West Indies: The Year After

When the Union Jack was lowered over Jamaica and Trinidad-Tobago last year, the joy that greeted these two new nations was mixed with doubts. Both had a proper, if sometimes unpopular, British upbringing. They both had rapidly growing populations, 15% to 25% unemployment, and a heavy dependence on outside capital. Though their problems remain, Jamaica and Trinidad-Tobago seem to be finding their way with hardly a skip of a calypso beat.

Jamaica. Upon getting independence, the 1,600,000 Jamaicans made no headlong rush to erase their British past. Coins and currency still bear...