Knowlson Gift is a politician in Trinidad and Tobago. He is a member of the People's National Movement. Gift served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between May 7 and May 17, 1995, but resigned in the face of allegations of financial improprieties at the end of his stint as High Commissioner to Jamaica, where he served between 1984 and 1987. He was re-appointed to the Senate and as Minister of Foreign Affairs [1] in 2001 when Patrick Manning was re-appointed Prime Minister. He served as foreign minister until October 2006.
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidad and Tobago politician who was the fourth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 May 2010. He was also the political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) from 1987 to 2010. A geologist by training, Manning served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency from 1971 until 2015 when he was replaced by Randall Mitchell, but with the seat in 2020 being won by his son Brian Manning. Patrick Manning was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2001.
The president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of state of Trinidad and Tobago and the commander-in-chief of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1976, before which the head of state was the Queen of Trinidad and Tobago, Elizabeth II. The last governor-general, Sir Ellis Clarke, was sworn in as the first president on 1 August 1976 under a transitional arrangement. He was formally chosen as president by an electoral college consisting of members of both houses of Parliament on 24 September 1976, which is now celebrated as Republic Day.
Ralph Maraj is a Trinidad and Tobago politician, actor, playwright, and teacher. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under a People's National Movement (PNM) administration, Minister of Communication and Information Technology under a United National Congress (UNC) administration, and was a founding member of National Team Unity before returning to the PNM to work as a speech writer for Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Prior to entering politics in 1991, Maraj worked as a teacher at Naparima College in San Fernando. He also attended that school. He wrote several plays, the most successful being Cynthia Sweetness. Maraj also starred in the movies The Right and the Wrong (1970) and Bim (1974), described by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago".
Winston Chandarbhan Dookeran is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician and economist as well as international public official. Dookeran is the current secretary-general of EUCLID, an intergovernmental institution of higher learning. He previously served as political leader of the Congress of the People, central bank governor, minister of finance, and minister of foreign affairs.
Surujrattan Rambachan is a Trinidad and Tobago politician, academic and cultural activist. He was the Works and Infrastructure Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and deputy political leader of the United National Congress Party (UNC) and member of parliament for Tabaquite.
His Excellency Mahinda Buddhadasa Samarasinghe is a former MP and the current Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States and Mexico and High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago.
Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Trinidad and Tobago were established on June 6, 1974. Russia is represented in Trinidad and Tobago through a non-resident embassy in Georgetown, Guyana.
Foreign relations exist between Australia and Barbados. Neither country has a resident ambassador. The regional Australian High Commissioner to Barbados is accredited from Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. Barbados is represented in Australia through its High Commission in Ottawa, (Canada). Barbados maintains an honorary consul and a tourist office in Australia. Barbados and Australia established diplomatic relations on 7 January 1974. Both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and comprised as former parts of the British Empire.
Winston Edward Peters, also known by his sobriquet Gypsy, is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and calypsonian who served as Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Community Development in the People's Partnership Coalition led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Peters also served as Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism from 27 May 2010 to 22 June 2012.
Diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago were established on 20 June 1974. The Chinese government established an embassy in Port of Spain in April 1975, with Trinidad and Tobago establishing their own embassy in Beijing on 26 February 2014. Prime Minister Eric Williams was the first Trinidadian head of government to visit China in 1974. In 2002, the trade balance between the two countries was US$47.15 million, with China exporting all but $4.81 million of that. The current Chinese ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago is Mr. Yang Youming.
Australia maintains a High Commission in the City of Port of Spain, and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago maintains non-resident representation in Australia. Both nations formally established diplomatic relations on 7 January 1974. Both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and comprised as former parts of the British Empire.
Japan and Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatic relations since May 1964, two years after the isles had attained their independence in 1962.
The Australian high commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and the high commissioner resides in Port of Spain. The high commissioner, since March 2023, has been Sonya Koppe.
The nations of Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatic relations in 1966. Both nations are members of the Association of Caribbean States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Organization of American States and the United Nations.
Spain–Trinidad and Tobago relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Spain has an embassy in Port of Spain, which is also accredited for Spanish consulates in other small nations of the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago does not have embassies or consulates in Spain.
Sergiy Olehovych Kyslytsya is a Ukrainian career diplomat, who serves as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine and Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations. He had previously served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014–2019).
Edmund Ernest Dillon is a Trinidad and Tobago military officer, politician and diplomat. He is the current Ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Dillon was commissioned with the Coast Guard and joined the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment as an officer. He rose through the ranks and eventually became Chief of Defence Staff, a position that he held from 2006 to 2010. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Point Fortin between 2015 and 2020, when he served as the Minister of National Security and the Minister of Housing and Urban Development.
Garvin Edward Timothy Nicholas is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and former diplomat. He served as a temporary Opposition Senator representing the United National Congress (UNC) in the 8th Republican Parliament and the 10th Republican Parliament. He was the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2010 until 2013 and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Trinidad and Tobago to Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Germany. He served as the Attorney General for Trinidad and Tobago from 3 February 2015 until 17 June 2015. He is the leader of the Movement for National Development (MND), a political party which contested the 2020 general election.
Wilfred Andrew Rose (1922–2008) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian diplomat and politician who served in the Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. A member of the People's National Movement, Rose also held several ambassadorial posts, most notably serving as Trinidad and Tobago's Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1964 until 1968.