Former prime minister and president Arthur NR Robinson says if Abu Bakr's "stupid and murderous" coup attempt had been successful, the country would have been destroyed. He was speaking at the Conversations with Prime Ministers series at the Daaga Auditorium, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, yesterday. "If Abu Bakr had succeeded in his stupid and murderous attempt, our country would have been destroyed," Robinson said. "They were very ill-advised and did not understand what they were attempting to do. "Both the Americans and Venezuelans would not have tolerated the development of that kind of fanaticism, and as far as the Venezuelans were concerned, right next door to them.
"The Americans would not have had one of its principal sources of fuel depleted or destroyed altogether." He said the NAR Government's decision to cut public servants' salaries by ten per cent in order to save jobs was one of the measures which created the greatest discontent but it was not responsible for the July 27, 1990, coup attempt. Robinson said situations which appeared to affect the population were used afterwards to justify or ameliorate the criticisms against the "vicious and stupid" attempt to take over the Government. He said while he was on the floor of the Parliament wounded, bleeding and in pain with a young coup insurrectionist standing guard over him with a "tall gun," he (Robinson) asked him why he was in this and he began reciting a number of excuses which he had been told.
Robinson wondered if the insurrectionists were so ignorant as to think that they could take over the Government of T&T just next to Venezuela which was so important to the Americans with the production of oil. "It was a stupid adventure which resulted in great damage to the country and great losses of lives," he said. Robinson revealed that the appointment of a commission of enquiry was advocated even then but he did not accept the idea of a commission of enquiry back then because the country was in turmoil.