Last week we attended the independence day of Grenada.....which was very colourful but also a bit dull. Quit a paradox to be honest, that an Eden like Grenada - where life moves slow and the day of independence is a rather boring affair - historically has been a constant scene of struggle and bloodshed.
The struggle did not end with the independence which was achieved on the 7th feb. 1974.
In March 1979 a staged revolution took place and deposed Eric Gairy, the then Prime Minister, who was out of the country addressing the United Nations at the time (apparently Gairy was there to raise attention about Aliens and UFO's....). With the revolution Maurice Bishop raised to power. Shortly after the Cubans arrived from Havana and began to construct a 9000 long runway on Grenada.
In 1983 disputes at the top level of the party leadership occurred.On October 19, 1983, Bernard Coard (a hard-core communist), backed by the Grenadian Army, led a coup against the government of Maurice Bishop, who was placed under house arrest. These actions led to street demonstrations in various parts of the island, as Bishop had massive support among the population. He was eventually freed during a large demonstration in the capital. When Bishop attempted to resume power, he was captured and executed by soldiers along with seven others.
The overthrow of a moderate government by one which was strongly pro-communist and the construction of the above mentioned airstrip, pissed off the then U.S president Ronald Reagan, who assumed it was being built for Soviet military purposes.
On October 25 1983, Grenada was invaded by combined forces from the United States, the Regional Security System (RSS) and Jamaica, in an operation codenamed Operation Urgent Fury.
Order was restored, hotels re-opened, the sun re-appeared and the tourists came back and life since then has for the most been tranquil.
And coming to Grenada today the only sign you will find of the revolution is an old poster of Bishop and Castro shaking hands hanging lonely on a wall in the capital St. George. And the only damage you may spot on some of the building were caused by hurricane Ivan some years ago, and despite this St. George still has one of the most picturesque waterfronts in all of the Southern Caribbean.
My stay here in Grenada is soon coming to an end as we (Julian and I) will head back to Trinidad tomorrow for a couple of weeks.
Grenada has been great and sadly I haven't had enough time to see as much of it as I would have liked.
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