Grenada's Political Evolution

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Grenada's Political Evolution[4]

Grenada, discovered by Columbus in 1498, is a tiny Caribbean island of 334 square km with a population of approximately 100,000 inhabitants. In the 18th century, as a British colony, the rulers imported large numbers of slaves from Africa to work the sugar plantations. In March 1967, the island became a self-governing state in association with the United Kingdom and, later that year, Eric Gairy and his party were elected to power. Grenada eventually became an independent nation in 1974. Through the 1970

, opposition to Gairy's erratic and repressive rule mounted, as economic conditions deteriorated. A coalition called the Grenada New Jewel Movement (NJM), along with

other opposition parties, succeeded in reducing Gairy's majority in Parliament in the

1976 election.

While Gairy was out of the country in 1979, the NJM staged a bloodless coup, proclaimed a People's Revolutionary Government (PRG), and named their leader, Maurice Bishop, as Prime Minister. The PRG suspended the Westminster style constitution, but retained the Governor General in a ceremonial post. From the start, the new government faced opposition and isolation from Western nations because of its socialist principles. The PRG immediately embarked on an aggressive Soviet-style program to rebuild the economy, left in disarray by Gairy. Progressively isolated from the West, Bishop established ties with Cuba, eventually receiving weapons and some financial support to build a modern airport to facilitate the economic development of Grenada. As could be expected, Grenada's ties with Cuba were viewed unfavorably by the United States. Grenada, Cuba and the United States

Throughout the twentieth century, the policy of the United States in the Caribbean Basin has been distinguished by its readiness, willingness and ability to intervene, both overtly and covertly, in support of its interests. The U.S. troops occupied or intervened openly in Cuba (1899 and 1961), Honduras (1912), Haiti (1915), Guatemala (1954), the Dominican Republic (1916 and 1965), Nicaragua (1927 and 1980s), and Panama (1989) as well as confirming the acquisition of Puerto Rico (1952). The United States has always been "acutely sensitive to the possible threats to their vital interests of any hostile threat in the Caribbean Basin," starting in the early 19th century with the enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine. Following the PRG coup, it did not take long for anxieties to rise among Caribbean governments because of the anticipated close link between Cuba and the PRG, and because of suggestions of revolutionary contagion in the Eastern Caribbean. In the eyes of many, especially the United States, Cuba was the main exporter of trouble in the area, promoting its revolution and national liberation abroad.

The most disturbing action of the Bishop government was, from the U.S. standpoint, Grenada's decision to build a new international airport with a 10,000-foot runway suitable for transcontinental jets. While the popular Grenadian Prime Minister spoke of increased tourism, Americans feared the future airport could eventually be used by Soviet and Cuban long- range military aircraft. Robert Beck is of the opinion that the coup de grace confirming that Grenada was shifting toward the Soviet's sphere of influence was delivered when Grenada refused to condemn the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at the UN.

Following President Reagan's ascension in power in January 1981, the American attitude toward Grenada hardened considerably, and did not soften despite some attempts by Grenada to improve relations with the U.S. Formal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Grenada had ended in 1981 when Grenada was excluded from the list of states to which the U.S. ambassador to Barbados was accredited, and relations between the two countries worsened during the early years of the Reagan administration. To make matter worse, Grenada was excluded in 1982 from the Caribbean Basin Initiative, an American economic aid initiative stimulated largely by anti-communism.

GRENADA LEAD IN

Grenada, one of the smallest independent nations in the Western Hemisphere and one of the southernmost Caribbean islands in the Windward chain, has an area of only 133 square miles. The population is 110,000. However, size is not necessarily the determining factor when governments consider strategic military locations. The Cuban government knew the value of Grenada's location when it decided to utilize the former British colony as a holding place for arms and military equipment, complete with a major airport. Eastern Caribbean nations fully understood the implication