Rex Lassalle

Reginald Andrew Lassalle (26 November 1945 – 13 February 2025), better known as Rex Lassalle, was a Trinidadian alternative medicine practitioner and lieutenant in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment who was a leader of an army mutiny in April 1970 as part of the Black Power Revolution.

Early life and education Lassalle was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1945 He attended Belmont Boys Intermediate School and St. Mary's College, Port of Spain. Lassalle attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst from January 1965 to December 1966. about half of the army, led by Lassalle, Raffique Shah and other junior officers, refused to take up arms against the citizenry. 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. 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. They were subsequently arrested and charged with more than 50 offences including treason and mutiny.

Lassalle died in Finland on 13 February 2025, at the age of 79.

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