People's Revolutionary Government
The People's Revolutionary Government was proclaimed on 13 March 1979 after the New JEWEL Movement overthrew the government of Grenada in a revolution, making Grenada the only Marxist-Leninist state within the Commonwealth. In Grenada, the revolution is referred to as the "March 13th Revolution of 1979" or simply as "The Revolution". The government suspended the constitution and ruled by decree until a factional conflict broke out, culminating in an invasion by the United States on 25 October 1983.
Background
Independence of Grenada and the regime of Sir Eric Gairy
Grenada, a 350 km2 Caribbean island state located in the Lesser Antilles, gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1974, after a long process. In 1967, the country received the status of an associated state, thus acquiring very high autonomy in the management of its internal affairs. Sir Eric Gairy, a former union leader and leader of the Grenada United Labor Party, became prime minister and led the Grenadian government during the political process that later resulted in the country's complete independence. Even before then, however, Gairy's government experienced a clear authoritarian drift. In the 1960s, a new generation of intellectuals from the middle classes emerged in Grenada, many of whom trained at British and American universities. Their return to the country coincided with the spread of a strong Black Power movement in the Caribbean, inspired by that of the United States.Lawyer and revolutionary Maurice Bishop was one of the leaders of a demonstration in 1970 in support of a protest movement that took place at the same time in Trinidad and Tobago; the Grenadian opponents took advantage of this context to denounce the corruption of Gairy's government. A few months later, a movement in support of a nurses' strike turned into a confrontation with the police. Bishop contributed to the defence of the accused and their acquittal. The main opposition was the Grenada National Party of former Prime Minister Herbert Blaize, a conservative party with its main support base among the middle class and landowners.
In 1972, Maurice Bishop participated in the founding of the Movement for Assemblies of the People, formed by intellectuals from the capital, and advocated the replacement of the parliamentary system with local assemblies, inspired by the Ujamaa villages of the African socialist regime of Tanzania. At the same time, the Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation was formed and led by economist Unison Whiteman. JEWEL, which mainly campaigned for rural populations, drew large support in the country due to its participation in various social movements. The group, however, was not strictly a political party and did not have a global vision to take power. Conversely, MAP was a more intellectually-structured party, but lacked any real presence outside the capital. In the 1972 elections, the Grenada National Party was defeated, and the radicals concluded that they needed to unite to build a new political force to oppose Gairy.
On 11 March 1973, MAP, led by Maurice Bishop and Kenrick Radix, merged with JEWEL to give birth to the New JEWEL Movement, which presented itself as an alternative to GULP and the GNP. The NJM manifesto, socialist in spirit, called for the preservation of the country's independence from Europe and the United States, and favoured the role of grassroots communities over state authority. The text rejects the political party system, calling for a "pure democracy" which would involve "all the people, all the time".
In the months following the formation of the NJM, political tension increased on the island. In May 1973, the United Kingdom announced the total independence of Grenada would occur in February 1974. The opposition then mobilised, fearing that Eric Gairy would impose a dictatorship on the country. Political organisations, including the NJM, came together with churches to form the Committee of 22 to organise the protest against Gairy. On 4 November, the NJM brought together 8,000 people during a demonstration called the Popular Congress. A resolution was published which declared Gairy guilty of numerous crimes, including police brutality and embezzlement of public funds.
The Prime Minister reacted strongly. NJM supporters were soon threatened, both by the police and by a group of Gairy's henchmen, known as the Mongoose Gang. The New Jewel Movement, strong from the success of its Popular Congress, then decided to organise a general strike on 18 November. On that day, party leaders, including Maurice Bishop, were arrested and beaten in their cells. In response to the Prime Minister, the Committee of 22, supported by the NJM, launched a general strike, which began on 1 January 1974.
A few weeks before the country's independence, the tensions remained high and the country continued to experience violence. On 21 January, Bishop's father was murdered; several NJM supporters were also killed. The country's economy was paralysed. Gairy's government received financial assistance from the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana to pay civil servants and continue to operate the state until the day of independence. On 7 February 1974, Grenada gained independence as planned, while the leaders of the New JEWEL Movement remained in prison. The strike lasted until the end of March. After their release, the leaders of the NJM had to acknowledge the failure of their action and decided to carry out more methodical militant work to gain power.
Rise of the New JEWEL Movement
In the following years, the New JEWEL Movement worked to establish itself within the population. Its weekly, the New Jewel, became the most widely read on the island. Although support groups were set up in most villages, penetration into the countryside was more difficult than in urban areas. The influence of GULP and the main union, Grenada Manual & Mental Workers Union, remained strong among peasants and agricultural workers. The NJM succeeded in broadening its activist base, yet it still lacked ideological coherence.Things changed with the return of the academic Bernard Coard, Bishop's childhood friend, to Grenada. While studying in England, Coard developed links with the British Communist Party; teaching in Trinidad, he was also very close to the Jamaican communists. Even before his final return, Coard organised introductory courses in Marxism during his stay in the country. Installed again in Grenada in September 1976, Coard played an important role in the evolution of the NJM. The party leadership initially refused the request of its high school branch, which wanted the official adoption of Marxism-Leninism. It then evolved significantly towards socialism and Marxism.
The NJM, however, had not yet adopted a primarily anti-capitalist discourse, with its main concern being fighting the government of Sir Eric Gairy. Despite the prevailing corruption, Gairy was considered by his supporters as the symbol of the successful black man and still retained popularity among Grenadian opinion. During the 1976 legislative elections, the New Jewel Movement formed a coalition, the Popular Alliance, with the Grenada National Party of former Prime Minister Herbert Blaize. During the election, the NJM, which managed to obtain a leading place in the coalition, obtained three seats, compared with two for its ally, the GNP. Sir Eric Gairy's party retained the absolute majority in parliament, while Maurice Bishop became the leader of the opposition.
In 1977, while their party was evolving towards Marxism-Leninism, Maurice Bishop and Unison Whiteman visited Cuba and came back greatly impressed. The NJM apparently maintained links with the Communist Party of Cuba during this time.
Revolution of 1979
Faced with the rise in power of the New JEWEL Movement, Sir Eric Gairy at the beginning of 1979 considered taking action and having members of the party's leadership arrested. Political tension was further aggravated when the police discovered barrels of grease intended to transport weapons from the United States to Grenada for the benefit of the NJM. The NJM also formed a small, armed clandestine group placed under the leadership of former prison guard and police officer Hudson Austin, one of the only party officials with military training. The leaders of the NJM, informed of the Prime Minister's plans against them, managed to escape arrest and lived in hiding for several days.The NJM took advantage of a trip to New York by Sir Eric Gairy — who was going to the UN to plead in favour of an institution responsible for studying extraterrestrial phenomena — to organise a coup. On 12 March, shortly before midnight, Maurice Bishop, Bernard Coard, Unison Whiteman and other party officials gathered their activists to outline an action plan consisting of deploying NJM militants to storm the barracks where approximately 200 soldiers resided and to take over the radio station and then the country.
In the early hours of 13 March, NJM leaders voted to decide whether to carry out the coup. With for and against tied, an additional executive, George Louison, took part in the decision and voted for the insurrection, which instigated the launch of the revolution. The operation was carried out by 46 NJM militants, often very young, with only 21 guns among them. The barracks were taken over at four in the morning and the buildings attacked with incendiary bombs. The troop was overpowered without difficulty, the soldiers being taken completely by surprise. The radio station was taken over without firing a shot and Maurice Bishop was able to launch his appeal to the population, announcing the seizure of power by the revolutionary army.
The executives of Sir Eric Gairy's regime were, for the most part, easily captured; only Gairy's right-hand man, Derek Knight, managed to flee the country aboard a canoe. The insurrection resulted in only two deaths – a senior officer shot dead while drawing his weapon, as well as a police officer. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the revolutionaries took control of the country.
The NJM revolution immediately received broad support from the population, the majority of whom were tired of Gairy's abuses. In the villages, women prepared food for the insurgents; many young people joined the men of the new revolutionary army to carry out patrols. The takeover of the radio by the insurgents played an essential role among the population, to the point that Maurice Bishop subsequently spoke of a "revolution by radio". Around sixty executives of the old regime were incarcerated. The army and the Mongoose gang were declared dissolved.
Benefiting at the time of the coup from massive support from the population, Bishop was able to proclaim a People's Revolutionary Government, of which he was the Prime Minister. The new government was dominated by the New JEWEL Movement, but included members of the country's business bourgeoisie, including those close to the Grenada National Party. Bernard Coard became the finance minister; he was subsequently appointed deputy prime minister. Executives of the Grenada United Labor Party were not subject to any particular persecution, with only a minority of them being removed from their responsibilities in the administration. The country remained a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II still recognised as Grenada's official head of state. Sir Paul Scoon, the governor-general of the island, was also retained in his honorary role, with the new regime wishing to protect the former colonial metropolis. The Catholic Church, which was very present in Grenada, immediately recognised the new power, while the Anglican Church was more reserved, accusing the New JEWEL Movement of having used force to overthrow the government.