GRENADA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00363R000200370066-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Sequence Number: 66
• Content Type: REPORT

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Land
,344 kni' (Grenada and southern Grenadines);
14% cultivated; 17% unused but potentially
pnxluctive; 12% forest; 4% pasture; 23% built
on, waste, and other
Water
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm
(economic including fishing 200 nm)
People
Population: 111,000 (July 1983), average an-
nual growth rate 1.3%
Nationality: noun-Grenadian(s);
adjective-Grenadian
Ethnic divisions: mainly of African-Negro
(ICScent
Religion: largely Roman Catholic; Anglican;
Other Protestant sects
Language: English; some French patois
Labor force: 36,000 (1978, est.); 40% agricul-
ture
Organized labor: 33% of labor force
Government
0JTcial name: Grenada
Type: independent state; recognizes Eliza-
beth 11 as Chief of State
Capital: St. Georges
Political subdivisions: 6 parishes
Legal system: based on English common law
National holiday: Independence Day, 7 Feb-
ruary
Branches: following coup, led by New Jewel
Movement leader Maurice Bishop, constitu-
tion suspended on 25 March 1979 and
replaced by People's Laws; three-man elec-
toral commission appointed; elections
unscheduled
Government leaders: Maurice BISHOP,
Prime Minister; Sir Paul SCOON, Governor
General
Elections: formerly every five years; most re-
cent general election 7 December 1976
Political parties and leaders: New Jewel
Movement (NJM), Maurice Bishop; other
parties, now inactive-United People's Party
(UPP), Winston Whyte (imprisoned); Gre-
nada National Party (GNP), Herbert A.
Blaize; and Grenada United Labor Party
(GULP), Eric Gairy (in exile)
Voting strength: (1976 election) GULP
51.7%, Opposition Coalition, 48.3%; Legisla-
tive Council seats-GULP, 9; Opposition
Coalition, 6 (NJM 3, UPP 1, GNP 1, unaffili-
ated 1)
Communists: the ruling party is Marxist ori-
ented
Member of: CARICOM, G-77, GATT (de
facto), IBRD, IDA, [FAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA., UN, UNESCO,
UPU, WHO
Economy
GDP: $97 million (1981), $870 per capita;
real growth rate 1981 est., 3%
Agriculture: main crops-spices, cocoa,
bananas; 2,175 calories and 67.0 grams pro-
tein per day per capita (1977)
Electric power: 9,000 kW capacity (1982); 26
million kWh produced (1982), 239 kWh per
capita
Exports: $18.8 million (f.o.b., 1981); cocoa
beans, nutmeg, bananas, mace
Imports: $48.8 million (f.o.b., 1981); food,
machinery, building materials
Major trade partners: exports-39% UK,
17% West Germany, 12% Netherlands
(1979); imports-21% UK, 20% Trinidad and
Tobago (1979)
Budget: (prelim. 1980) revenues, $39 million;
expenditures, $40 million
Monetary conversion rate: 2.70 East Carib-
bean dollars= US$1 (23 February 1983)
Communications
Railroads: none
Highways: 1,000 km total; 600 km paved,
300 km otherwise improved; 100 km unim-
proved
Airfields: 3 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-
surface runways, 2 with runways 1,220-
2,439 m
Telecommunications: automatic, island-
wide telephone system with 5,650 telephones
(5.4 per 100 popl.); new SHF links to Trinidad
and St. Vincent; VHF and UHF links to Trin-
idad and Carriacou; 2 AM stations, I TV
station
Defense Forces
Branches: People's Revolutionary Army,
Grenada Police Service
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Secret
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Economy
Aid: economic commitments-Western
(non-US) countries ODA and OOF (1970-80),
$6 million; OPEC ODA (1974-80), $15 mil-
lion; Communist countries (1970-81), $1
million; military commitments-Commu-
nist countries (1970-81), $1 million (S/NF)
Defense Forces
Local security forces: People's Revolution-
ary Army 1,500, People's Revolutionary
Militia between 2,000 and 4,000, Royal Gre-
nada Police Force 300-500; Coast Guard 1
55-foot patrol boat, 3 30-foot patrol boats-
the police commissioner is the immediate su-
pervisor of the Coast Guard (C)
Intelligence and Security
The former Special Branch of Police has
largely been disbanded in favor of separate
People's Revolutionary Army units, which
are reportedly responsible for security
(S/NF)
Defense Forces
Defense is responsibility of France; data are
for French military forces (S)
Personnel: 450 army infantry (S)
Major ground units: 1 company of overseas
infantry regiment (S)
Ships: 1 patrol boat (S)
Aircraft: 1 helicopter (S)
Intelligence and Security
French National Police, domestic; General
Intelligence, domestic; Gendarmerie, do-
mestic; Directorate of Territorial
Surveillance (DST), domestic (S/NF)
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Guatemala
Guff of
Mexico
Defense For
Personnel: step
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GREECE 212
mounistiko Komma Ellados-EKKE). The EKKE, a small Maoist
party, obtained .02 and .23 percent of the votes in 1974 and 1977,
respectively.
L E G I S L A T U R E
The unicameral Parliament (Vouk) consists of 300
members elected by direct universal suffrage for four-year
terms, subject to dissolution. The electoral system rewards
large parties by providing for a secondary allocation of
parliamentary seats. At the election of November 20, 1977,
the New Democracy won 172 seats; the Panhellenic
Socialist Movement, 93; the Union of the Democratic
Center, 15; the Communist Party-Exterior, 11; the Nation-
al Front, 5; the Alliance of Progressive and Left-wing
Forces, 2; and the New Liberal Party, 2. In 1978 both New
Liberal deputies and 4 former Democratic Center deputies
joined the New Democracy (the New Liberal Party being
dissolved), while 2 New Democracy, 1 National Front, and
6 Democratic Center members became independents. How-
ever, Electoral Court rulings resulted in a gain of 1 seat by
the Democratic Center, giving it a net representation of 6.
In March 1979 the new Party for Democratic Socialism was
joined by 4 independent, former Edek deputies.
President: Dimitrios PAPASPYROU.
Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
Ministers
Agriculture
Commerce
Communications
Coordination
Culture and Sciences
Finance
Foreign Affairs
Industry and Energy
Interior
Justice
Labor
Merchant Marine
National Defense
National Education
and Religions
Northern Greece
Public Order
Public Works
Regional Planning and
Development
Social Services
Without Portfolio
George Rallis
Konstantinos Papakonstantinou
Athanassios Kanellopoulos
Aristides Kalantzakos
Georgios Panayotopoulos
George Rallis
Andreas Andrianopoulos
Miltiades Evert
Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Stefanos Manos
Christoforos Stratos
Georgios Stamatis
Konstantinos Laskaris
loannis Fikioris
Evangelos Averoff
Athanassios Taliadouros
Nicholaos Mattis
Dimitrios Davakis
Zannis Zennetakis
Georgios Plytas
Spyros Doxiades
Georgios Kontogiorghis
Stavros Dimas
The news media operated under severe constraints while
the military was in power. Since the return to civilian rule,
censorship has been lifted, and a number of papers banned
by the military have reemerged.
Press. The following are published daily at Athens, unless
otherwise noted: Ta Nea (190,000), liberal; Eleftherotypia
(135,000), liberal; Apoaevmatini (132,000), conservative; Vradyni
(60,000), conservative; Acropolis (57,000), conservative; To Vima
(40,000), liberal; Makedonia (Salonika, 40,000), liberal; Nef,
News agencies. The major domestic service is the Athens
Agency (Athenagence). Several foreign bureaus maintain o
Athens.
Radio and television. Radio and television broad
Radio-Television (Elleniki Radiophonla-Teleorasis-ERT) is
ian agency, while the Information Service of the Armed
3.3 million radio and 1.5 million television receivers in 1980.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL REPRESENTATI
Ambassador to the US: John A. TZOUNIS.
US Ambassador to Greece: Robert J. McCLOSKEY.
Permanent Representative to the UN: Nicolas KATAPODIS
IGO Memberships (Non-UN): BIS, CCC, CERN, CEUR,
Political Status: Independent member of the C
wealth since February 7, 1974; constitution s
following coup of March 13, 1979.
Area: 133 sq. mi. (344 sq. km.).
Population: 93,858 (1970C), 99,000 (1981E).
Major Urban Centers (197SE): ST. GEORGE'S (3Qj
Grenville (15,000).
Official Language: English.
Monetary Unit: Grenadian Dollar (market rate
1980, 2.70 dollars = $ 1 US).
Sovereign: Queen ELIZABETH II.
Governor General: Sir Paul SCOON; assumed oftif
September 1978, succeeding Sir Leo Victor DE GALE
Prime Minister: Maurice BISHOP (New Jewel Move
installed by People's Revolutionary Government folio
coup of March 13, 1979, in succession to Sir
GAIRY (Grenada United Labour Party), whose
resignation was announced March 21.
Grenada, the smallest independent nation in the W
hemisphere, encompasses a mountainous group of
bean islands located approximately 90 miles no
Trinidad (see map, p. 78). The country includes the
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GRENADA
island of Grei
Martinique, a
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GRENADA 213
Bland of Grenada, the smaller islands of Carriacou and Petit
Martinique, and a number of small islets. The population is
approximately 75 percent Black, the balance being largely
language, while a French patois is in limited use. Although
Roman Catholics predominate, there is also a substantial
number of Anglicans. .
cocoa, nutmeg, and mace are its most important products.
Tourism, an important source of foreign exchange, declined
substantially in the mid-1970s but has since shown signs of
revival. Unemployment has long been a major problem,
although the Bishop government has claimed a substantial
reduction from the more than 50 percent that prevailed
under the previous administration.
Political background. Discovered by Columbus on his
third voyage, in 1498, Grenada was alternately ruled by the
French and British until 1783, when British control was
recognized by the Treaty of Versailles. It remained a British
colony until 1958, when it joined the abortive Federation
of the West Indies. In 1967 Grenada became a member of
the West Indies Associated States, Britain retaining respon-
sibility for external relations. Eric M. GAIRY, who had
been removed from office by the British in 1962 for
malfeasance, was redesignated prime minister upon the
assumption of internal autonomy.
On February 7, 1974, Grenada became a fully indepen-
dent member of the Commonwealth, two years after an
election which the British interpreted as a mandate for
independence. Many Grenadians, however, were opposed to
self-rule under Gairy, whom they compared to Haiti's
"Papa Doc" Duvalier. United primarily by their disdain for
Gairy, the nation's three opposition parties-the Grenada
National Party, the New Jewel Movement, and the recently
organized United People's Party-contested the election of
December 7, 1976, as a People's Alliance. Although failing
to defeat the incumbent prime minister, the Alliance
succeeded in reducing the lower-house strength of Gairy's
Grenada United Labour Party to 9 of 15 members.
In the early morning of March 13, 1979, while Prime
Minister Gairy was out of the country, insurgents destroyed
the headquarters of the Grenada Defense Force and a
People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) was proclaimed
by opposition leader Maurice BISHOP. Joining Bishop in
the new government were 11 other members or supporters
of the New Jewel Movement plus 2 members of the
Grenada National Party; subsequently, 9 working-class
representatives were added to the PRG. On March 21,
reportedly under pressure from government leaders of
nearby Commonwealth territories, Gairy formally resigned
u Prime minister.
Constitution and government. Grenada's constitution,
originally adopted February 22, 1967, and modified only
slightly on independence, was suspended following the
March 1979 coup. A new basic law is to be drawn up by a
People's Consultative Assembly. The Bishop government
has stated that no change will be proposed regarding
Grenada's relationship to the British Crown, a governor
general continuing to represent Queen ELIZABETH II as
the nominal sovereign, with executive authority being
exercised on the queen's behalf by a prime minister.
Grenada is administratively divided into six parishes on
the main island, the minor islands forming separate adminis-
trative entities. At the time of the coup, the judicial system
was headed by the Supreme Court of Grenada and the West
Indies Associated States, and included eight magistrates'
courts. Shortly after assuming power, the PRG announced
that a Preventive Detention Tribunal would be established
to consider appeals by persons detained during the coup.
Foreign relations. Even though Caricom failed to recog-
nize the PRG at a meeting called within days of the March
1979 coup (some members expressing fear that such a move
by the Caribbean Community would encourage similar
coups throughout the region), de facto recognition by
many of Grenada's neighbors came during a mid-May
meeting at St. Lucia of ministers from Antigua, Dominica,
Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent.
Having proclaimed its continuing support for regional
organizations, its commitment to democratic elections at
home, and its respect for the rights of the other nations,
Grenada was allowed to participate in the meeting, at which
the formation of a new Organization of East Caribbean
States (OECS) was announced.
The United Kingdom and the United States recognized
the Bishop government on March 22, but relations subse-
quently deteriorated, with Washington condemning St.
George's midsummer signing of a two-year technical-
assistance pact with Havana and London deploring "the
unattractive record of the Grenada government over civil
liberties and democratic rights."
Current issues. Only two lives were lost in the 1979
coup, the first left-wing takeover in the Caribbean since the
Cuban revolution 20 years earlier. Deposed Prime Minister
Gairy had long been known for his erratic leadership, which
included maintenance of his own secret police, the "Mon-
goose Gang", one of whose victims (killed in 1974) was the
father of Gairy's successor, Maurice Bishop. At the time of
the coup, no audit of the nation's accounts had occurred
for seven years, the treasury was depleted, and substantial
loans from the United Kingdom, OPEC, and the Caribbean
Development Bank, among others, had "disappeared".
Politically, Gairy's ouster has meant little more than the
substitution of a leftist for a rightist dictatorship. Early
assurances notwithstanding, Bishop has demonstrated a
clear contempt for parliamentary government and during
much of 1980 was engaged in an abrasive verbal exchange
with the most respected democratic leader in the region,
Prime Minister Tom Adams of Barbados. Socially and
economically, on the other hand, considerable progress has
been made in alleviating the status of the poor by reducing
food prices and creating new job opportunities in agricul-
ture, housing, and education. Tourism, which has long been
hindered by a lack of airport facilities, is expected to
benefit from large-scale runway construction at Port Saline
on the south coast, while a Canadian firm has expressed an
interest in building a control tower and a chain of hotels to
accommodate an expected surge in overseas arrivals.
Ironically, while Prime Minister Bishop has frequently
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voiced concern that his predecessor might seek the aid of
mercenaries in attempting to destabilize the PRG, its most
serious test came in early 1980 with an apparent ultra-
leftist coup attempt involving members of the People's
Revolutionary Army.
Prior to the coup of March 13, 1979, Eric Gairy's
Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) had consistently
dominated the nation's politics. Having won 13 of 15 seats
in the House of Representatives in 1972, GULP's majority
fell to 3 when the nation's other three parties (see below)
contested the election of December 7, 1976, as a People's
Alliance.
New Jewel Movement (NJM). The NJM was formed in March
1973 by merger of the Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and
Liberation (JEWEL) with the Master Assembly for the People. The
former had been founded in March 1972 by Unison Whiteman and
Selwyn Stracham, while the latter "New Left" group had been
organized in mid-1972 by Maurice Bishop and Kendrick Radix.
Though the NJM initially called for adoption of a number of radical
programs, including nationalization of foreign-owned banks, its
policies have since moderated. Prior to the March 1979 coup, it held
three of the People's Alliance lower-house seats.
Leader: Maurice BISHOP (Prime Minister).
Grenada National Party (GNP). Conservative in outlook, the
GNP was formed in 1956 and was the traditional opposition group
in Grenadian politics prior to the formation of the NJM. In early
July 1979, GNP leader Herbert Blaize, at public meetings of the
party that were broken up by the government, called for a return to
constitutional rule.
Leader: Herbert BLAIZE.
United People's Party (UPP). The conservative UPP won one of
the People's Alliance seats in the House of Representatives at the
election of December 7, 1976.
Leader: W. WHYTE.
The bicameral Parliament, embracing an appointed
Senate of 13 members and a popularly elected 15-member
House of Representatives, was dissolved by the People's
Revolutionary Government following the March 1979
coup.
Prime Minister Maurice Bishop
Ministers
Agriculture, Fisheries and Tourism Unison Whiteman
Communications, Works and Labor Selwyn Strachan
Defense Maurice Bishop
Education, Youth, Social Affairs, Com-
munity Development and Cooperatives George Louison
Finance and Planning Bernard Coard
Health and Housing Dr. Norris Bain
Home Affairs, National Security,
External Relations and Culture Maurice Bishop
Information (Acting) Calvin McBamett
Legal Affairs Kendrick Radix
rate close to 3 percent. The population, which li
owned enterprise which broadcasts throughout the Gn
Television provides limited programming, primarily on
basis from Trinidad.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL REPRESENTATII
Ambassador to the US: Bernard Kendrick RADIX.
Barbados).
Permanent Representative to the UN: Caldwell TAYLO
IGO Memberships (Non-UN): Caricom, CDB, CWTH,
ICCO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, SELA.
Republic of Guatemala
Republica de Guatemala
Political Status: Independent Captaincy Gene
mala proclaimed 1821; member of United P16
Central America, 1824-1838; separate state
1839; present constitution adopted September 15
Area: 42,042 sq. mi. (108,889 sq. km.).
Population: 5,160,221 (1973C), 7,252,000 (1981
Major Urban Centers (1973C): GUATEM
(700,504); Quezaltenango (53,021); Escuintla (33
Official Language: Spanish.
Monetary Unit: Quetzale (market rate De
1.00 quetzales = $1 US).
President: Maj. Gen. Fernando Romeo LUCAS
elected March 5, 1978, and inaugurated July
four-year term, succeeding Gen. Kjell Eugenio LA
Vice President: Col. Oscar MENDOZA Azurdia;
by the National Congress on September 2,1980;
the resignation of Francisco VILLAGRAN
September 1.
Guatemala, the northernmost of the Central
countries, is also the most populous, with an ann
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