People's Revolutionary Government (Grenada)

Grenada
1979–1983
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Ever conscious of God, we aspire, build and advance as one people
Anthem: Hail Grenada Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital	St. George's
Common languages	English Grenadian Creole English Grenadian Creole French
Demonym(s)	Grenadian
Government	Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party parliamentary socialist constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1979–1983	Elizabeth II
Governor-General
• 1979–1983	Sir Paul Scoon
Prime Minister
• 1979–1983	Maurice Bishop
• 1983	Bernard Coard
• 1983	Hudson Austin
Legislature	disbanded (rule by decree)
Historical era	Cold War
• Revolution	13 March 1979
• U.S. invasion	25–29 October 1983
Currency	East Caribbean dollar
ISO 3166 code	GD
Preceded by Succeeded by Grenada Grenada
Today part of	Grenada

The People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) was proclaimed on 13 March 1979 after Marxist–Leninist New Jewel Movement overthrew the government of Grenada in a revolution, making Grenada the only socialist state within the Commonwealth. In Grenada, the revolution is referred to as the March 13th Revolution of 1979. The government suspended the constitution and ruled by decree until a factional conflict broke out, culminating in an invasion by the United States on 25 October 1983.

History

Context

Independence of Grenada and the regime of Eric Gairy

Grenada, a 350 km² Caribbean island state located in the Lesser Antilles gained independence from the United Kingdom after a long process in 1974. In 1967, the country received the status of associated state, thus acquiring very large autonomy in the management of its internal affairs. Eric Gairy, a former union leader and leader of the Grenada United Labor Party (GULP), became prime minister, and led the Grenadian government during the political process that resulted in the country's complete independence in 1974. Even before then, however, Gairy's government experienced a clear authoritarian drift. At the same time, in the 1960s, a new generation of intellectuals from the middle classes emerged in Grenada, many of them trained in British and American universities. Their return to the country coincides with the spread, in the Caribbean, of a strong Black Power movement inspired by that of the United States. The lawyer Maurice Bishop, one of the representatives of this generation, was one of the leaders of a demonstration in 1970 in support of a protest movement which took place at the same time in Trinidad and Tobago: the Grenadian opponents took advantage context to denounce the corruption of Gairy's government.

A few months later, a movement in support of a nurses' strike turned into a confrontation with the police: Bishop contributed to the defense of the accused and their acquittal. The main opposition party was the Grenada National Party (GNP), of former Prime Minister Herbert Blaize; the more radical groups that formed then were attached to the radical wing of Black Power, which at the time adopted a Marxist-Leninist line and joined the international communist movement. In 1972, Maurice Bishop participated in the founding of the Movement for Assemblies of the People (MAP ), formed by intellectuals from the capital and which advocated the replacement of the parliamentary system by local assemblies inspired by the Ujamaa villages of the African socialist regime of Tanzania  ; at the same time, the Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education and Liberation (JEWEL) was formed , led by economist Unison Whiteman. JEWEL, which mainly affects rural populations, benefits from a significant audience in the country due to its participation in various social demands; however, it is not strictly speaking a political party and does not have a global vision or strategy to take power; On the other hand, the MAP is a more intellectually structured party, but without any real presence outside the capital. In the 1972 elections, the Grenada National Party was soundly defeated and the radicals concluded that they needed to unite to build a new political force to oppose Gairy.

On March 11, 1973, the MAP of Maurice Bishop and Kenrick Radix merged with the JEWEL of Unison Whiteman and Teddy Victor, to give birth to the New Jewel Movement (NJM), which presented itself as an alternative to the GULP and the GNP. The NJM manifesto, socialist in spirit, calls for preserving the country's independence from Europe and the United States, and favors the role of grassroots communities rather than state authority: the text does not claim for the party a precise political label, but rejects the political party system, calling idealistically for a "pure democracy" which would involve "all the people, all the time".

In the months following the formation of the New Jewel Movement, political tension increased on the island. In May 1973, the United Kingdom announced the total independence of Grenada for February 1974. The opposition then mobilized, fearing that Eric Gairy would impose a dictatorship on the country. Political organizations, including the NJM, and churches came together within the “Committee of 22” to organize the protest against Gairy. On November 4, the NJM brought together 8,000 people during a demonstration called the "popular congress": a resolution was published which declared Gairy guilty of numerous crimes, including police brutality and embezzlement of public funds. The Prime Minister reacted strongly: NJM supporters were soon threatened, both by the police and by a group of Gairy's henchmen, known as the "Mongoose Gang" . The New Jewel Movement , strong from the success of its “popular congress” , then decided to organize a general strike on November 18. On the day planned for the strike to begin, the party leaders, including Maurice Bishop, were arrested, then beaten in their cells. Faced with the attitude of the Prime Minister, the Committee of 22, supported by the NJM, launched a general strike, which began on January 1, 1974 . A few weeks before the country's independence, the situation remained particularly tense and the country continued to experience violence.

On January 21, Bishop's father is murdered; several NJM supporters were also killed. The country's economy was paralyzed and Gairy's government received financial assistance from the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana to pay civil servants and continue to operate the state until the day of the independence. on February 7, 1974, Grenada gained independence as planned while the leaders of the New Jewel Movement remained in prison. The strike lasted until the end of March. Released, the leaders of the NJM had to acknowledge the failure of their action and decided to carry out more methodical militant work to gain power.

Rise of the New Jewel Movement

In the following years, the New Jewel Movement worked to establish itself within the population. His weekly, the New Jewel, became the most widely read on the island. “Support groups” are set up in most villages; penetration into the countryside is, however, more difficult than in urban areas, because the influence of the GULP and the main union GMMWU remains strong among peasants and agricultural workers. If the NJM succeeded in broadening its activist base, it still lacked ideological coherence: things changed with the return to Grenada of the academic Bernard Coard, Bishop's childhood friend. While studying in England, Coard developed links with the British Communist Party; teaching in Trinidad, he was also very close to the Jamaican communists. Even before his final return, Coard organized introductory courses in Marxism during his stays in the country: installed again in Grenada in September 1976, Coard played an important role in the evolution of the NJM. If the party leadership initially refused the request of its high school branch which wanted the official adoption of Marxism-Leninism, it then evolved significantly towards socialism and Marxism. The NJM, however, has not yet adopted a primarily anti-capitalist discourse, its main concern being fighting the government of Eric Gairy. The latter, considered by his supporters as the symbol of the successful black man, still retains, despite the prevailing corruption, real popularity in part of Grenadian opinion. During the 1976 legislative elections, the New Jewel Movement formed a coalition, the Popular Alliance, with the Grenada National Party of former Prime Minister Herbert Blaize. During the election, the NJM, which managed to obtain a leading place in the coalition, obtained three seats, against two for its ally the GNP. If Eric Gairy's party retains the absolute majority in parliament, Maurice Bishop is now the leader of the opposition. In 1977 , while their party was evolving towards Marxism-Leninism, Maurice Bishop and Unison Whiteman visited Cuba and came back greatly impressed. The government of Fidel Castro seems to have lavished on the cadres of the New Jewel Movementadvice and encouragement; The NJM apparently maintained links with the Communist Party of Cuba from this time.

The revolution of 1979

Faced with the rise in power of the New Jewel Movement , Eric Gairy considered at the beginning of 1979 taking action and having members of the party's leadership arrested. Political tension was further aggravated when the police discovered barrels of grease intended to transport weapons from the United States to Grenada for the benefit of the NJM. The NJM also forms a small clandestine armed group, placed under the leadership of former prison guard and police officer Hudson Austin , one of the only party officials with military training. The leaders of the NJM, informed of the Prime Minister's plans against them, managed to escape arrest and lived in hiding for several days. The NJM took advantage of a trip to New York by Eric Gairy - who was going to the UN to plead in favor of an institution responsible for studying extraterrestrial phenomena  - to organize a coup. On March 12 , shortly before midnight, Maurice Bishop, Bernard Coard, Unison Whiteman and other party officials gathered their activists to outline an action plan consisting of storming the barracks where the approximately 200 men of the party resided. army of Grenada, then to take over the radio station, to take control of the country.

In the early hours of the morning of March 13 , NJM leaders voted to decide whether or not to carry out the coup. The for and against being tied (Hudson Austin and Bernard Coard having voted for, and Maurice Bishop and another executive against), an additional executive, George Louison, took part in the decision and voted for the insurrection, which decided of the launch of the revolution. The operation was carried out by 46 NJM militants, often very young, of whom only 18 were armed: the barracks were taken over at four in the morning and the buildings attacked with incendiary bombs. The troop was overpowered without difficulty, the soldiers being taken completely by surprise. The radio station was taken over without firing a shot and Maurice Bishop was able to launch his appeal to the population, announcing the seizure of power by the “revolutionary army”. The executives of Eric Gairy's regime are for the most part easily captured; only Gairy's right-hand man, Derek Knight, manages to flee the country aboard a canoe. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the revolutionaries are masters of the country; the insurrection resulted in only two deaths, a senior officer shot dead while drawing his weapon, as well as a police officer. The NJM revolution immediately received broad support from the population, the majority of whom were tired of Gairy's abuses: in the villages, women prepared food for the insurgents; many young people join the men of the new “revolutionary army” to carry out patrols. The takeover of the radio by the insurgents played an essential role among the population, to the point that Maurice Bishop subsequently spoke of a “revolution by radio”. Around sixty executives of the old regime are incarcerated. The army and the “mongoose gang” were declared dissolved.

Benefiting at the time of the coup from massive support from the population, Bishop was able to proclaim a People's Revolutionary Government (PRG), of which he was the Prime Minister  : the new government was dominated by the New Jewel Movement but includes members of the country's business bourgeoisie, including those close to the Grenada National Party. Bernard Coard becomes finance minister; he was subsequently appointed deputy prime minister. Executives of the Grenada United Labor Party are not subject to any particular persecution, with only a minority of them being removed from their responsibilities in the administration. The country remains a Commonwealth realm , with Queen Elizabeth II still recognized as Grenada's official head of state: Sir Paul Scoon , the governor-general of the island, is also retained in his honorary role, with the new regime wishing protect the former colonial metropolis. Concerning relations with the clergy, very present in Grenada, the Catholic Church immediately recognized the new power, while the Anglican Church was more reserved, accusing the New Jewel Movement of having used force to overthrow the government.

Domestic policy

Power structures

When they took power, the leaders of the New Jewel Movement, who made the revolution in the name of democracy, had no precise idea as to the political model they wanted to propose to the country. The clearest bases for their actions are found in the 1973 manifesto of the NJM, revised however in the light of Leninist contributions. Maurice Bishop announces the end, in Grenada, of the Westminster system inherited from the United Kingdom, as well as of parliamentary democracy. Fifteen days after taking power, the PRG announced, in the “Declaration of the Grenadian Revolution”, the “suspension” of the constitution and the dissolution of parliament, thus granting itself executive and legislative powers. The elections announced by Maurice Bishop are postponed. These decisions caused the first tensions between the government and the bourgeoisie of Grenada, the majority of which had applauded the overthrow of Gairy. Bishop pledges to return “as soon as possible” to constitutional rule and to appoint a constituent assembly, charged with drafting a new constitution which will be approved by referendum. A commission responsible for forming new electoral lists is formed; However , People 's Law No. 20 ^of  1979, which was supposed to make it possible to establish the lists, was never promulgated. Popular after its takeover, the New Jewel Movement could probably have secured an electoral victory, but the PRG refrained from organizing the promised elections, subsequently refusing to organize a vote. If the Grenada National Party, the NJM's coalition partner, is not banned, it is prevented from functioning normally, with the PRG now denouncing it as a party of " big shots " ; when its leader Herbert Blaize tried to organize a meeting, he was mistreated by supporters of the NJM, while the revolutionary army refrained from intervening.

Instead of parliamentary democracy, the Popular Revolutionary Government aims to rely on a system of “popular power” – or “participatory democracy” – that is, on a set of local assemblies that Maurice Bishop defines, in a conference press, such as "village assemblies" and "workers' assemblies" , which would have the task of electing "parish assemblies" , which would then elect the parliament, which would then appoint the government. These statements by Bishop constitute the most precise information ever provided regarding the institutions envisaged by the new regime. The New Jewel Movement is particularly influenced, in its conceptions, by pro- Soviet Caribbean Marxist theorists  : these envisage for the Caribbean the establishment of “national-democratic” political regimes based on a class alliance between the bourgeoisie and the local proletariat. The “national democracy” phase would aim to prevent the development of capitalism in the Caribbean , and then move on to the “socialist construction” phase. This theory, designed by Third World intellectuals , aims to bypass the phase of development of capitalism in their countries to move directly to that of “socialism”.

While emphasizing the popular character of power, the PRG followed the Leninist strategy of controlling the population by a militant elite: from the first months following the seizure of power, the government of the New Jewel Movement claimed a monopoly on power. by placing reliable executives and activists in all strategic positions. “Mass organizations” under the authority of the party were formed, such as the National Youth Organization, a youth movement closely controlled by the NJM youth committee. Phyllis Coard, Bernard's wife, chairs the National Women's Organization  , the women's branch of the party, founded before the takeover of power but largely developed after 1979. NJM activists created "Parish councils", led by the party branches: seven in number across the country, these councils are intended to be the main instruments of direct democracy in Grenada. Initially open only to party members and supporters, parish councils – which had no legal existence – were quickly opened to all to discuss local problems. The councils first of all benefit from real popular enthusiasm, and the affluence requires them to be subdivided into “Zonal councils” . Board meetings are frequently divided into workshops to discuss specific topics.

In 1982, local councils lost their importance in favor of Village Coordinating Bureaus (VCBs) responsible for aligning their work with government bodies, local militia and unions. Despite the development of local assemblies, their members are excluded from the decision-making process and, although they can make suggestions, they are unable to challenge government policy, which they are required to approve. “ Popular power” therefore finds itself disarmed in the face of the central committee of the New Jewel Movement, which holds the real decision-making power even though its members have no other democratic legitimacy than their election by acclamation in 1973. In the population , the initial enthusiasm gradually gives way to hostility, as disagreements with the policies of the People's Revolutionary Government mount. The negative consequences for the island's economy (notably the drop in the number of tourists) caused by the deterioration of relations with the United States are one of the main causes of discontent  .

The disbanded army was replaced by the new People's Revolutionary Army (PRA), under the leadership of Hudson Austin, the latter being promoted to the rank of general. A popular militia was created to support the army in the event of an attack on the island  . Thanks to help from Cuba , the People's Revolutionary Army quickly saw its numbers increase from around fifty men to around 2,000, a figure greater than that of all the other armed forces combined in the Antilles region  .

The leadership of the New Jewel Movement , moreover, experienced divisions, with Bernard Coard's faction opposing that of Maurice Bishop. If the revolution led by Bishop appears to be "  moderate procastrist "  , the line defended by Bernard Coard is situated in a more radical communist logic, even Stalinist , on a certain number of points and recommends a more strictly Leninist organization of the party, which continues after its seizure of power to be led in the manner of an underground movement. Bernard Coard's good mastery of Marxist-Leninist theoretical concepts often allows him, thanks to the deference of Bishop and his entourage for Leninist analyses, to dominate internal debates within the party leadership. The Bishop and Coard factions, however, have no major disagreement over the pace of the transition to "socialism"  . In 1982, in a speech to the executives of the New Jewel Movement , Maurice Bishop reaffirmed the "national-democratic" and "anti-imperialist" character of the Grenadian revolution, and his intention to establish a "workers' dictatorship"  : in this optically, he claims to want to continue to govern by decree and to exclude from power and from the public space the elements of the bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie allied to his regime, in order to lead Grenada towards the stage of "socialist orientation »  .

Public liberties

The regime's repressive tendencies increased over the months. People's Law No. 8 ^, promulgated shortly after the seizure  of power, allows the preventive internment of any person "suspected of presenting a threat to public security" . InApril 1979, Grenada has 80 political prisoners  , the majority of them former collaborators of Gairy  . In the months that followed, two events contributed to the radicalization of security measures. InNovember 1979a plot against the government mounted by a former police officer, Wilton de Ravenière, is discovered; inJune 1980, during a public meeting, a bomb explodes under the official platform on which Maurice Bishop and other personalities are located. Although the speakers' lives were saved by the concrete slab beneath their feet, three young girls were killed. The plot ofNovember 1979and the attack ofJune 1980trigger an “offensive” by the government against its “enemies”, these events being attributed to the presence on the island of “counter-revolutionary groups”.

Following the bombing, a wave of arrests took place; an anti-terrorism decree stipulates that any suspect in an attack will be tried by a court sitting without a jury and that terrorist activities will be punished by death. Four people are arrested and charged for the attack: during their trial, the judge discovers that the confessions of two of the accused were extracted under torture, and declares their statements inadmissible. The trial is adjourned accordingly: the suspects remain imprisoned, and areDecember 1983, after the fall of the PRG, the subject of an amnesty by the governor general.

While the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada, unlike other "socialist" regimes in the Third World, does not practice large-scale violence against its opponents - refraining from executing them or sentencing them to forced labor - the preventive detentions are frequent. Around 3,000 people, out of a population of less than 90,000 for the entire country, were arrested and questioned during the PRG's four years in power, 300 being detained: while a majority of those arrested were only detained for a few days, or even a few hours, the country had at the end of 1982 around 120 “counter-revolutionary” prisoners, most of whom had been detained for two years or more, most of them without trial. Winston Whyte, the leader of the United People's Party, a party previously allied with the New Jewel Movement , is among those imprisoned. In March 1983, taking into account the releases in previous months, Amnesty International recorded 97 political prisoners in Grenada.

More broadly, in terms of public freedoms , the PRG sees its role in Marxist terms, from the angle of a “dictatorship of the proletariat”, which would include the right to exercise “limited repression” against “bourgeois” opposition to the revolution. Under Gairy's regime, the opposition did not have access to state media, a situation which does not change under the PRG. As the only radio station on the island (Radio Grenada, renamed after the revolution Radio Free Grenada) is state-owned, its control by the PRG amounts to a status quo. The situation is different concerning the written press, owned by private capital: from the month ofSeptember 1979, Bishop accuses various newspapers, including the conservative publication Torchlight , of engaging in “acts of destabilization . ”

The government therefore began to destroy the opposition press, giving the New Jewel Movement a de facto monopoly on information: People's Law No. ⁸¹  prohibits private individuals from holding more than 4% of the shares in a newspaper, which is equivalent to causing the disappearance of the non-governmental press; a second law, promulgated inJune 1981, banned from publishing a newspaper for a full year, until the adoption of new legislation on press freedom . The government then defined a system of collective ownership of newspapers, equivalent to a mode of self-management of the written press; the lack of precision regarding the timetable for a transition to collective ownership of newspapers, however, contributed to fears at the time that this program was only a pretext to extend state control over the press. The PRG's policy on freedom of information is all the more poorly perceived as the owners of private newspapers provide maximum publicity to the repressive measures to which they are subject: in contrast, the collective ownership program of the media has little impact on the population.

Economy

On the economic level, the Revolutionary Government operates in a very unfavorable context: Grenada, whose economy relies largely on tourism (the island mainly produces nutmeg and bananas), suffers from both the consequences of Hurricane Allen and the fall in export prices. After the revolution, the PRG extended state control over the economy, following recipes inspired by those of communist regimes: trade, infrastructure and non-agricultural businesses were largely nationalized; although agriculture, predominant in the Grenadian economy, remains essentially in the private sector, government representatives are appointed to supervise agricultural exports. The government aims to develop a mixed economy dominated by the state sector, with a view to replacing the market economy in force under Gairy's government and promoting the fastest possible transition to socialism. The PRG nevertheless shows itself incapable of setting up a real planned economy, due in particular to a lack of qualified executives, despite the presence of advisors from other Caribbean countries or “socialist” countries. Due to the increased emphasis on planning , prices are generally out of sync with supply and demand.

The deterioration of the economic environment makes market mechanisms less effective, while planning fails to achieve the objectives set and Grenada is, more broadly, afflicted with all the ills specific to developing countries (lack of natural resources, qualified personnel, technologies and absence of manufacturing industry ). The period 1979-1983 was, as a whole, marked by economic dysfunctions. A certain number of PRG reforms, however, are having positive effects: the authorities are setting up a system of financial and equipment loans for farmers, and agricultural cooperatives are being set up to develop the activity. Bishop's government also worked to develop infrastructure, notably by building new roads.

Social policies

Concerning educational policy, the PRG works to improve the level of education in Grenada, where 7% of the population is illiterate: a Center for Popular Education (CPE) is created to coordinate government education initiatives, including literacy campaigns. Efforts are being made to improve school results and programs. Learning Grenadian Creole is permitted at school. The PRG's tendency to marginalize religious education and, more broadly, the role of the church - particularly the Catholic - in education, contributes to the deterioration of relations between the government and the Grenadian clergy. The Popular Revolutionary Government has come to consider the Grenadian churches (Catholic, Protestant and Anglican) as direct adversaries: a report from the Grenadian authorities describes the clergy as the most dangerous of potential counter-revolutionary centers and recommends continuous surveillance of the churches, as well as the development of relations between the PRG and the liberation theology movement. In the health sector, Bishop's government is striving to improve the services available: in this area it benefits in particular from aid from Cuba, which provides a dozen specialist doctors to Grenada, thus doubling the number of specialists. in the country.

Foreign policy

An isolated regime in the Caribbean

After the 1979 revolution, the governments of Caribbean countries met to decide what to do with the new regime, questioning the degree of left-wing orientation of the PRG. George Louison was sent as an emissary by Maurice Bishop to reassure the leaders of the Caribbean states and the Grenadian revolutionary government multiplied the assurances of its good faith to obtain the recognition of its neighbors; if the People's Revolutionary Government is recognized, the States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) emphasize the need for Grenada's return to a constitutional standard. During the first months of its existence, the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada seemed to announce a "left turn" in the Caribbean. InJuly 1979a mini-summit is being held in Grenada which brings together, alongside Maurice Bishop, two other Labor heads of government who have come to power for a few months: Oliver Seraphin , Prime Minister of Dominica and Allan Louisy, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia.

Also among the Grenadian government's main allies is Michael Manley, socialist prime minister of Jamaica ; but from 1980 , Manley's electoral defeat deprived Maurice Bishop of this important support. Séraphin and Louisy must also quickly leave power. More broadly, the expected shift to the left in the region is not occurring: right-wing parties win elections in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda, where parties close to the New Jewel Movement are laminated. Diplomatic relations with Trinidad and Tobago are cold, and those with Guyana are deteriorating. The Grenadian regime therefore found itself politically isolated in the region.

Alliance with Cuba, tensions with the United States

As soon as it came to power, the New Jewel Movement government established secret links with Cuba , which very quickly supplied it with weapons. With the United States, relations went through several phases, only to deteriorate quite quickly. After his overthrow, Eric Gairy denounced a communist coup in his country and tried to obtain American aid: the State Department nevertheless tended to rely on the United Kingdom for analysis of the situation. The PRG quickly sent a request to the United States for economic and military aid, which remained unanswered; the new regime wishes above all to protect itself against an attempt at a comeback by Gairy and Bishop announces that he will request arms from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Venezuela: the Grenadian Prime Minister tries in particular, before to publicize his contacts with Cuba, to assess the international political climate around his regime.

On March 22, 1979, the United States recognizes the new regime, after concluding that a return to power for Gairy was not possible; the American administration nevertheless emphasizes that it supports the request of the Caribbean states for a return to political normality. On March 23 , the United States, wishing to establish good relations with the PRG, sent their ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean, Franck Ortiz, to Grenada: the first interview went well; the American ambassador, while announcing aid projects to Grenada, encourages NJM leaders to organize elections. During his second trip to Grenada, Ortiz found Bishop and his government particularly worried about a possible coup mounted by Gairy from his exile. The ambassador assured Maurice Bishop and Bernard Coard that the United States had no intention of allowing Gairy to raise an army and invade Grenada from their territory; but the diplomat made several blunders, firstly by warning Bishop and Coard of the risks of a drop in tourism in their country in the event of political unrest, then by giving them a press release indicating that the United States would take a dim view a military alliance of Grenada with Cuba , even with a view to defending itself against a possible attack. This interview profoundly affected American-Grenadian relations: Bishop and Coard considered these warnings as threats, even as a mark of contempt and racism on the part of the ambassador.

On April 13, Bishop delivered an offensive speech vigorously denouncing American interference. The next day, diplomatic relations were opened with Cuba, with contacts between the regimes of Fidel Castro and Maurice Bishop now coming to light. The United States saw its fears confirmed by this rapprochement, while the Grenadian government saw the American attitude as a manifestation of imperialism. Relations between the two countries continued to be strained throughout the rest of 1979 until the end of Jimmy Carter 's term in the White House, notably when several American citizens were briefly arrested in Grenada.

Ties between Cuba and Grenada are growing rapidly, facilitated by the excellent personal relations between Fidel Castro and Maurice Bishop. The head of the NJM expresses great admiration for the Cuban leader, who in return shows him almost paternal affection. Cuba supplies weapons to the new Grenadian regime and sends advisors to form the People's Revolutionary Army of Grenada. InJune 1979, a cooperation agreement between the two countries is concluded, providing for assistance from Cuba to developments in Grenada's health sector and infrastructure. A new agreement, this time secret, on military cooperation, was signed in 1981 . Cuba is helping Grenada in particular to build a new airport , intended to develop tourism on the island. Several hundred Cuban aid workers, most of them workers who came to help with the construction of the airport, settled on the island; a large number of them are also reservists of the Cuban Armed Forces and have military training. Cuba then installed a contingent of active military personnel in Grenada, as well as agents of its security services. In addition to its alliance with Cuba, the government of Maurice Bishop also received in 1980 the support of Daniel Ortega, Sandinista president of Nicaragua, who announced his solidarity with the revolution in Grenada.

Relations with other communist countries

In addition to links with Latin American left-wing governments, Maurice Bishop told the central committee of the New Jewel Movement that he aimed to maintain good relations with all countries of the world, with the exception of "fascist dictatorships"  . Nevertheless, cooperative relations soon developed with the communist regimes , mainly through Cuba: the regime of Fidel Castro played intermediary to help Grenada, whose means of communication with foreign countries were limited, to conclude agreements. with the USSR , Vietnam and Czechoslovakia . The USSR, which did not consider the Caribbean as a priority area of ​​action, was cautious regarding the Grenadian revolution and took six months to establish diplomatic relations with the New Jewel Movement regime , which it was done mainly at the insistence of the Cubans and after ensuring the stability of Bishop's government: the joint communiqué of the USSR and the PRG was signed in Havana.

Cooperation between the USSR and Grenada, however, remains limited, particularly on the economic level, Cuba remaining the main partner of the Grenadian government. The New Jewel Movement nevertheless aimed to develop its relations with the Soviet government, in particular to act as a relay between the USSR and the Caribbean left: in July 1982 , a cooperation agreement was signed between the NJM and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , providing for an exchange of experiences and training between cadres of the two parties. Similar cooperation agreements were signed with the Cuban, Bulgarian and East German communist parties. Various Eastern Bloc countries send aid workers. In the early 1980s , a series of secret agreements were signed between the USSR and Grenada, providing Soviet aid in equipment and weapons worth 20 million rubles. After a visit by Bernard Coard to Prague, Czechoslovakia supplied arms to Grenada, in exchange for an agreement providing for the delivery, from 1984, of 80 tonnes of nutmeg per year.

North Korea undertakes to deliver weapons, ammunition and 6,000 uniforms to Grenada. The agreements with the USSR also provide for the training of Grenadian soldiers on Soviet soil. Armament deliveries from various communist countries were largely planned for 1986, and only part of the planned Soviet aid arrived in 1983 at the time of the fall of the regime.

Attempt at rapprochement with the United States

Relations with the United States continued to be very tense - Maurice Bishop's support for the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan finally deteriorated them at the beginning of 1980  - and were, particularly after the election of Ronald Reagan as president. , marked by a series of aggressive declarations from both sides. The construction of the new airport with the help of Cuba particularly worried the American government, which feared seeing it used for military maneuvers. In April 1982, Ronald Reagan went to Jamaica and Barbados: he met various Caribbean heads of government, whose support he tried on this occasion to secure against the Grenadian regime. Reagan's initiative did not, however, meet with great success, with the majority of Caribbean Community governments wishing instead to improve their relations with the PRG after the tensions of 1981. The Grenadian government, for its part, came to fear an American invasion on its soil: in March 1983, maneuvers by the US Navy in Caribbean waters alarmed Maurice Bishop enough to make him leave the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement which he attended in India, and rushed back to the country to put the armed forces on alert.

After this episode, the Grenadian Prime Minister was forced to recognize the untenable long-term nature of poor relations with the United States, particularly due to Grenada's dependence on tourism from the United States and Canada; the construction of the new airport, still in progress and intended to revive the country's economy, risks being a complete loss if North American tourists no longer come. Maurice Bishop proposes to the NJM central committee a moratorium on anti-American statements and strives to restore good relations with the United States. In June 1983, he responded to an invitation from Mervyn M. Dymally, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and went to Washington for a diplomatic visit. Bishop's trip to the United States aims to give the American establishment and public the image of a responsible head of government, to help revive American tourism in Grenada, but also to establish links between the Government Grenada's popular revolutionary and the black American community. Ronald Reagan, however, did not respond to the request for a meeting sent to him by Maurice Bishop. The latter's visit to the United States also seems to have contributed to annoy the most radical faction of the New Jewel Movement, which considers diplomatic overtures towards Washington.

Dissensions within the regime

Within the People's Revolutionary Government and the New Jewel Movement , the power struggle between Maurice Bishop and Bernard Coard resulted over the years in the ousting of those close to the Prime Minister. The political styles of Bishop and Coard, very contrasting - Bishop who, unlike Coard, enjoys real popularity in public opinion, mainly seeks consensus within the party and relies on his popularity and his personal charisma, while Coard acts in the manner of an "  apparatchik  " attached to the notion of democratic centralism - make the Prime Minister vulnerable to the maneuvers of his No. ^2.  The personal ambition of Bernard Coard, who considered himself more intelligent and more qualified than Maurice Bishop, seems to have played a driving role in triggering the final crisis, more than any other objective political factor. One thesis is that the Soviets , during the coup, “remotely guided” the radical faction of Bernard Coard deemed closer to their interests, but this element has not however been proven   ; the Coard tendency seems to have developed more links with the USSR while the Bishop tendency was closer to Cuba  : the reality, or seriousness, of a possible conflict of interests in Grenada between the USSR and Cuba does not have not been determined.

In October 1982, Kenrick Radix, minister of industrial development and close ally of Bishop, and Caldwell Taylor, ambassador to the UN, were excluded from the party's central committee. Radix, convinced of being the victim of a plot intended to weaken the Prime Minister, then resigned from the NJM and announced his intention to leave the government within a year. Coard, second in the NJM hierarchy, also announced his resignation from the central committee, expressing his dissatisfaction with the inability of the party leadership to adopt a truly Leninist line. Subsequently, the animosity of certain executives towards the Prime Minister increased when they learned that during an interview with George Chambers , head of government of Trinidad and Tobago , Bishop was said to have said ready to organize elections; Chambers would also have, on this occasion, encouraged him to release political prisoners. In September 1983 , an extraordinary session of the NJM governing bodies was convened at the request of Home Secretary Liam James. Several young executives strongly attack Maurice Bishop, whom they accuse, among other things, of being incapable of providing the party with a “solid Marxist-Leninist base” . Coard's supporters proposed a motion establishing joint leadership of the party, with Maurice Bishop to share power with Bernard Coard: the decision was put to a vote - representing the first internal vote in the history of the NJM - and adopted by nine votes. to one, with George Louison voting against and Maurice Bishop, Foreign Minister Unison Whiteman and trade union leader Fitzroy Bain abstaining. Tension remained extreme in the weeks that followed: Bishop, who considered joint leadership untenable, feared being assassinated by the faction led by Coard and his wife Phyllis  .

End of the regime

Internal putsch and death of Maurice Bishop

Maurice Bishop, accompanied by Unison Whiteman and George Louison, then traveled to Czechoslovakia and Hungary to obtain more economic aid from the Eastern Bloc . After a detour to Cuba on his return trip, he arrived in Grenada on October 8 , and discovered that he could no longer enter his official residence. The Grenadian Prime Minister then believes that the Coards have implemented the plot against him: one of his bodyguards, Errol George, begins to spread the rumor that Bishop risks being assassinated. The central committee met on October 12 to examine the conspiracy rumors, and Bishop denied being behind them. He then wrote a message, intended to be read on the airwaves of the Radio Free Grenada station and denying the rumors. The central committee then decided to place Maurice Bishop under house arrest, officially for his own safety and to protect him from “counter-revolutionaries” . The next day, a general assembly of party activists was held in the presence of 250 to 300 people. The meeting took place in a hateful atmosphere: Bishop was accused of being a “petty-bourgeois opportunist” incapable of leading the country towards socialism, and of not wanting to establish joint leadership of the party. Bishop then takes the stand and admits his failings to democratic centralism , while expressing doubts about the feasibility of joint leadership. Erroll George is summoned to appear and reiterates his accusations regarding the plot against Bishop; the latter remains silent, which is interpreted as an admission of guilt in disseminating the coup d'état thesis. The central committee decides to keep the Prime Minister in detention until light is shed on the origin of the rumor. Jacqueline Creft, Minister of Education and Bishop's companion, was also locked up with him.

On October 14 , Selwyn Strachan, Minister of Mobilization, went to the offices of the Free West Indian newspaper and announced that the Prime Minister was dismissed and that Bernard Coard now led the country. The news spread immediately and the entire population soon became aware of the crisis. The confusion was then extreme in Grenada: Bernard Coard, in an attempt to repair Strachan's blunder and calm the supporters of Maurice Bishop, announced his resignation  , but other information presented him as still being in power  . Fidel Castro , without interfering in Grenadian affairs, made his concerns known. The USSR, for its part, remains in suspense, its ambassador on the spot apparently content to ask which, Bishop or Coard, is “the more Marxist” . Supporters of Maurice Bishop in the NJM apparatus mobilize: Kenrick Radix organizes a demonstration in support of Bishop, but he is arrested in the evening.

On October 15 , the armed forces issued a communiqué accusing Bishop of failing to comply with party discipline and warning that they would not tolerate any disorder; the next day, General Hudson Austin spoke on the radio, accusing Maurice Bishop of dictatorial drift. Disorder reigns in Grenada and Bishop's many supporters among the population demonstrate against Coard and the party's central committee, while meetings organized by Bishop's opponents turn into a fiasco. Unison Whiteman, who was attending a UN session, rushed back to Grenada, fearing that the serious crisis the revolution was experiencing would turn into a “bloodbath” . Whiteman and George Louison attempt to negotiate with Coard and Strachan, arguing about the risk of foreign intervention in Grenada, but Coard, who considers himself assured of victory thanks to the support of the party and the army, does not take this warning seriously, arguing that “imperialism” is currently too weak. Unison Whiteman then goes into hiding; George Louison tried to organize a demonstration, but he was arrested  .

The agitation did not abate in the days that followed and, on October 19 , a crowd of supporters of Maurice Bishop took over his residence and freed the Prime Minister, as well as Jacqueline Creft. Bishop is carried in triumph on the shoulders of his supporters, who parade through the streets of Saint-Georges  ; the Prime Minister then leads the crowd towards the Fort Rupert military base, located near the city's port, in order to take control of it. There, Bishop convinces the sentries to welcome him and his supporters, but a Soviet-made troop transport vehicle quickly arrives: soldiers of the revolutionary army get out, who fire on the crowd. In the exchange of fire between supporters and opponents of Maurice Bishop, around 29 people were killed and around a hundred injured, although some versions speak of 140 dead. Maurice Bishop is captured: he and seven other prisoners, including Unison Whiteman, Fitzroy Bain and Jacqueline Creft, are gathered in the courtyard of the building. Shortly after, an officer returned with instructions and told them that their execution had been decided by the central committee of the party; the eight prisoners - including Jacqueline Creft, seven months pregnant - were shot with machine guns. An officer finishes off Maurice Bishop by slitting his throat with a knife.

In the hours that followed, Hudson Austin announced that he was taking power at the head of a “Revolutionary Military Council” made up of sixteen soldiers. Bernard Coard made no public appearance: conflicting rumors swirled about him, some claiming that he was in fact leading the new government, others that he had been ousted by Austin. The latter spoke on the radio the same evening, announced the "victory" of the People's Revolutionary Army over the "reactionary and right-wing opportunist forces" and decreed a four-day curfew , in force 24 hours a day. throughout the country, specifying that any person violating this instruction will be shot on sight.

International intervention

Related article: Invasion of Grenada

The events in Grenada arouse unanimous indignation among the governments of the Caribbean Community . The isolated Revolutionary Military Council is all the more feverish as an American naval squadron, en route to Lebanon then at war , diverts its route towards Grenada. The governments of the countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States decided on October 22 , under the leadership of Dominica and Saint Lucia , on the principle of military intervention. The same day, Ronald Reagan was informed of the intervention project, which appeared to the American administration as an opportunity to roll back communism in the region. Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North is responsible, at the National Security Council, for overseeing operations related to Grenada.

The Department of Defense expressed reservations because of the risk of losses, but the attack in Beirut on October 23 convinced the Reagan Administration of the need to demonstrate its response capabilities. The invasion of Grenada , codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, was launched on October 25: President Reagan cited among his motivations the protection of the thousand American citizens who were in Grenada, and the need to restore the law and the order after the takeover of the “leftist gangsters”. Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was not informed until after the outbreak of the invasion.

The troops responsible for the operation (the 7,300 American military personnel are supported by a small Caribbean expeditionary force, made up of troops from Antigua and Barbuda , Barbados , Dominica , Jamaica , Saint Lucia and Saint -Vincent and the Grenadines), take almost total control of the island in three days. Hudson Austin and Bernard Coard are arrested. During the invasion, fighting took place between American and Cuban troops: if a small part of the Cuban soldiers present on the island put up strong resistance - 24 of them were killed - the majority showed little combativeness and surrendered quickly, which Fidel Castro experiences very badly. The majority of Western countries criticize this intervention carried out without the approval of the UN Security Council. The operation is then condemned by a vote of the General Assembly. The United Kingdom, while refraining from officially condemning the American initiative, is showing its irritation at not having been kept informed of the intervention in a country of which Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state.

Fidel Castro , for his part, attacks both the American invasion and the authors of the coup against Bishop, comparing the latter to Pol Pot. American forces informed the public that large stockpiles of weapons had been seized during the invasion and presented them, with some exaggeration in the figures, as proof of the danger which weighed on the region. Large stocks of internal documents of the PRG and the NJM were confiscated and classified in the United States under the collective name of Grenada documents , constituting a documentary fund on the functioning of the regime.

Grenada was administered by the occupying forces until October 31, 1983, when Nicholas Brathwaite was appointed by the Governor General to head the Interim Advisory Council, which acted as an interim government. The constitution is restored. The country then rebuilt its political life. Kendrick Radix and George Louison bring together supporters of the moderate wing of the New Jewel Movement under the umbrella of a new party, the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement; Ian St Bernard, former member of the central committee of the NJM, reforms the party by denouncing the MBPM executives as traitors: the new NJM, whose influence is reduced to almost nothing, mainly has supporters in Grenadian communities from abroad. Legislative elections took place in December 1984, and resulted in a large victory for the New National Party, which former head of government Herbert Blaize created by merging the old Grenada National Party and several other movements; the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement attracted 5% of the votes and obtained no elected representatives. Blaize becomes Prime Minister for the third time.

The trial of 18 people charged with the murder of Maurice Bishop and the seven other prisoners began in June 1985 , then was adjourned until March the following year. On December 4, 1986, 17 of the accused were convicted and one acquitted; Ten former members of the NJM central committee were sentenced to death, including Hudson Austin, Bernard and Phyllis Coard, Selwyn Strachan and Liam James. The sentences are then commuted to life imprisonment.

Posterity

Despite the controversial nature of his regime, Maurice Bishop continues to be considered, by at least part of Grenada's public opinion, as a political leader worthy of esteem, due to the social reforms undertaken by his government. Pointe Salines Airport, completed after the fall of the PRG, was renamed in 2009 after Maurice Bishop International Airport. The Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement never managed to regain the success of the New Jewel Movement , remained a minority party unrepresented in parliament  and subsequently ceased to exist.

The question of the possible release, in the name of national reconciliation, of the “Grenada 17” ( “the Grenada 17” ) — that is to say the people convicted for the 1983 putsch and the death of Maurice Bishop — continued to divide Grenadian public opinion for years. Three of them, including Hudson Austin, were released in 2008. Bernard Coard and thirteen other convicts remained detained until 2009, when, after the British Privy Council ordered a review of the sentences, the Supreme Court of the Grenada authorizes their release.

Government system

Cabinet

Picture	Name	Portfolio
	Maurice Bishop	Prime Minister of Grenada
	Bernard Coard	Deputy Prime Minister
	Unison Whiteman	Minister of Foreign Affairs
	General Hudson Austin	Minister of Defense Commander of the People's Revolutionary Army (PRA)
	Major Einstein Louison	Vice Minister of Defense PRA Chief of Staff
	Chris DeRiggs	Minister of Health
	Vincent Noel	Secretary for Home Affairs President of Bank and General Workers Union (BGWU) VP of Commercial and Industrial Workers Union (CIWU)
	Jacqueline Creft	Minister of Education Minister of Women's Affairs
	Norris Bain	Minister of Housing
	Don Rojas	Press Secretary to the Prime Minister

Local government

In 1982, local councils lost their importance in favor of Village Coordinating Bureaus (VCBs) responsible for aligning their work with government bodies, local militia and unions.

External links

• Grenadian Revolution at marxists.org