Forgotten World (177): Trinidad & Tobago
The two islands of Trinidad & Tobago have been run together since 1888 and became independent of Britain in 1962. They have a total population of around 1.3 million.
As the Caribbean’s leading producer of oil and gas, Trinidad & Tobago is one of the region’s most prosperous countries. But, as global oil and gas prices drop, so does export revenue.
The government and the police have been criticised for a failure to stem the smuggling of cocaine and heroin from Venezuela and Columbia whose drug gangs use the islands as a staging post for shipment to the United States and Europe. Violent gang crime, including kidnap and murder, is spreading from urban to rural communities.