_ Little more than two years ago, Maurice Bishop and the
New Jewel Movement led to victory the first popular rev-
olution in the English-speaking Caribbean, and the world
began to take notice of tiny Grenada.
Today the island is the scene of the continuous struggle
of a people numbering scarcely over 100,000 who are
fighting to build a just, peaceful, prosperous and inde-
pendent nation, conscious that to the north, a country
thousands of times larger and mightier has already
begun selecting from its vast arsenals the weapons with
which it expects to crush their efforts and their freedom.
In an interview with the Cuban newspaper Granma,
Prime Minister Bishop examines U.S. efforts to turn the
revolution backward. We reprint here an excerpt from that
interview.

Analysis

_ From the earliest days of the Revolution, we had
problems with the Americans. Of the major Western
Powers involved in this region, they were the last to
extend recognition to our government, notwithstanding
they knew that the Revolution had tremendous, in fact
almost total, popular support, that we were in complete
Control of the country and gave firm undertakings (which
have all been respected) to honor our international
commitments and to respect the rights and guarantee the
Safety of all non-Grenadians, and indeed of Grenadians
in our country.

Then, in the first weeks of the Revolution, in return
for a promise of $5,000 ‘‘aid,’’ their Ambassador
Ortiz tried to dictate to us what our policies must be and

_Inparticular was bold enough to warn us against develop-
ing ‘‘close ties’’ with Cuba. Naturally, we gave him the
answer that we were not for sale and that our internal and
international policies were entirely a sovereign matter
for us, not subject to any outside negotiation or dictation.

Later on, and still in the first three months, we dis-
Covered that the CIA had drawn up a three-pronged
“pyramid plan,’’ made up of propaganda destabiliza-
tion, economic sabotage and destabilization and terror-

roll back the Revolution. And this discovery came after
Newsweek magazine had informed the world that the
National Security Council had considered blockading
our country. And I must point out that we have seen all
aspects of the CIA pyramid plan attempted — some
successfully — over the past two years. In fact, some of
the counter-revolutionary elements involved in the Oc-
tober 1979 plot confessed that they had been assured of
Support from mercenaries who would arrive in ships
Coming from U.S. territory.

Dishonest Advice
The Americans have also refused to extradite Gairy
back to Grenada to face trial on charges of conspiracy to
murder and attempted murder, among others, notwith-
Standing the fact that we have complied with all of their

a

U.S. policeman threatens
Grenada’s new revolution

“ist; counter-revolutionary ‘and assassination activities, to”

legal formalities. From San Diego and Brooklyn, Gairy is
today still using U.S. territory and media and other
facilities to try to fulfill his impossible dream of recaptur-
ing power in Grenada.

The Americans also refused to accredit our permanent
representative to the OAS as ambassador to Washington
and instructed their outgoing ambassador to Grenada not
to come to St. George’s last January when we had invited
her in for official talks aimed at restoring dialogue.

Recently too, a> poll of travel agents in the
Washington/Maryland area and in New York revealed
that over 90% of the 40-odd agencies approached for
travel information to Grenada advised that Grenada was
an ‘‘unsafe’’ destination. Most of them said that this
totally dishonest advice was given to them by the State
Department.

Furthermore, after Hurricane Allen caused severe
damage to our banana crop last year, an application for
rehabilitation assistance by the Windward : Islands:
Banana Association, comprised of Grenada, St. Vin-
cent, St. Lucia and Dominica, was only granted on the

basis that Grenada was excluded. Since then, we have

had several more examples of the USA blocking and
trying to block our attempts to receive developmental
assistance from different international lending agencies
like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and from
different countries like the European Economic Com-
munity (EEC) to which we had applied for assistance
with our international airport project.

illegal Spy Flights

Now they have stepped up their illegal spy flights over
our country, have stepped up in a massive way their
negative and lying propaganda and who knows for a fact
what other plans are on the drawing board or have just
been approved.

I think we also have to understand that this period is in
many respects the most dangerous period in recent
times. The Reagan administration has come up with
some new concepts — particularly those of *‘linkage”’
and “international terrorism’’ — that are extremely
dangerous. This concept of terrorism seeks in one blow
to gét-round the Carter concepi of human rights (it is.no
longer necessary to condemn those countries that have
bad human rights records, like Chile), and to give them
free reign to call any countries that are opposed to their
way of thinking *‘terrorists.”’ In that way, they are seek-
ing to rewrite recent history; turn back progressive
developments around the world; and to create an image
and a climate of hostility against those countries that
have fought for their liberation and have been success-
ful, countries of course like Cuba and Nicaragua, lik
Mozambique and Angola. ’ :

The concept of linkage likewise is very dangerous.
What this doctrine says is that if something happens in
some part of the world of which they disapprove then
they reserve the right to take a similar action in another
part of the world, in Latin America, for example. That
would mean that if anything took place in Europe that

p a. 1

One of the slogans of the revolution.

America disapproved of. that would give them the nght
to invade Cuba or Nicaragua, El Salvador or Grenada.

That is the extent to which these people are dreaming
— in the White House, in the Pentagon, in the State
Department, indeed in the whole military-industrial
establishment in America. They would like to redraw the #
present map of the world. They would like’to’see an end
to the Mozambiques. the Nicaraguas and the Cubas.
They have given open and total support to the racist
apartheid regime in South Africa. They are against the
national liberation struggle and national liberation
movement in Namibia. They have agreed once again
that the Chilean dictatorship can receive aid from
America, invited them to participate in future military
manoeuvers with the U.S. Armed Forces, while at the
same time saying the people of Panama do not have the
right to their own Canal, in open contravention of the
Carter- Torrijos treaties.

Warlike Intentions

Really, this Reagan administration -— its policies, its
postures, its clearly warlike intentions on the world stage
— represents a tremendous danger to world peace. has
created great new tensions regionally and internationally
and will certainly cause a major regional or global catas-
trophe in the future if it does not change its warlike
aggressive attitude very soon.

From our perspective in Grenada. we have always
expressed our desire and interest in having as good rela-
tions as we can with whatever government is in charge in
the United States. That still remains our perspective.
We recognize that several of our own nationals live in the
United States and that several of their nationals live in
our country; that more tourists come from their country
every year to Grenada than the eniire population of our
country. Therefore, we have absolutely no reason to
want bad relations. But we have always said and will
continue to say that these relations must be premised on
the normal. well-established principles of relations be- |
tween two sovereign states — that is to say, legal equali-
ty, mutual respect for sovereignty, ideological pluralism
and respect for the principle of non-interference in each
other's affairs. Now, if these principles can be accepted
by the United States, I am certain that a large part of the
basis for the problems that now exist between our two
countries would immediately and automatically be re-
moved. We will certainly continue working towards
achieving that goal. =

A flood of evidence shows that U.S. President
Reagan's decision to manufacture for use the
world’s ghastliest weapon — the high-radiation
neutron warhead — did more than sweep horror
into the four corners of the world. It aroused ~
formerly sympathetic political forces, and millions
upon millions of human beings who appear deter-
mined to prevent the introduction of this in-
strument of cruel annihilation. :

In Canada, new urgency and breadth has at
tached to the campaign for a million backers of the —
petition: Peace Is Everybody's Business. The
three-point petition calling upon the Government
of Canada to take a courageous and strong stand to

bring about nuclear disarmament clearly expresses
the fundamental interests of 99% of Canadians.
Some thousands of individual signatures have been
forwarded to Ottawa by the originator of the peti-
tion, the Canadian Peace Congress, which is joined
in the work — now more vital than ever — by its
affiliates and unrelated organizations, from
Renn on Vancouver Island to Corner Brook,
fid.
Recent support has come from trade union and
political circles. Top officers of the United Auto
Workers, Bob White, president, Buzz Hargrove,

Neutron decision heightens petition urgency

vice-president, and Sam Ginden, research direc-
tor, recently signed it, the Peace Congress reports
—an example for the membership of so influential
a union.

For the Canadian Union of Public Employees,
Kealy Cummings, secretary-treasurer, signed the
petition, and the union has asked for 2,000 petitions
in English and 500 in French, said Peace Congress
executive secretary Jean Vautour in an interview.

Locals of the United Electrical Workers union
are already circulating the petition, she indicated,
and a motion for endorsation was to be put before
the next executive board meeting of the union.

Noting that-the petition cuts across the lines of
all persuasions because of the universal need for
life and peace, Vautour said that both Ed Broad-
bent, national leader of the New Democratic Party,
and Tommy Douglas, former leader, added their
names to the petition at the NDP convention in
Vancouver in July. _

At the annual Hiroshima Day commemoration in
Toronto, Mayor Art Eggleton signed in favor of
disarmament efforts. (More than 100,000 people
perished in Hiroshima when the U.S. Air Force
storm-bombed it on August 6, 1945. Nagasaki was
similarly destroyed on August 9, the date chosen

by President Reagan in 1981 to announce produc-
tion of the neutron weapon.)

The Peace Congress believes the dreadful neut-

. ron decision and the compounded danger of nu-
clear war it signifies, will spur -hundreds, then
thousands of Canadians to involve themselves in
collecting signatures on the petition and talking to
others about the need for immediate action.

The three demands the petition puts to the
Canadian Government are: 1. Urgently press the
United States for early signing of a Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty, and to start talks on limitation
of medium-range weapons: 2. Work for simultane-
ous dissolving of military alliances, dismantling of
all foreign-based military bases, and banning of
chemical and germ warfare; 3. Actively support the
convening of a European Conference on Military
Détente and Disarmament in Europe, since it is the
world’s most heavily armed area.

Alfred Dewhurst is on vaca-
tion. His column, Marxism in
Today's World, will resume on
his return.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUG. 21, 1981—Page 5