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ACTIVIST Wendell Eversley says that the mishandling of the 1990 coup attempt is what has led to the prevalence of crime and gang violence in TT some 35 years later.
The former hostage held a press conference at the eternal flame memorial outside the Red House on July 22. He noted the recent state of emergency (SoE), implemented based on intelligence of a co-ordinated attack on senior members of law enforcement and the judiciary.
“What we are witnessing in our country is because of 1990. This is because we didn’t treat and get rid of the cancer, because when those people were set free, it was like a carnival at the Royal Jail on Frederick Street…today we’re hearing about extortion, kidnapping, businesses having to close early.
“I cry shame on the authorities where 1990 is concerned.”
He said pleas by the police for continued public co-operation in the fight against crime were falling on the ears of citizens who were not only living in constant fear, but also distrusted authorities.
“They don’t know if to trust the police, they don’t know if it’s safe to make a report. While the commissioner might mean well in his own capacity we don’t know if there are police and prison officers that are working with the criminals.”
He also questioned the government’s response to the coup and its treatment of survivors and the families of the 24 people killed on the day.
He compared it to the 9/11 memorial he attended in Manhattan, New York, in 2024. He noted that it was attended by a host of government officials including then president Joe Biden, vice-president Kamala Harris and then presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“And the over 2,000 names of those killed were read out one by one.
“But right here in TT, 41 members of Parliament and 31 senators fail to even turn up to lay a wreath or call out the names of the 24 people who lost their lives. Where is the love for our people? Are we going to let July the 27th pass by and nobody seems to care?”
He said he had written and hand-delivered letters to several government officials regarding reparation concerns with no response.
In a demand for reparations, Eversley requested that some of the up to US$100 million in compensation awarded to the state in 2023 for the Piarco International Airport corruption scandal be given to survivors and the families of victims.
“I call on them to treat with the concerned, with the suffering hostage that is alive today and the families of those who were murdered.”
Eversley was visibly shaken as he recounted the details of the coup during which he was taken hostage, beaten and witnessed the death of parliamentary clerk Loraine Caballero.
“She was shot in her stomach and dragged in front of me. My hands were behind my head with somebody pointing a gun to it. I watched her bleed to death on the Friday night and I could not have helped her.”
In commemoration of the lives lost and impacted, Eversley will walk from the Arima dial to the eternal flame memorial on July 27 and host a wreath laying ceremony at 10.30 am. He will also walk from the ANR Robinson International Airport in Tobago to the grave site of ANR Robinson on July 25.
“He was a man who stood up to save our democracy.”
The post Ex-hostage blames ‘mishandling’ of 1990 coup attempt for today’s crime appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.