GRENADA BASIC FACTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00363R000601500028-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 1, 2007
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: October 26, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

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NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
November 1, 1983
Attached is- packet of unclassified Grenada
briefing materials for your information.
Cordially,
Constantine C. Menges
Encls: (5),
-- Basic Facts
-- Chronology of Events
-- Stakes
-- Legal Authority
-- US statement re accidental attack
on the hospital
l
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GRENADA
BASIC FACTS
1430 26 Oct. #0195G
What we are doing: Responding to an urgent and formal request.from the
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), six Caribbean States and
the United States joined in a collective action to restore peace and
public order in Grenada. Elements of the combined force landed on
Grenada early on October 25.
Collapse of governmental-institutions in Grenada: On October 19,
Grenada's Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop, and several Cabinet members and
labor leaders were brutally murdered by a handful of their former
military associates. The physical elimination of most of the Government
of Grenada was followed by announcement of a "Revolutionary Military
Council" (RMC) and rumors that remaining government embers had been
murdered. The only visible act of "authority" was the imposition of a
shoot-on-sight curfew.
Why Caribbean-States and-US Acted: The Eastern Caribbean states saw the
violence and the disintegration of political institutions in Grenada as
an unprecedented threat to peace and security of the region. With 800 -
1000 US citizens to protect, we shared their concerns. Inaction would
have increased the dangers of the crisis in Grenada.
What Caribbean States-are in-the-Collective-Security-Force: The force
includes contingents from Jamaica anti Barbados plus four OECS member
states: Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent.
Objectives: The objectives of the collective security force are clear:
to restore peace, order and respect for human rights; to evacuate those
who wish to leave; to help the Grenadians re-establish governmental
institutions; and to withdraw from the island as soon as possible.
Legal authority: The OECS acted pursuant to collective security
provisions of the 1981 OECS Treaty of Establishment. The OECS states are
not party to the Rio Treaty; the OECS Treaty is in effect their regional
equivalent, and is consistent with the purposes and principles of UN and
OAS Charters. U.S. participation is also justified by the need to
protect U.S. nationals. U.S..actions have been consistent with the
consultation and reporting provisions of the War Powers Resolution.
Duration: U.S. troops will stay the minimum time necessary to help the
arri~an states to restore peace and help the people of Grenada
reestablish functioning governmental institutions.
Diplomatic activity: An emergency meeting of the OAS Permanent Council
was requested by the Eastern Caribbean countries. The UN Secretary
General and President of the Security Council have been informed.
The-OECS: Founded in 1981 to enhance regional cooperation, OECS members
are Grenada, Antigua-Barbuda, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St.
Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
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10/27 0045hrs
CHRONOLOGY OF GRENADA EVENTS
September 28 - October 6
PM Maurice Bishop visits Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslavakia.
October 6-8
Bishop visits Cuba.
October 12
-- Longstanding conflict between PM Bishop and Deputy PM
Bernard Coard erupts in fight in Grenadian cabinet. Coard
wants to supplant Bishop and speed up "socialist change."
-- Ostensibly as a result of rumor that he seeks Bishop's
assassination, Coard resigns.
Night of October 13/14
-- About midnight, New Jewel Movement (NJM) Central
Committee places Bishop under house arrest.
-- Radio Free Grenada (run by Coard's wife Phyllis)
announces arrest of 3 Cabinet ministers. Mobilization Minister
Selvyn Strachan announced that Coard had replaced Bishop as
PM. An angry crowd of 300 gathered outside the government-
controlled newspaper to protest. Justice Minister Kendrick
Radix arrested for organizing the demonstration.
-- Tim Hector, leader of leftist Antigua Caribbean
Liberation Movement, announces that his party is concerned
about the safety of Bishop and other leaders of Grenada.
-- Five Cabinet members resign: Jacqueline Creft,
Education; Norris Bain, Housing; George Louison, Agriculture;
Lyden Rhamdhanny Tourism; & Unison Whiteman, Foreign Minister.
-- Whiteman said that "Comrade Coard, who is now running
Grenada, has refused to engage in serious talks to resolve the
crisis.....it became clear to us that they did not want a
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settlement and seemed determined to use force and provoke
violence to achieve their objective."
Grenada Airport is closed, flight from Barbados is
turned back. Radio Free Grenada, only source of news, goes off
the air. Shops are closed. School children demonstrate for
Bishop's return to office. Demonstrators force of restoration
of overseas telephone service which had been cut off.
Agriculture Minister Louison is arrested.
-- Barbados Government calls emergency ca'biriet meeting,
expresses "deep concern" over events in Grenada.
-- A crowd of thousands, apparently led by Whiteman,
marches to Bishop's residence and frees him and Creft, also
held prisoner there. Group proceeds to the downtown area
toward Fort Rupert (also Police HQ), where Radix was believed
imprisoned. Once there, Peoples Revolutionary Army (PRA)
troops loyal to the Central Committee, some in armored
personnel carriers (APC), surround Bishop, Whiteman, Creft,
Bain and two union leaders, separate them from the crowd and
march them into the fort with their hands over their heads.
All are killled - Jacqueline Creft reportedly by beating. Wire
services (CANA, EFE) from St. Georges reports 50 casualties
from troops firing on demonstrators.
-- Radio Free Grenada (RFG) announces deaths, formation
of a Revolutionary Military Council (RMC) headed by Army Chief
General Hudson Austin, and a round-the-clock, shoot on sight
curfew until October 24 at 6:00 am.
-- Journalists from international press arrive at airport
and are immediately deported.
-- Alister Hughes, Agence France Presse & CANA
correspondent & director of Grenadian weekly, Newsletter, who
filed eyewitness report on Fort Rupert events, is picked up at
h is home by security forces during the night. Hughes was the
sole independent news link between Grenada and the rest of the
world. His brother, Leonard, and another businessman, Tony
Moore are also arrested.
-- Coard placed under "protective custody" - Not seen again.
October 20
-- Barbados Prime Minister, Tom Adams, expresses "horror
at these brutal and vicious murders." Describing the new /
regime he says, "I do not think it will be possible to v
accommodate wide a range a governments within the Caribbean.
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It goes far beyond ideological plurvalism. This is the
difference between barbarians and human beings."
-- Jamaica breaks relations with Grenada. Opposition
leader Manley repudiates RMC, cuts relations with the NJM and
recommends its expulsion from the Socialist International.
-- St. Lucia Prime Minister, Sir John Compton, says
"Whatever little chance Grenada had in Bishop for the
liberalisation of the regime is gone for sometime to come.
Coard's regime will try to push the Caribbean Community into
the communist camp." He said his government and others would
resist any such efforts. V
-- Dominica Prime Minister Eugenia Charles condemns the
killings in Grenada; says her government would have no dealings
with those who now "unlawfully" constitute the government of
Grenada.
-- Monserrat Chief Minister John Osborne says events in
Grenada had cast a dark shadokw over the Caribbean. "The
Government of Montserrat feels strongly that we (regional
leaders) must eet as soon as possible to consider our future
relaitonship with Grenada under its so-called revolutionary
council ..... our sympathy goes out to the people of Grenada."
-- Prime Minister Dr. Kennedy Simmonds of St Kitts and
Nevis joined other Caribbean Community (Caricom) member states
in condemning political violence in Grenada.
-- Prime Minister George Chambers of Trinidad and Tobago
announced trade and other sanctions against Grenada, described
the killings of Bishop and his ex-ministers as "executions" and
said his government viewed with horror the importation of such
executions in the English-speaking Caribbean.
-- In London, Commonwealth Secretary-General Ramphal
issues statement expressing horror at murder of Bishop and his
supporters. "I feel sure that Commonwealth Caribbean
governments in particular will wish to use every influence
through co-ordinated responses to ensure that the will and the
interest of the people of Grenada are respected and the
integrity of the island-state preserved."
The Caribbean Conference of Churches suspends all
relations with Grenada's new military rulers after having
earlier offered to mediate between Bishop and Coard factions.
-- Emergency meeting of the organization of Eastern
Caribbean States (OECS), plus Jamaica and Barbados, called for
Barbados on October 21.
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-- U.S. citizen arrested in Grenada, released unharmed.
October 21
-- Antigua and Barbuda Foreign Minister Lester Bird says
events in St. Georges (Grenada) threaten the well-being of the
Caribbean. "The Government of Antigua and Barbuda will not
recognize the regime in Grenada."
-- Except for Grenada, OECS nations (St. Vincent and
Grenadines, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St.
Kitts/Nevis, and Monserrat) plus Barbados and Jamaica formally
and unanimously resolve to intervene by force in Grenada if
U.S. will assist. Intervention will conform to OECS charter
provision that the heads of government may collectively agree
to take whatever measures are necessary to defend the region
and preserve the peace.
-- Grenada's Ambassador to OAS resigns.
Cuba issues statement asserting its non-involvement,
calls for investigation and "exemplary punishment" of anyone
guilty of Bishop and other deaths, and reaffirms support for
the "revolutionary process" in Grenada.
-- Curfew lifted for four hours to allow food purchases;
riots and looting occur.
-- Caricom Heads of Government meet in Trinidad; resolve
11-1 to expel Grenada from the organization. Guyana,
Trinidad-Tobago and Belize have reservations about military
resolution.
-- The RMC denies disorder during four-hour lifting of
curfew the iprevious day. On the contrary, the RMC says,
people formed orderly queues outside shops, youth were seen
playing football, and tourists were at the beach.
-- RMC announces "policy statement" on economy, social
policy, foreign policy, saying a new cabinet will be appointed
"within the next 10 to 14 days."
-- The RMC said RMC Lt. Ashley Folkes had been replaced.
The RMC said he had been "erroneously named" as a member of the
16 man council the.day before.
-- The RMC announces Pearl's Airport will be open the
next day and that the curfew will be reduced to from 8:00 p.m.
to 5:00 a.m.
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-- RMC strenuously denies reported execution of
Journalist Alister Hughes
-- RMC issues series of bulletins on.Caricom actions,
calls for militia mobilization.
U.S. diplomatic representatives arrive.
-- Forte De France (Martinique) radio reports Grenadian
army divided and indicates another coup is possible. Heavy
weapons fire is reported. -
-- Special emissary McNeil arrives in Barbados to confer
with key leaders (Adams of Barbados, Seaga of Jamaica, Charles
of Dominica).
-- Canadian charter flight to pick up its citizens
reported unable to land in Grenada.
RMC presents note requesting assurance that the U.S.
does not plan an invasion.
-- OECS plus Jamaica and Barbados reported in
Grenadian press to be preparing an invasion.
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Noon
THE STATES, IS CR!N DA
The United States today acted in concert with the
Members of the Organization of Listern Caribbean State (Ot g ,
plus Barbados and Jamaica, to s
forestall further brutality e;d
chaos in Grenada.
y a
andful of their former military
.
Last Wednesday, Grena 1 's; Prine Kinister, llauriq
Bishop, and several Cabinet members and labor leaders w-r?
brutally murdered b
h
This collective action was taken because inaction voud
have encouraged lawlessness +~nd increased the dangers of tbe~i
crisis in Grenada.
-- The physical elimination of iaost of the Governaaent of
Grenada was followed by announcement of a 'Revolutionary.
Military Council' (RMC) and rumors that remaining gover
members had been murdered. '"he RMC denied that it consi _.j
itself a government, and said one would be announced in 10 pys
or two weeks.
-- Meanwhile, the only visible act of "authority* was tbi
imposition of a shoot-on-eight curfew.
The violent disintegration of governing institu tioaso,
interruptions of conmunications.and transportation, and the !
uncharacteristic brutality of events repelled and alsrM*d
leaders throughout the Caribbean.
-- This volatile situation caused us to be serioumly
concerned about the welfare of U.S. citizens in Grenada, which
make up the largest group of foreigners. Similar concerns were
even sharper among Grenada's neighbors.
-- Meeting in emergency session, OEC$ members decides -
unanimously to protect their citizens and to help restore or z
and functioning institutions in Grenada. We Barbados in agreeing to work with them for thesencommonsi ~ta3
ob)cctives.
-- At stake are the safety and Kell-being of U.B. citiss a,
other foreign residents, and the people of Grenada. -
At stake is
the ability of free nations to cooparat, ito
protect themselves ^nd to help insure that one of their
is not plunged into anarchy. um tr
At stake is the peace and security of the Eastern
Caribbean.
Uo-
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Since the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister of
Grenada on October 12, followed by the arrest and subsequent
murder of the Prime Minister and several other cabinet members,
the deteriorating and anarchic conditions on Grenada posed a
serious threat to the continued safety of the approximately
1,000 U.S. citizens there and for peace and stability in the
Caribbean. The U.S. watched events with increasing concern.
The regional security implications of the Grenadan
situation were also a matter of grave concern for Grenada's
neighbors. Grenada is a member of the Organization of Eastern
Caribbean States (OECS), a sub-regional body created by treaty
in 1981. The members are Antigua, Dominica, Grenada,
Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, Saint Lucia and Sainrt. Vincent and
the Grenadines. Among the purposes of the 1981 Treaty are the
promotion of regional cooperation and collective security.
The OECS determined that the collapse of government and
disintegration of public order on Grenada posed a threat to the
security and stability of the region. The OECS members decided
to take necessary measures in response to this threat, in
accordance with Article 8 of the OECS Treaty. They sought the
assistance of friendly foreign states to participate in a
collective security force. Barbados and Jamaica agreed with
the OECS assessment of the gravity of the situation, offered to
contribute forces to a collective action and joined in urging
the United States to participate in the support of this
regional measure.
The Governor General of Grenada made a confidential direct
appeal to the OECS to take action to restore order on the
island. As the sole remaining authoritative representative of
government on Grenada, his appeal for action carried
exceptional moral and legal weight.
The deteriorating events in Grenada since October 12, taken
together, demonstrated the brutality of the Revolutionary
Military Council and the ominous lack of cohesion within the
Grenadan military. The Revolutionary Military Council had
imposed a 24-hour curfew, warning that violators would be shot
on sight, and closed the airport. U.S. citizens were not free
to leave. Although the Military Council gave assurances that
the airport would be opened on October 24 and foreigners
allowed to depart, they then failed to fulfill that assurance.
It became clear that delay would intensify both the risk of
violence against Americans and a vacuum of authority that would
imperil Grenada's neighbors.
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Collective action in response to the dangerous situation
was consistent with the UN and OAS Charters. Both Charters
expressly recognize the competence of regional security bodies
in ensuring peace and stability. The OECS states are not
parties to the Rio Treaty, and the OECS Treaty, which concerns
itself in part with matters of collective security, is their
regional security arrangement.
Article 22 of the OAS Charter states that measures taken
pursuant to collective security agreements do not violate the
OAS Charter provisions prohibiting intervention and the use of
force. Similarly, Article 52 of the UN Charter expressly
permits regional arrangements for the maintenance of peace and
security consistent with the purposes and principles of the
United Nations. The actions and objectives of the collective-
security force, in the circumstances described by the President
and the Secretary of State, are consistent with those purposes
and principles.
The OECS states, in taking lawful collective action, were
free to call upon other concerned states, including the United
States, for assistance in their effort to maintain the peace
and security of the Caribbean. Assistance given in response to
their request is itself lawful. Moreover, U.S. cooperation
with the collective security force permitted the safe
evacuation of endangered U.S. citizens. Such humanitarian
action is justified by well-established principles of
international law.
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