A Chaguaramas History

If you were on your way to Venezuela in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was likely you would face attack from pirates hiding out in Chaguaramas.

Hard to believe, but Trinidad’s Northwestern peninsula has lived many lives.

The islands have been home to whaling stations in the 18th century. Meanwhile the mainland itself was home to several plantations, the genesis of Chaguaramas’ agricultural roots.

But even before this, Chaguaramas got its name from the Amerindians who lived approximately 6,000 years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, between 100-400 AD. Their legacy can be seen in place names like Macqueripe and Chacachacare.

The Spanish occupation of Trinidad, though, severely decimated their numbers through war and disease.

The Spanish were not interested in settling Trinidad, preferring to use it as a base for incursions into South America. The result was the island not having significant population numbers until the Cedula of Population, when the Spanish Crown invited settlers to live here.

Several French planters settled in the area, with the main crops being sugar, cocoa and cotton, although ground provisions and other food crops were cultivated as well.

Chaguaramas would continue being mainly agricultural until the first half of the 20th century. With World War II raging in Europe and the Pacific, the Americans sought the assistance of the British in creating a defense perimeter against attack from South America as well as a jump off point for their operations there. The result was the Base for Destroyers Agreement, where the US would provide 40 destroyers for the British war effort and the British would provide the land for a military base in strategic Chaguaramas.

The base and the social and economic activity it gave rise to has been indelibly marked into Trinidad’s culture. The base and the above average wages offered there stimulated the expansion of this country’s middle class. References to it can be found the calypso of the day and our literature. “Rum and Coca Cola”, the Lord Invader calypso, became the basis for the world-famous Andrews Sisters remake. Sparrow’s “Jean and Dinah” took a tongue and cheek approach to the hardship caused by absence of the “Yankees” after the end of the war.

It was in this country’s political history, however, that Chaguaramas’ played a pivotal role. Just as the pleasant Andrews Sisters ditty obscured the fact that Lord Invader had never been properly compensated or credited for “Rum and Coca Cola”, or both the Invader song and Sparrow’s wit alluded to the hard truth of local women prostituting themselves to American soldiers, the surface order of 1940s and 50s Trinidad concealed the anger many felt toward the American presence and the British acquiescence to it.

The Americans were allowed to forcible remove people from their homes. They seized Teteron and Nicholas Bays. Access to beaches and holidaying spots was severely curtailed and then eventually closed in 1943 at the height of the war.

It was a time of rapid change in the world. Colony after colony became independent from Europe and the thirst for self-determination was no different in TT. Eric Williams, whose PNM won elections in 1956 saw the base as a holdover from a slowly passing colonial era.

In 1957, the British and the US met and a commission determined a year later that not only was the base not going to be returned, but that the subject was closed to discussion for a further ten years. Williams led a march to Chaguaramas in 1960 to protest the continued American presence for a war that had ended more than a decade before. As a consequence, the Americans reviewed their agreement with the British and after negotiation Chaguaramas was returned, though with conditions and the Americans did not entirely quit the area until 1977.

The victory in Chaguaramas gave the PNM the edge it needed to cement both its victory in 1961 and its hold on Trinidad and Tobago government. Before leaving the PNM, CLR James said of the march and its participants:

“Despite the fact that the American base at Chaguaramas had brought in more money here than had ever been brought before, when called upon, you answered, and made it clear that, with only a few years partial freedom behind you, you were ready to throw down the gauntlet to the most powerful nation in the world, to assert your rights as a people, to say that Chaguaramas was yours and you were not going to be deprived of it.”

Today, Trinbagonians can enjoy a variety of activities in Chaguaramas, with more on the way, as development of the area continues apace.