Top row, left to right: Maurice Bishop, Kendrick Radix, Unison Whiteman. Bottom row, left to right: Howard Austin, Grenada on Tuesday 18 October just seven days before the US invasion and the day before Maurice. Bishop died. She is a member of the New Jewel Movement and a senior administrative officer in the Ministry of Education.
She was in Britain to attend a War on Want conference on health and literacy. She is now speaking at solidarity rallies. Below she tells what the NJM had achieved in Grenada and gives her analysis of what caused the dispute inside the NJM.
We are publishing her opinion on the dispute so that our readers can learn from all sides what went on in the NJM. Socialist Action does not endorse Carol's view however.
We agree with the Cubans who in a statement made from Havana on 20 October said: 'No doctrine, no principle, no opinion calling itself revolutionary, and no internal split can justify such atrocious acts as the physical elimination of Bishop and the prominent group of honest and dignified leaders who died'.
Why do you think that the US invaded Grenada this week?
The US government has tried justify the invasion of Grenada by saying that Grenada was a threat to US security and interests. They certainly cannot mean that Grenada was physical threat. That would be ludicrous.
The population of our island is 110,000. Grenada is so won't find it on a map unless you first know where to look for the pinprick. Our army is only 2000 strong. don't have a navy at all. Well we refer to 'our navy', but it is one boat hardly the size of this room coastguard's vessel!
Our army does technology equipment. we spend our monev on armaments. our money is used to raise the standard of living people.
Peoples Revolutionary came to power unemployment in our country was 50 per cent. We put a lot of effort into that and the last time we - was down to 14 per cent. That's still :a0 high. But its a big achievement.
Health We have a literacy programme is -are reduced illiteracy to 10 per We abolished school fees for seria: schools so that no Grena=i zould be denied an educasait of the financial Instead: their family.
riduced free bealth care. sit be tea a programme of house =5: 0i great big buildings. trodes homes of the Repairs were done bere were proper small you We which is the not have high don't When Government Bernard Coard, Selwyn Strachan 'threat to its security'.
other Caribbean countries.
tervention, like Trinidad. cirOverthrow opposed Americans to go in.
US to bes af Tom the LS government. ple. That is what the US means by a We achieved things through our independence and our government, that the puppet governments of other Caribbean islands have not achieved.
The other reason Reagan gives is that he was asked to intervene by Many of the most important opposed the insmale: courizes ali puppe regimes wanted the But that's not why the US did it. Do you think if every single African state asked the need intervene to overthro the cist, apartheid state of South Afric thar Reagan would do it? I think not.
There has been a long campaign of Last our revolution in Grenada we were building a secret submarine base for the Russians. But they didn't lake mucn account or lne geograpmy of our island, as they claimed it was being built in the dam in the mountains of Grenada, which is totally inaccessible by sea!
Then they claimed that our new international arport was in realitv a military base for the Soviet The international airport is a key есопотк development. tomy is corally dependen: on two agriculture and tourism. Ar presen: de anil have an airport for small aurerati. and is can oniv be us. ed in the day as there are no lights. To develop tourism and bring in numbers of international tourists, we the airport. Increasing tourism is vital to raise the living standards of our people.
Then the US claimed that we had Cuban troops in our country. sent technicians to help us build our airport, as did many other countries You have to understand the feat of engineering involved in the international airport. Grenada is a small and mountamous space long enough for a runway for international jets involved filling in part of the sea, and chopping bits off mountains.
people, and we did not have the skills or technology to do this ourselves. We Plessey has Our doing the lights. Militia large Cuban workers had to fight because a bullet will not dodge around you if you are a worker and not a soldier. A bullet can't choose, Cubans fought alongside our army Cuba bitten off more than it can chew. They admitted resistance was tougher than expected.
The Bernard Coard, joint leadership against it Maurice rumours about side the party.
Bishop's vasion.
rule.
military lo tind a flat We are a small island with few Even a British company been involved, they are But when the US intervened the the British troops every But the US may find that it has We that the be over. It cannot ever be over for us. We have fought too long for that. Maurice Bishop who was and is great revolutionary would turn in his grave at the idea.
How did the differences inside the NJM start to surface?
You must understand that we have two separate structures in Grenada the government and the party. There was a problem in the party. A majority felt that there should be a joint No challenged the fact that Maurice Bishop should be Prime Minister, but people felt that one man running things was not right Response imperialist press have presented the situation as a 'power struggle'! This is not the case at all.
who was to be the joint leader of the party, was not pro. moting his own case. The change was in response to the feelings of the majority of the party which favoured a Maurice Bishop first of all agreed and then changed his mind and was Then it appeared that Bishop began to spread Coard which parts members felt could endanger Coard's life. This was unacceptable Maurice Bishop was undoubtedly the leader with popular support outBut for a leader to endanger the life of another is a serious matter, and would not be allowed.
It was a matter of principle. This is Bishop places under house arrest. But for the people of Grenada Maurice Bishop was the New Jewel Movement. Explaining the difference between Maurice Bishop and the party was very difficult.
Things got worse when a few of supporters 1n the NJM leadership led a demonstration which resulted in his release. They then led the march to the fort in St Georges which is the military headquarters and arsenal. It was clear that they were seeking to arm nemselves As the Peoples Revolutionary Army remained loyal to the majority of the NJM this could only have resulted in civil war. It was to prevent this occuring that the shooting took place. Invasion This was our tragedy, our problem, and does not justify the UŠ inWe sort ourselves. And we would have done.
On the Monday, the day before the US invasion, martial law had been lifted and we had returned to civilian Normality had been restored. There was no military coup. The took control temporarily because a military situation was posed. There was a threat of civil war The army was loyal to the NJM The NJM was in control of the government throughout the situation It is a misconcention that there wer major disagreements on policy. policy we had always had a collective approach and there is no reason to suppose that any major changes in pclicy were to be expected.
What should happen now?
Here you must build up pressure on government to get US COUL of Mobilise organis thon you call on Lois basis. And get as many people to London as possible on 5 November. We will fight on in Grenada.
have fight. We have nothing to lose by fighting on. And it will not be over when the fighting itself has stopped
Socialist Action 4 November 1983