MILITARY IN CENTRAL AMERICA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000100660003-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 14, 2007
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: April 13, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.
4701 WILLARD AVENUE, CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND 20815 656-4068
STATION WETA Radio
NPR Network
Washington, D.C.
JOHN STOCKWELL: ...a very small, very pleasant isolated
April 13, 1983 4:30 P.M.
Military In Central America
country. It's about one-third the size of Austin, Texas.
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: On the small island of
Grenada, at the southern end of the Caribbean chain, the Cubans,
with Soviet financing and backing, are in a process of building
an airfield with a 10,000-foot runway. Grenada doesn't even have
an air force. Who is it intended for?
SANFORD UNGAR: When President Reagan spoke to the
nation last month about the threat of Soviet and Cuban subversion
in the Western Hemisphere, he warned of danger not only in
Nicaragua and El Salvador, but also in the tiny Caribbean island
state of Grenada.
This is NPR Dateline. I'm Sanford Ungar.
Few people on the outside world paid much attention to
Grenada until 1979, when Maurice Bishop, the leader of the
so-called New Jewel Movement, staged a coup against the authori-
tarian regime of the former prime Minister Eric Gairy.
Miles Frechette, Officer of Special Projects in the Lati
America Bureau at the State Depatment, says the new regime was
quick to break its promises of reform.
MILES FRECHETTE: You will recall that that was a
government that said that it was coming in to reestablish
democracy and human rights, and whatnot. And in our view and in
the view of other independent observers, they have gone in
exactly the opposite direction.
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So, we're concerned about internal developments in
UNGAR: Human rights.
FRECHETTE: Human rights, yes. Lack of free assembly,
lack of elections, at least a hundred political prisoners, no
free press, that sort of thing.
Now, a bigger, larger concern is the concern about the
fact that the Grenadans seem to be developing a relationship with
the Cubans and with the Soviet Union that would allow facilities
on Grenada to be put at the disposal of those two countries. I'm
referring now specifically to a large airfield which is being
built there.
UNGAR: They say that's for tourism.
FRECHETTE: It could be. But let's talk about it a
little bit. First of all, that airfield is not economically
justifiable. If they had gone to the World Bank or some other
multilateral lending institution, the institution would have
said, "Do you have enough beds to accommodate all the people who
are going to fly in?" And the answer would have been no at the
time they started building it, and it's still no. And won't be
yes until possibly the end of this decade and into the early
1990s. So the economic justification is lacking.
Secondly, it is a very long airfield and it's being
built to heavier specs, heavier specifications than are needed
for commercial activity.
Now, way back in 1981, Mr. Strachan (?), a minister in
that government, said quite openly that if the Soviets wanted to
use the field for some purpose or another, they would make the
field available.
UNGAR: Do we know who's building the airfield?
FRECHETTE: Well, it is being built with assistance from
a number of sources. But the major assistance is being given by
Cuba.
The field will probably cost in the neighborhood of $80
million, and at least $30 million is being provided by Cuba. Not
in terms of money, but in terms of work force. They have had
between 300 and 500 men working there full-time.
UNGAR: So they're doing the actual construction?
FRECHETTE: That's right. And let me tell you that I
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don't think that the Cubans do these things for nothing. The
Cubans have a real interest in having a field in Grenada because
they, of course, ferry their troops to Angola in IL-62 aircraft.
These aircraft now fly from Cuba to the Cape Verde Islands and
then on to Angola. It would be far more practical for the Cubans
if they could fly to Grenada, refuel on Grenada, and then go in
one hop on to Angola.
UNGAR: So you think it becomes a security threat in the
Caribbean.
FRECHETTE: That is correct.
UNGAR: In general.
FRECHETTE: That is correct.
Let me point out that the President, in his speech of
March the 23rd, showed photos of a large base that's being built
in a place called Point Catavane (?) down on the sort of south-
eastern edge of Grenada. Now, this is a base that'll accommodate
between 800 and 1000 men. What is that for? The Grenadan army
isn't there. Most of it is posted elsewhere. Some of the things
that we worry about is the possibility that the Cubans and the
Soviets may simply stockpile arms and equipment there at that
base that could then be deployed rapidly from the airfield that's
being built.
UNGAR: The Grenadan government claims that the United
States has plans to attack the island or is somehow engaged in
covert action to try to overthrow the government. Is there any
substance at all to those allegations?
FRECHETTE: Let me tell you that they've been making
that charge right from the beginning. And as happens with most
people who cry wolf, there will come a time when nobody will
believe them anymore. This accusation is just one of a long
series. We've heard it all before.
UNGAR: And you don't believe there's any covert action
being conducted by the CIA or other American agencies against the
government in Grenada.
UNGAR: Miles Frechette keeps track of Grenada for the
U.S. State Department.
At the time of the 1979 coup, Desima (?) Williams was a
Grenadian graduate student in Washington. She helped take over
the embassy on behalf of the new government, and now she is
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accredited as Grenada's Ambassador to the Organization of
American States.
I asked her about the Reagan Administration's allegation
that her country is a source of instability and subversion in the
Caribbean.
DESIMA WILLIAMS: It's totally false. It's very
misleading. Our country is stable, more stable than it has ever
been. The rising end to unemployment has created economic
stability. The political process is dynamic. People are
becoming involved in the mass organs of popular democracy, the
women's movement, the trade union movement, the youth movement,
the farmers movement, the young pioneers, the militia.
UNGAR: What about this large airfield that's under
construction, we're told? And apparently there's a new military
base being built that some people think might be used for foreign
troops or for a stopping point for foreign troops.
WILLIAMS: Airport, yes. Large airfield, no. Military
base, no. The purpose of those statements, in our view, deliber-
ately misleading statements, false statements, pure distortions,
are intended to create a kind of hysteria and a displeasure in
the minds of the American public towards the Grenada revolution
and its government and its people.
Yes, we are constructing an airport. The Grenada
international airport will be well in keeping with the size of
the airstrips in Antigua, a country of similar size with as much
dependence on tourism as is Grenada. The airstrip will be the
same size, of 9000 feet, as the airport in Curacao. It will be
smaller than the airstrip in Trinidad or in Barbados, which are
both 11,000 feet.
So that our airport, first and foremost, is an ordinary
and standard-sized international airport for international
tourist traffic.
UNGAR: What about this allegation that the airfield in
Grenada might be used by Cuba to ferry troops to Angola?
WILLIAMS: They have been finding ways to meet each
other and work together long before the Grenada airport was being
constructed. Cuba does not need Grenada's airport to arrive in
Angola, and it has proven so.
UNGAR: Some people that I've spoken to have said that
Grenada has an unusual number of political prisoners these days,
that you have perhaps a hundred or more people who have been held
in jail without being charged with any crime. Is that so?
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WILLIAMS: Yes, we have had political detainees. The
Grenada revolution has been confronted by a counterrevolution,
most all of which is supported by the United States CIA. We have
had to take measures necessary to protect people. And all of
these people who have been detained have been treated in the most
humane way. They have come before tribunals. And the vast, vast
majority of them have been systematically released. And in fact,
the figure is much lower than a hundred.
UNGAR: What is the figure now?
WILLIAMS: The last figure I was given was 49.
UNGAR: You mentioned that you believe that the CIA has
attempted to destabilize your government. Do you have evidence
of that?
WILLIAMS: Well, in 1981 we discovered such an attempt,
such a plot. And in February of this year, the Washington Post
revealed that the same plot to which we have referred was in fact
in the making, had been presented to the Senate Intelligence
Committee. And according to The Post, it was called off.
But we have evidence to the contrary, that in fact the
Central Intelligence Agency of the United States has been and
continues to meddle internally in Grenada's affairs.
UNGAR: Can you describe any of that evidence for us?
WILLIAMS: No, we have not released any of that infor-
mation at this time, so as not to compromise our sources.
UNGAR: Desina Williams, Grenada's Ambassador to the
With the economy of their own country weak, many
Grenadians live on the larger, wealthier island of Trinidad, 90
miles away. Trinidadian Ken Gordon, editor of the Trinidad
Express, says that Bishop's government has a mixed record, but at
home in Grenada it appears to be popular.
KEN GORDON: In balance, the man lowest on the ladder in
Grenada is better off now than he ever had any prospect of being
under Gairy. That's my view.
UNGAR: Now, the State Department says it's concerned
about human rights violations on Grenada. Is there cause for
that concern?
GORDON: I think rightly. So we hear, because there've
been gross violations of human rights. The most outstanding
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instance being the editor of the newspaper The Voice, one man
called Leslie Bare (?), who has been incarcerated for the last
two years, and no charges have been brought against him.
UNGAR: How about this airfield that's being built on
Grenada? Does that seem to be a threat in the region?
GORDON: If the Soviets, if they thought that it was a
logical way to expand their influence by interfering with U.S.
shipping, where something like two-thirds of the oil, I think,
that comes into the United States passed out here in the Atlan-
tic, if they fled that Grenada lent itself as a base in which to
step up that harassment, I don't think they'll hesitate to use
it.
Let me remind you that Surinam isn't far away from
Grenada. And when Cuba becomes involved in countries like
Grenada and Surinam, then I'm certain that their self-interests
are involved. Cuba doesn't have the kind of money to throw away.
Cuba is looking for support to survive, itself.
I would not at all be surprised if part and parcel of
thesigns that we're seeing now led to an encouragement of similar
type revolutionary activity taking place in other islands of the
Caribbean. And Grenada could be well used as a base for this.
And I think the governments in the Caribbean should recognize
that this is a very real possibility.
UNGAR: Newspaper editor Ken Gordon spoke to us from
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
To learn how the Grenadians themselves reacted to the
barrage of attacks from the Reagan Administration, we turn to
John Stockwell, a former CIA agent who's now a consultant doing
business on Grenada and was there at the time of the President's
latest speech.
JOHN STOCKWELL: The first reaction of the Grenadans is
that it's funny. At the same time, they also have solid evidence
of U.S. Government involvement with Gairy, the former dictator,
and his people training in Florida and a neighboring country in
the Caribbean to do subversion. So they know that if President
Reagan says this twice on national television in one month, that
he's obvioulsy preparing the American public for a covert action.
UNGAR: But you've not seen evidence, personally,
yourself, of American covert action and sabotage in Grenada.
STOCKWELL: No. No. I've seen the sabotage. I haven't
seen, personally, the evidence of the United States. You know, I
haven't watched someone carry a bomb out of the embassy.
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UNGAR: But you suspect that the United States is
involved, on the basis of your own experience in the CIA.
STOCKWELL: Precisely. And of course, you know, this is
what makes the covert action possible, is that they are in the
business of running covert actions, and they run lots of 'em,
hundreds a year. And the public's ability, or journalists,
people from the outside, their ability to document these things,
of course, it's very hard to do.
UNGAR: Is there any real reason why Grenada and the
United States should become enemies?
STOCKWELL: Sandy, it's my thesis that the United States
seeks out key places and designates them as enemies. We did it
to the MPLA in Angola. We did it to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam after
he had been our ally during World War II. And many other places.
Grenada's three sources of income are spices sold to the
West, Western tourism, and the largest U.S. medical school
outside of our borders. It's a designated enemy. President
Reagan needs another point in the Caribbean, in addition to
Nicaragua and El Salvador, to wave at the American people, in the
sense of a big lie, to justify the military budget and the
aggressions that we've go going down there.
UNGAR: John Stockwell once supervised covert actions in
Angola for the CIA. He's now a business consultant, author, and
lecturer.
[Clip of song, "God Bless You Grenada"]
UNGAR: With us now is Richard Feinberg, who was a
member of the State Department's policy planning staff during the
Carter Administration, responsible for Latin American affairs.
He's the author of the forthcoming book "The Intemperate Zone:
The Third World Challenge to U.S. Foreign Policy."
Mr. Feinberg, why does the United States get so excited
and so involved in an adversary relationship with a tiny place
like Grenada?
RICHARD FEINBERG: I think the Reagan Administration is
concerned about Grenada primarily because of what they see as the
close ties to Cuba, and through Cuba to the Soviet Union. There
is, in fact, a fair amount of Cuban influence in Grenada now,
some security people, some economic ties. Bishop travels
regularly to Havana to consult with Fidel Castro.
UNGAR: But when the United States picks a fight like
this, doesn't that just increase Cuban influence? I mean
increase the attractiveness of Cuba for the Grenadians.
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FEINBERG: Exactly. The basic question is, how does one
deal with radical nationalist governments in the Third World, or
particularly in the Caribbean Basin? What is the best approach?
Is the best approach a high-profile denunciation and aggressive
tactics, or is the best approach to think of ways to reduce the
nationalism, to reduce the anti-Americanism, to gradually wean
the countries or governments away from close ties to the Soviets
and the Cubans?
And I would argue, in general, that policies of confron-
tation tend to be counterproductive. We see this in Nicaragua,
and I think we're seeing it in Grenada. What confrontation does
is that it elicits more nationalism and causes the governments to
tend to turn towards Cuba and the Soviet Union for a security
umbrella to protect themselves against the United States.
UNGAR: Of course, it does seem to go over well with
some of Grenada's neighbors in the Caribbean. We know that there
are other heads of government there who are quite supportive of
what the President has done. Mrs. Charles in Dominica, for
example, has apparently expressed her support. We heard from Ken
Gordon, a newspaper editor in Trinidad, that some people in the
Caribbean are pleased that the Reagan Administration has warned
about this.
FEINBERG: Governments in the region are concerned about
the behavior of the Grenadian government, both in terms of the
ties to Cuba and in terms of the cancellation of elections. I
don't think, though, that most of them approve of the tactics of
the Reagan Administration. In fact, they've been pretty vocal in
telling Reagan that this policy of very public and hostile verbal
confrontation is really counterproductive, for the reasons that
we have just been talking about.
UNGAR: What do you think about this point of covert
action? The Grenadians themselves, John Stockwell, the former
CIA agent, just told us he believes it, that the CIA is involved
in an attempt to overthrow the Bishop government in Grenada. Do
you think that might be so?
FEINBERG: I don't know. My best guess would be is that
the issue was certainly talked about and thought about at high
levels in the Reagan Administration. But I sense that they, at
least, backed off of any large-scale plan. I would suggest, in
large part, because Bishop is firmly in power. And so from the
purely practical point of view, I don't think it's possible to
overthrow him.
UNGAR: And, of course, there's concern because Eric
Gairy lives in the United States, in San Diego, and the United
States is accused of sort of encouraging him to try to return or
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try to overthrow Bishop.
FEINBERG: Yeah. From the United States's point of
view, such -- because we feed this fear by a very high-profile,
hostile, verbal aggression against the Grenadians, it enables
Bishop to make these accusations and to make them fairly credibly
to his own countrymen and in the region. And all that does is
strengthen his own power base in the country.
So that that's just one more reason why this sort of
very public confrontational approach is counterproductive.
UNGAR: Just one last point, very quickly. Is there
reason for concern about subversion that might start in Grenada?
FEINBERG: Subversion to the rest of the region, I
think, has to be dealt with primarily by firming up governments
and economies in the other countries, going to the source of
unrest.
UNGAR: Thanks very much, Richard Feinberg, a senior
fellow at the Overseas Development Council.
That's NPR Dateline for today.
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