Can you remember where you were 27 years ago, on Friday, July 27, 1990, at 6 pm? Many people were at their favourite watering hole enjoying month end, after work limes, while some were at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for the CFU final encounter between Jamaica Reggae Boyz and T&T’s Strike Squad. Me? I was in Toronto, Canada, attending a reception at City Hall for artistes there for that year’s Caribana carnival.
At the time, as an associate editor at the Express Newspapers, I had been invited to Toronto to serve as a judge for Caribana. Around 6.30 pm Canadian television and press journalists burst into City Hall making enquiries about “a coup” that was in progress in Trinidad. All Trinis at the reception were dumbstruck when a Reuters report confirmed what we first thought was a hoax. In fact, I told one TV reporter: “Coup in Trinidad. Nah man, yuh making a mistake. We don’t have coup in Trinidad. You must be talking about Haiti?”
When it in fact sunk in that the news was true, that a group of armed insurgents had stormed the Parliament, then located Red House, we hastily left the reception and made out way back to Hotel Le Front where hosts Air Canada and the Caribana committee had housed us. David Rudder and I were in adjoining rooms and through that Friday night we frustratingly tried to contact relatives and friends in Trinidad; in fact to contact anybody. But, the phone lines were dead and the only news we were receiving for the next 48 hours were images of a burning police headquarters building on St Vincent Street, via CNN.
By the Sunday night, I did manage to get through to some family, only to be advised to not return to Trinidad but seek asylum in Canada as the Express, TTT, the Parliament buiding and police headquarters were destroyed and that there was rioting and mayhem in Port-of-Spain. The newscast on CNN didn’t serve to relieve any of the anxiety, stress and trepidation of a return home being experienced at the time.
The Monday morning I contacted Air Canada and asked how soon the airline would return me to my homeland. The very courteous receptionist on the other end of the line responded, “no flights are going to Trinidad as there has been a coup in that country.” She couldn’t tell me when flights would be resumed or how long I’d be stranded in Canada.
My Caribana hosts were quite amiable as they said they would accommodate me until flights resumed to Trinidad; however I would have to choose another hotel to go to. Given the choice, it was a no-brainer as I chose to go to the newly opened Sky Dome.
The perks were aplenty at the Sky Dome. Beside staying there at no charge for an indefinite period of time, downstairs there was a Hard Rock Cafe, the food was excellent and just outside was the home of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, which by the way won the World Series that summer playing against the Detriot Tigers. In my Blue Jays jersey and cap, I watched my first set of that strange game for free.
After a fortnight, flights to Trinidad were resumed and, my blood now sweetened by two weeks of leisure, I departed Canada, having spent the best vacation of my life.
Back on Trinidad soil and driving into Port-of-Spain, I was not prepared for what I saw in terms of destruction to property. The attempted coup had been quelled, a State of Emergency was in progress, but the scars of the insurgency were stark and visible.
Slowly returning to some type of normalcy at home, I quickly fell into what was then seemingly the popular pasttime of many; attending coup limes and parties. Some of these went the entire night and were held indoors. I particularly have fond memories of attending a few of these “coup limes” at the defunct Cricket Wicket Pub on Tragarete Road, Woodbrook, and Fortress Discotheque.
Almost three decades have passed since July 27, 1990 but memories, the good, the bad and the ugly, remain permanently embedded in my mind. I feel pain whenever I remember the 24 people who lost their lives and the more than 500 who suffered injuries. One can only hope that today’s generation never has to endure what we experienced.