FBI kept tabs on ‘Father of the Nation’

In order to secure their Chaguaramas base, the United States Navy’s Naval Intelligence Department urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to contact Dr Eric Williams’ ex-wife for any “dirt” in his personal life that they might feed the Opposition to beat him in general election. This was because the US saw Williams as being anti-white and as personally having an inferiority complex around TT whites.

This is exposed in an article of US online site Muckrock, based on 100 pages of just-released FBI documents lodged on the website.

A 1957 Office of Naval Intelligence report was done on Williams’ “Personality Data.” Under the heading “anti-white complex” the report cited an unnamed source saying Williams is basically anti-white in his feelings but was not out to subject whites to Africans. The source said Williams showed anti-white feelings by not talking to them at functions. “He has an inferiority complex when it comes to dealing with members of the white race not only in business matters but also at social functions.” The source blamed this on Williams’ “almost complete inability to make ‘small talk’ for the sake of being pleasant.”

He was self-conscious of his lack of social graces and was “petrified of being the only African” in a conversation. “Williams is always off by himself at parties and the like because he does not feel he is able to discuss trivialities and is deathly afraid of committing a social blunder.” The source had told Williams of the intelligensia’s adverse comment caused by Williams poor social conduct, and he needed to become better known to ordinary people. However Williams disagreed. “The fact that Williams eats, sleeps and drinks his work and he feels that if he does that nothing more should be required of him as Chief Minister.”

Later, the document’s preparing officer reveals the source “Montano.” The officer said Williams’ time in the US and England fed his smouldering bitterness, but that Williams realised that to show such feelings would prove disastrous for TT and the West Indies.

A 1959 office memorandum in the dossier said two officers of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) were both keen for Williams to lose the upcoming election, and hoped to get personal details to give to the Opposition to use against him.

“They requested that the Bureau interview his ex-wife Elsie Ribeiro.” However the FBI declined as such a move would involve them in TT’s internal affairs, but could have been done by the ONI. The Muckrock article suggests Ribeiro was never interviewed.

The dossier detailed how the FBI kept tabs on Williams’ itinerary, on his visits to the US and more so, how the FBI repeatedly asked to be alerted to any incidents of embarrassment (or physical harm) to Williams during his stay.

On one visit to Chicago, in October to November 1974, in TT, police searched the hotel room assigned to Williams and found a packet of marijuana.

The then minister of national security Overand Padmore had thanked a US diplomat based in TT for US protection that was “just right”, but had also reported the marijuana. The FBI documents blamed this on the US authorities failure to do an adequate search.

As to whether the marijuana had been planted by the US authorities to frame Williams, Padmore yesterday could not recall complaining about marijuana to a US diplomat in TT, but he promised to check his 1974 diaries.