Grenada past and present

We first visited Grenada  in late January/early February 1984 shortly after the 'invasion' by the USA in October 1983 in response to the Cuban 'invasion.' And what we were told by local people then was very different from what we had read in the American press and seen on American TV. The people we met in Grenada stated they were very thankful that the USA had come to their aid. They said what Maurice Bishop did was more like a coup in that he was attempting to take personal control of the government and that he requested Cuba to assist him. Other locals told us that it was not just Cubans in Grenada but lots of Russians. One guy was certain it was Russians because they commandeered his own home to quarter some Russian officer, forcing his family out into the street.


Today, one might hear a very different opinion from some of the Grenadians.   Recently we hired a taxi for a major provisioning trip and that taxi driver expressed a different opinion than we heard from locals back in 1984.  This man hails from Dominica; he married a woman from Grenada; and now calls Grenada home.  He did not live on Grenada during the time of the Cuban invasion and American rescue.  But in his view the Cubans did not invade Grenada because he said they were invited.  Well...technically...yes.  The Cubans were invited by Maurice Bishop to assist him in the overthrow of the system of government which then existed for Grenada.  The majority of the people of Grenada did not invite the Cubans to their island and the majority of the citizens of Grenada did not want Maurice Bishop to change their form of government to communism.  That is the basic reason that Maurice Bishop was murdered during this invasion by his fellow Grenadians.

Another well-known cruiser happened to be in Grenada during the time of that invasion and shortly thereafter.  Most cruisers and people who wish to begin cruising are familiar with the Hacking Family blog site for S/V Ocelot.  
Here is a link to what SuenJon Hacking wrote about their experiences in Grenada around the time of the Cuban invasion:

http://svocelot.com/Jon/grenada_intervention.htm

Browse around on their blog site.  They are some of the most knowledgeable and well-traveled cruisers in the world.  I found her insights about Grenada at that time to be interesting.  There is a wealth of information on their blog site.