to visit while there.
I am involved with visitors to our island all the time and they all leave with a different idea of Trinidad and Tobago then before they came.
Do enjoy your trip.
DylMarc

If you drop a frog in very hot water it will immediately jump out. However if you put the frog in at a comfortable temp and gradually heat the water up to boiling, it will stay in and die.

Seems fitting for what's happening in Trinidad. I am here every year and am constantly amazed at people like Tekarey who deny that there is a problem, or that our problem is different from any other big city. I'm also amazed at Trini's who take it as some sort of attack on our nation to criticize what's going on. Their position is that what's going in Trinidad is "normal".

What's going on should not be considered normal. Yes big cities have crime, but the average citizen of New York city can not typically name people that they know personally, or who are only one person removed from people who have been raped, murdered or kidnapped. I know 3 people who have been murdered, no sorry 4 (if I think harder I may come up with another). I know a guy who was beheaded. Yes, right here in sweet T&T. A few weeks ago a friend was killed in his own home. I have a family member who was held up at gunpoint and had his girlfriend raped in front of his eyes. This is over a period of 10 to 15 years mind you, but still ....

I have lived in big cities like New York and Toronto, for most of my life and the average resident cannot say the same.

Neither murders nor kidnappings are solved in Trinidad, and no one goes to jail for corruption. People routinely do what they want, like drive along the side of the road to beat traffic. or drive 100 miles an hour weaving among the traffic and they are not prosecuted. Our people don't want to work (and many are proud of it), and the government chooses to invest in skyscrapers and not people.

We have a problem on a huge scale my fellow Trinis, and we need all hands on deck to solve it. And it starts first by admitting we have a problem. If we can't even do that, then all is lost.

You took the words out of my mouth Trini2DBONE.

While it may be difficult to see the article from the POV of the writer, let us remember that the magazine is one about Foreign Policy and not that of Tand T.

While it may be difficult to read if one is not aware of our politics and history, I feel that his article is a good synopsis of one symptom of a much much greater series of issues we (Trinidad and Tobago) suffer as a people.

The percentage of Police involved in illegal activities I find almost impossible to believe, but if abdication of duty is included, then the percentage is probably higher.

I certainly feel we would benefit from some foreign policy cooperation in this particular problem from the markets where these narcotics are destined (Including not repatriating those seasoned trained criminals from the U.S. Penal system that so rapidly developed our crime-wave).

As far as the rest of our problems that exacerbate this one, a huge mental and social shift/upheaval is the only thing that will change those.

As a Trinbagonian who has resided in NYC and now Johannesburg, I must say that I find this article rather intriguing. First, the author correctly analyses what is going on in my homeland, and then he assumes a neocolonialist stance by advocating for an increased presence of the major colonial powers in the waters around TnT and Venezuela.

This is no accident...it is the same type of rationale which was used to establish their presence in Iraq. The answer is oil, and TnT and Venezuela share the curse of this rich naatural mineral endowment. The US/England neocolonialist discourse can be summarized as "First we locate (or create) the problem and then we move in". Much more drugs and crime exist right in the US/Mexico border but the US presence remains ineffective despite a decades-long "war on drugs". We must not be deceived into beliveing that this article has anything to do with crime and drugs...it's about oil and occupation.

So my fellow Trinbagonians, dont bicker about whether there is crime or drugs or not. Forget about whether we are compared to Jo'burg or Baghdad. Honestly appraise the growing culture of crime and corruption plaguing our nation and understand that there needs to be serious efforts made, to marshall all our national intellectual capacity (wherever they currently exist) and tackle Trinidad and Tobago's problems head-on. If we don't then the case will grow, another foreigner will be killed on TnT soil, and the case for the next occupation will be solidified. Then our navy would be seconded to the new colonial power and put to do work against our citizens in the name of regional security.

It is never pleasant when you are forced to take a long hard look at yourself or your country where you grew up. This article should not be viewed as a smear campaign but should serve as a wake up call for those of us who would live in denial and think that Trinidad is still a paradise.

The evidence is overwhelming and did not even mention the fact that of the 400 murders 75% of those killed worked for or was in some way involved in the Government run Unemployment Relief Program. This fact continues to be ignored by the government of the day who claims that they are helping the helping the 'economically disadvantaged" Yet legitimate government issued cheques in the names of Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Serena Williams surfaced without those individuals having worked on the URP projects .

In an foolish attempt to combat this ATM cards are now issued as payments which eliminates the human interaction with a teller and the funds continue to be paid.

Take an honest look at these and other facts and you will realize this article was not a misguided vindictive attempt to put our country in a bad light. But an opportunity for us all to really take a long hard look at what is going on.

This article is bang on the money. I was born in T&T and agree wholeheartedly.
Why security services cannot seem to catch and prosecute drug dealers.How come the gov cannot manage the rising murder rate and reduce crime??

You Trinidadians should accept constructive crtitism.If things were so perfect, we would not have a murder rate of more 500, in 2009, would we? The Gov should engage the private sector in job creation.

The problem lies within the mondset of Trinidadians though- they glorify partying, carnival and bachannal instead of nation building!!!!

Wake up Trinidad!!!!!!!! ( and this come from a Trinidadian)

I've worked for several years in the Beetham Estate, East Port-of-Spain (at SERVOL, a wonderful NGO helping young people) and it's a crying shame how the government makes life difficult for Trinis. The Beetham is a dangerous area, but the people who live there are by and large good people who don't have many options.

My parents live in Chickland Village, an agricultural area, and they haven't had pipe-borne water in YEARS. (they do pay their water rates though!) Private trucks charge US$100 to deliver water to the area. Hardly anyone can afford that, so during the dry season, hours every day are spent fetching water on barrels and buckets.

I recently (September) moved to the UK with my family, and the other day we saw a banged-up car being towed... my kids looked thoughtful and said "Gosh, we haven't seen a single dead person on the road, since we got here!" Trinidad is rich in oil and gas. Trinis deserve some of that wealth, we deserve water, properly policed roads, a police force that we can trust.

I love, love Trinidad and Tobago. It is my homeland, and my children's homeland. It is sad to see what has happened in the last few years.