r Napoleon Raymond ROBINSON
(since 18 December 1986)

_#_Political parties and leaders:
National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), A. N. R. ROBINSON;
People's National Movement (PNM), Patrick MANNING;
United National Congress (UNC), Basdeo PANDAY;
Movement for Social Transformation (MOTION), David ABDULLAH

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

_#_Elections:

House of Representatives--last held 15 December 1986 (next to be
held by December 1991);
results--NAR 66%, PNM 32%, other 2%;
seats--(36 total) NAR 33, PNM 3; note--in 1989 six members
were expelled from the NAR and formed the UNC, while retaining
their parliamentary seats; as a result seats held are NAR 27,
UNC 6, PNM 3

_#_Communists: Communist Party of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and
Tobago Peace Council, James MILLETTE

_#_Other political pressure groups: National Joint Action Committee
(NJAC), radical antigovernment black-identity organization; Trinidad and
Tobago Peace Council, leftist organization affiliated with the World
Peace Council; Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce;
Trinidad and Tobago Labor Congress, moderate labor federation; Council of
Progressive Trade Unions, radical labor federation

_#_Member of: ACP, C, CARICOM, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT,
IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Angus Albert KHAN; Chancery
at 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone
(202) 467-6490; Trinidad and Tobago has a Consulate General in New York;

US--Ambassador Charles A. GARGANO; Embassy at 15 Queen's Park West,
Port-of-Spain (mailing address is P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain);
telephone (809) 622-6372 through 6376, 6176

_#_Flag: red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper
hoist side

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy began to
emerge from a lengthy depression in 1990. The economy fell sharply
through most of the 1980s, largely because of the decline in oil prices.
This sector accounts for 80% of export earnings and more than 25% of
GDP. The government, in response to the oil revenue loss, pursued a
series of austerity measures that pushed the unemployment rate as high
as 22% in 1988. The economy showed signs of recovery in 1990, however,
helped along by rising o