InDependence Bloodtrail Legacies of the 1990 Coup Attempt in the Age of AI

                  See Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqRO-Ehx7BM&t=2s

In a place where institutional memory languishes and independent thought and research is relegated to dark corners, so history could return, garbed in new ”firsts’ as ground-breaking action passed off as ‘innovation’, Demokrissy enjoying the smooth melodies of the musicll ‘interlude’, realise that the speakers and discussants seem to be hearing the jarring notes of AI, but don’t know how to tune the AI pan!’

Everything usual means nothing unusual.

Though the young AI engineer might not have been old enough to know, nor remember, when he stood up to as ‘Who are the Leaders’, he was repeating the words that preceded the barrage of gunfire unleashed on the Parliament that became ground zero to the 1990 attempted coup; set ablaze the Police Headquarters across the road to the West; attempted to break the gates of Guardian of Democracy and its sister Radio Station where I was a journalist, on the South Side; and further up the road, to the North, hijacked my neighbour, the Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT), moments after I returned home from the newsroom.

Blind Men and AI Elephant

Sitting in the room abuzz with opinions of Blind Men, mainly, with a few women, pronouncing on the AI Elephant in the Caribbean, the words, Who’s the Leader, take Demokrissy to relive the fateful days of the 1990 coup attempt that landed on she rooftop, as she recounted in the forerunner installment of this BloodTrail.

The conference may be discussing Artificial Intelligence, but Demokrissy AuthenTHINK Intel lenses know it first must confront and account for the centuries of discrimination, distortion, erasure, bias and blindness, now hardened, like the blood on the Bloodtrail she about to follow, through institutions, visible and invisible, on landscapes and mindscapes festering insurrection.

Full post at: https://krisrampersad.com/independence-bloodtrail-ai-the-invisible-99-surreal-housewives-festering-insurrection-an-odyssey/

This is an Odyssey into how limited, albeit polished policy recommendations, built on systemised blindness may mislead and misdirect public expenditure and development actions, miss the mark on intended impact to improve opportunities for the 99 percent rather than just the one percent and continue to reinforce trends of failures confronting Caribbean governance.

The First Caribbean AI Conference sparks an unexpected legacy echo in the 1990 ‎attempted coup on its anniversary, that didn’t miss Demokrissy building archives of the ‎GloCal Knowledge Pot www.krisrampersad.com who embarks on an EPIC Odyssey ‎following the interconnected Marquesian BloodTrail of social unrest and insurrection ‎through the corridors of power, across the Latin American and Caribbean landscapes in ‎invisible, missing and distorted datasets, now being transmitted into AI for white ‎elephant looping inertia into development decision making ….‎ It raises incisive questions about posturing over Caribbean AI readiness, digital sovereignty ‎and cultural Intelligence, and anticipated impact of layering cutting-edge tech over ‎fractured systems festering insurrection between the one percent and the 99 percent ….. ‎Join Demokrissy in this CEIBA-EDUtainment journey through history, media, and tech ‎policy…‎ Follow the BloodTrail with Demokrissy as it winds through Parliament, prisons, courts, ‎media houses, social media, universities, courts and the new AI battlegrounds.‎ From Emancipation to AI Governance, Demokrissy is inside coups, riots, betrayals, and ‎blind spots that still shape our digital and political futures, exposing the hidden ‎infrastructures of Caribbean power where culture, memory, and technology collide.‎ Full Details in this Link: https://krisrampersad.com/independence-bloodtrail-ai-the-invisible-99-surreal-housewives-festering-insurrection-an-odyssey/ Subscribe to website: https://krisrampersad.com/

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https://krisrampersad.com/independence-bloodtrail-ai-the-invisible-99-surreal-housewives-festering-insurrection-an-odyssey/

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From the Archives Memories of the 1990 Coup : Army won the match

From the GloCal Knowledge Pot Archives:

Memories of the 1990 Coup

Kelshall: Army won the match

During the July 1990 uprising the Coast Guard set up roadblocks to defend its base at Hart's Cut Bay from rogue elements in the army. "It was the single factor that guided the strategy," then commanding officer of the Coast Guard Richard Kelshall told the commission of enquiry into the attempted coup at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Kelshall, one of an array of law enforcement personnel giving evidence in this session, said there were rumours the army was supporting the Jamaat al Muslimeen insurgents, led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr. He said: "When I heard the army was with Bakr I took preventative action. "I was influenced by 1970," he added, recalling his experience when the army, led by Raffique Shah, staged a mutiny in 1970.

Hart's Cut Bay was not attacked by any rogue elements in the army in 1990. Despite criticisms from several witnesses, including Capt Gary Griffith, that the army blundered, Kelshall emphasised, however, how well soldiers performed in quelling the insurrection. Asked by commissioner Eastlyn McKenzie how he rated the army's performance, Kelshall said: "They won the match. "In a football game who makes the most goals wins the match. They won," he said, generally dismissing operational blunders. Kelshall further disclosed if he had to choose a hero of the attempted takeover crisis, it would be Joseph Theodore, Chief of Defence Staff at the time. He said: "If I had to pin a hero, it would be Joe Theodore... to handle such a terrible situation and to carry out the negotiations, which were excellently done...

"Did we win? The situation came out right in the end. How we got there is not important. The country owes a terrible debt of gratitude to the regiment." Kelshall heaped more praises on the soliders whom he said displayed incredible "fire discipline" during the hostage crisis. He said: "There were soldiers with live ammunition all over Port-of-Spain. The order went out to hold their fire (when the Muslimeen were surrendering) and they did. It was incredible fire discipline. All it would have taken was one hothead (to mess things up). "The world and I felt the T&T Regiment performed immaculately at the time."

Kelshall, highlighting some of the confusion in the army shortly after the announcement of the attempted overthrow of the Government said he was actually fired upon when he first went to Camp Ogden, the army's command centre. He said he went to Camp Ogden around 7.30 am on July 28, one day after the uprising. Kelshall said one of the Coast Guard's role was to support the army. He added: "I had gone through the fear and desperation the night before and arrived there with a clear mind. "When I got there, there was a large quantity of soldiers milling around and to my great surprise I came under fire."

From 

Kelshall: Army won the match | The Trinidad Guardian, 20110914

by Yvonne Baboolal

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