There were differing opinions on the direction of the political powers in Grenada in the late 1970's. Prime Minister Eric Gairy and his party was overthrown in 1979 by the New Jewel Movement led by by Maurice Bishop. Bishop felt that the direction the Gairy government was corrupt and restraining the growth of the Grenada nation. Bishop wanted to see change along with his supporters. He had a socialist view on how Grenada should be governed and many people supported this vision.
The US government felt that the construction of a new international airport during Bishop's rule was a direct threat of communism because of the Soviet and Cuban support of the airport construction (Britain and Canada helped in the planning of the airport). What is interesting is that the US government sent congressmen to investigate whether the airport was being constructed for military use. Research will indicate 2 sides of the story.
On October 19, 1983, Bishop along with other members of his government were captured by Marxist supporters and taken to Fort George.
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| Looking towards Fort George |
They were executed and many other citizens died this day. The US government felt there was a threat and the US invasion or intervention occurred on October 29th.
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| Small caption taken from the Grenada National Museum |
The reason I am posting this information is that on our first day in class we had a presentation on the History of Grenada. There were 3 revolutions of significance in Grenada. The most recent was during the Gairy/Bishop time period. As we sat in the classroom listening to the history, the Grenadian faculty and students started to recount their versions and memories of the October 19 and 25th events. It was a heartbreaking and raw account of what happened during that time. The young Grenadian students in the room, asked questions and needed to know why this part of their history is not spoken about openly in their country. One student commented that he tries to ask his father about that time period because his father has a bullet wound/scar from October 19. There is evidence of Gairy and Bishop supporters everywhere still and graffiti still exists from that time period. We interviewed Francis Urias Peters who wrote a play about this history.
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| Poster of Play |
When we travel around the island and speak to people, it is clear that the invasion/intervention is still fresh and hurts. It is still real. If you visit Fort George, the bullet holes are still in the walls from the execution. Tourist go to the fort to hear the history. The airport is named after Maurice Bishop. So this history needs to be known and whether you call it an invasion or intervention depends on who you talk to. This is part of the culture.
https://nacla.org/blog/2012/10/22/bitter-anniversary-remembering-invasion-grenada
http://www.gov.gd/articles/october_19th.html
http://www.forts.org/index.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-invades-grenada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Grenada
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