In this book an attempt is made to probe more carefully the processes by which social and ethnic problems, as these pertain to Caribbean countries, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, are conveyed to the political arena and the mechanisms by which they determine critical outcomes. The authors of this book have accordingly distinguished between predisposing factors and what are described as triggering mechanisms. The factors that trigger dramatic changes will differ between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. In short, while in some respects these societies are similar, in others, there are dramatic differences in their respective histories and political developments. This study begins with a survey of the literature on race relations and their connections with politics; it then proceeds to examine the context for the insertion of the two major groups into these societies, the emergence of ethnic groups, and their relationships with political organizations. The nature and politics of the leaders are then analyzed along with the political structures with a view to identifying what factors were responsible for the differing political experiences of both countries.

This comparative study of two republics - Guyana in South America, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean - examines the conditions which determine regime survival in less developed countries. Political survival can very often depend on a leader's willingness to serve the interests of a small, but politically strategic minority. In both Guyana and Trinidad, post-independence leaders made politically expedient decisions resulting in a series of political and economic crises.

"This book deals with British colonial strategy in its colonies of Trinidad and Tobago and British Guiana/Guyana to deal with an East Indian threat to the political order it desired in the run up to independence for Trinidad and Tobago in the 1960's and the threat of Communist subversion in Guyana in the 1950's and 1960's. In both instances the British strategy called for the creation of a racist political order that destroyed the East Indian threat in Trinidad and Tobago and placed a minority race in power through successive fraudulent elections until the decade of the 1990's in Guyana. The British legacy in both instances is a racist social order premised upon racist hegemony."

This updated edition has been expanded to include Guyana. Including 53 sketch charts, aerial photographs, dazzling scenic photography throughout, unsurpassed onshore information with sections on exploring, provisioning, services and restaurants. The guide is linked to the author's website where you can download town maps, GPS waypoints given in the sketch charts and much more.