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Grenada

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...