TRINIDAD GENERAL ELECTIONS OF 4 DECEMBER 1961

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79S00427A000500020030-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 13, 2005
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: November 9, 1961
• Content Type: IM

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
9 November 1961
OCI No. 3 22 6 Copy No.
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Trinidad General Elections of 4 December 1961
1. Offices to be filled: All 30 seats in the
legislative council. a ast general elections were
held in 1956 and the present ones have been postponed
as long as legally possible. Trinidad and the ad-
joining island of Tobago form a constituent unit of
the West Indies Federation with full internal self-
government.
2. Significance for the United States: The
US holds a aguaramas Naval Base and ra ar re-
search facility in Trinidad under the February 1961
US-West Indies Federation Defense Areas Agreement,
which also covers electronic research stations in
other parts of the Federation. This agreement was
reached only after more than two years of acrimonious
and frequently broken off talks with Trinidad's Pre-
mier Eric Williams, who,isought Chaguaramas for the
Federal capital.
While both of Trinidad's main parties now
publicly uphold the agreement and have reiterated
their willingness to contribute to the Western defense
effort, both have tended in the course of campaigning
to imply that greater US aid should be forthcoming in
return for the facilities granted. Furthermore,
Jamaica's recent vote to secede from the Federation
raises the question of the continuing validity of
the agreement with some indications that Williams,
if he continues in office, may try to repudiate the
agreement or at least extract greater aid in return
for continued adherence.
State Department review completed
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Coming shortly after the Jamaican vote for
secession, the local Trinidad election takes on added
significance because of Williams' refusal to commit
himself to a policy on the Federation until after the
election. London hopes he can be persuaded to lead--
and the Trinidad party to finance--a strong Federa-
tion of Trinidad and the smaller non-viable islands,
he has stated he may prefer havingTrinidadsecede
Opposition leader
and become an independent state. OCapildeo believes in retaining Trinidad in the Federa-
tion.
3. Parties participating:
a. The People's National Movement (PNM),
founded by Premier ams, has been the governing
party since 1956. With an estimated active membership
of 25,000, it is the best organized party and tends
to draw the support of most of the Negro 43 percent
of population for whom the PNM symbolizes emancipation
from colonialism. The PNM tends to favor economic
planning and a strong central government. Fifty-year-
old Dr. (of history) Eric Williams--whose domination
of the party has never been broken b lesser leaders--
is a Negro nationalist
ormer y ve emen y an - mer can,
e now alternates between friendliness and resentment.
Hindu East Indians and may run as an independen .
Dr. Capildeo is gehierally pro-US, but his views are
e..+.+.~A
b. The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is
the principal oppos t on parity and similar to the
PNM in orientation and program, though somewhat
less inclined toward economic planning and a strong
central government. It tends to draw the support
of the East Indian 36 percent of the population.
Long weakened by poor leadership and internal dis-
sension, the DLP appears to have gained strength since
1960, when 41-year-old Dr. (of mathematics) Rudranath
CapJldp-o took over the leadership from Bhadase Maraj--
who is still a power among
t
c. The United Labor Party, formed in the
summer of 196 by Victor Bryan,is a very small, multi-
racial, working-class party.
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4. Party strengths: Distribution of seats in
the legislative council--which then had 24 members
and a somewhat different party distribution--following
the September 1956 elections was as follows:
Party Number of Seats
People's National Movement 13
People's Democratic Party 5
(now the DLP)
Home Rule Party
Trinidad Labor Party
Independents
5. Election outlook: The PNM is standing on
its record, with e P claiming it could do the
same things better. The DLP is also making side
issues of government corruption and of the electoral
machinery, which it alleges favors the urban Negroes.
A few months ago the PNM was conceded a clear
victory; now, qualified observers feel the outcome
is unpredictable. The American consul in Port of Spain
estimated in early October that of the 30 seats, only
about 11 could be considered safe for the PNM while 7
were almost certainly lost, and the battle would be
determined in the remaining 12 marginal constituencies.
Premier Williams himself is extremely fearful of losing.
Among the reasons for the diminished prospects
for the PNM are splits within the party hierarchy over
Williams' dictatorial control of policy, the impact of
the corruption issue, and the fact that the East Indian
minority forms a more cohesive bloc than the Negroes.
Much depends on whether Williams summons his forces
to put up a stiff fight, whether the DLP can shape up
a better organization in the next few weeks,. and
whether it can neutralize Williams' control of the
police on polling day.
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Orig:
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Acting Assistant Director
Current Intelligence
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