Reginald Andrew Lassalle (26 November 1945 – 13 February 2025), better known as Rex Lassalle, was a Trinidadian

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

practitioner and

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

Trinidad and Tobago Regiment The Trinidad and Tobago Regiment is the main ground force element of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. It has approximately 10,000 men and women organized into a Regiment Headquarters (located in Port of Spain) and four battalions. There is ...

who was a leader of an army mutiny in April 1970 as part of the

Black Power Revolution The Black Power Revolution, also known as the Black Power Movement, 1970 Revolution, Black Power Uprising or February Revolution, was a period of political unrest in Trinidad and Tobago as a result of a series of actions spearheaded by Black ...

Early life and education

Lassalle was born in Belmont,

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, in 1945 to a middle-class Catholic family. He attended Belmont Boys Intermediate School and St. Mary's College,Lassalle, Rex. ''Grasshopping through Time using Ancient Wisdom''. 1999, p. (vii)(22). Port of Spain. Lassalle attended the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

from January 1965 to December 1966. Lassalle returned to Trinidad and Tobago where he served as a second lieutenant and later as a lieutenant in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment. At Sandhurst, Lassalle experienced racism and struggled with the underlying mission to maintain the status quo. He described his experience of being asked to produce "a written military appreciation of how to wipe out a Mau Mau enclave" as a turning point. After leaving the United Kingdom, Lassalle spent three weeks visiting an aunt in New York in the aftermath of the

Watts riots The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising, took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abus ...

and the assassination of

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

. While there, he read Franz Fanon's ''

The Wretched of the Earth ''The Wretched of the Earth'' () is a 1961 book by the philosopher Frantz Fanon, in which the author provides a psychoanalysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization upon the individual and the nation, and discusses the broader social, cul ...

'', which inspired him to read Fanon's other works. Lassalle described these experiences in Harlem as his "finishing school".

Army mutiny

On 21 April 1970, amid ongoing unrest, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

and arrested most of the leadership of the Black Power movement. When the Trinidad and Tobago regiment was summoned to the capital, Port of Spain to help enforce order about half of the army, led by Lassalle,

Raffique Shah Raffique Shah (born 1946) is a Trinidad and Tobago trade union leader and political commentator. He is also a former Member of Parliament and mutineer, having led a mutiny of Trinidad and Tobago Regiment in 1970. Biography Shah was born the so ...

and other junior officers, refused to take up arms against the citizenry. Lassalle saw many of the senior officers as incompetent and unconcerned with the welfare of the people soldiers. As Shah later said, he and Lassalle also "felt the Government...no longer commanded a majority f support. Many of the soldiers were drawn from the same urban working class communities that Black Power movement drew its support from. Many of the officers that led them knew the university students they were being called upon to arrest. Lassalle was suspected of having ties to the Black Power leaders and had been under surveillance by the government. Lassalle and Shah, together with other junior officers, staged a mutiny and took control of the Teteron Barracks, at Teteron Bay northwest of the capital. When the mutineers tried to leave Teteron, they were fired upon by the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, and unwilling to engage in a fire-fight, they returned to base. Shah later said that "Rex Lassalle and I had agreed there would be no bloodshed, once we could avoid it". The mutineers held Teteron for 10 days, while engaging in negotiations with the government. Lassalle took the role of chief negotiator with the government; their demands included a general amnesty, promotion of Lassalle and Shah to the rank of captain, and the reinstatement of Lieutenant-Colonel Joffre Serrette as commanding officer of the regiment. The arrival of Venezuelan warships off the coast of Trinidad provided a common foe to the loyalists in the army and coast guard and the rebels. Lassalle reported that the mutineers were prepared to break off negotiations in response to the threat, while the loyalists were reportedly unwilling to fight against the rebels if foreign troops landed. The United States dispatched six warships and 2000 marines with the stated goal of protecting United States citizens in the country. The United States also supplied the government with weapons to arm loyalist units.

Aftermath

Serrette was re-appointed commanding officer, the mutineers surrendered. Lassalle and Shah were appointed co-commanders of the regiment. They were subsequently arrested and charged with more than 50 offences including

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

and mutiny. Although he was never tried for treason, Lassalle was

court-martialled A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

in March 1971 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He appealed, won the appeal, and was set free 27 July 1972 after an appeal by the State to the Privy Council. In total he served 27 months in prison.

Later life and death

Lassalle studied

osteopathy Osteopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. In most countries, practitioners of osteopathy are not medically trained and are referred to as osteo ...

acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...

and

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...

and other practices of alternative medicine in the United Kingdom and later settled in Finland. Lassalle died in Finland on 13 February 2025, at the age of 79.

Books

* *

References

External links

* Rex Lassalle
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lassalle, Rex 1945 births 2025 deaths Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Trinidad and Tobago military personnel Trinidad and Tobago health professionals Health and wellness writers