Published on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 by Zinn Education Project Blog
Grenada: Remembering ‘A Lovely Little War’
Anti-bullying curricula are the rage these days. But as teachers endeavor to build a culture of civility among young people in school, the official history curriculum they are provided often celebrates, or at least excuses, bullying among nations. Well, at least when the United States is the bully.
A good example is the U.S. invasion of Grenada—Operation Urgent Fury, as it was called by the Reagan administration—launched exactly 30 years ago this week, on Oct. 25, 1983. Grenada made an unlikely target of U.S. military might. Its main product was not oil but nutmeg. Its naval fleet consisted of about 10 fishing trawlers. Grenada’s population of 110,000 was smaller than Peoria, Illinois. At the time of the invasion, there was not a single stoplight in the entire country. So what put Grenada in the crosshairs of the Reagan administration?
In 1979, the socialist New Jewel Movement had overthrown the corrupt and unpopular dictator Eric Gairy in an almost bloodless coup. For years, Gairy ruled through fear. His secret police, the “Mongoose Gang,” had been supplied by the U.S.-backed Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. The revolution launched by the New Jewel Movement—the “Revo,” as it was affectionately dubbed—was immensely popular. [Read more]
Here is other articles:
US Invasion of Grenada: A 30-Year Retrospective
Stephen Zunes, Truthout: On this anniversary, it would be worth looking back at the Grenadian revolution, the US invasion, its aftermath and the important precedent it set for “regime change” through US military intervention. Read the Article
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The View from Europe – By David Jessop
Thirty years on: the US and the Caribbean
Thirty years ago this coming week American and Caribbean forces landed in Grenada. Depending on one’s point of view, it was a rescue mission to restore democracy and civil rights, an illegal invasion of a sovereign Caribbean nation, or possibly both.
At the time it divided the region’s governments. For those who supported the US, it enabled the emergence of a strong alliance of conservative Caribbean interests in government and the private
sector just as it appeared that the Caribbean and Central American region was fracturing ideologically, and becoming divided in its political and social thinking.
