should support Bishop Patriotic Movement. We publish edited extracts from his speech.
WE IN tiny Grenada come from a history of struggle. We come from a history that produced Julien Fedon, a man who in 1795 fought the Grenadian revolution.
We in Grenada are the children of Fedon. As we analyse the colonial condition in which our people mained for over 200 years, we realise that we have in our necessarv character. the necessary vision, the necessary values.
we were able to lead ourselves from the cycle of slavery and exploitation, from colonial imposition and neocolonialism and to usher in, 1979, a popular democratic people's revolution, based on the masses and taking power for the working class and for the working people.
In this context we have to see the contribution of late minister Maurice Bishop who was perhaps the most simple, the most honest, the most unpretentious, civilised human being and leader that I've ever met in my life.
evenever known him to be spiteful or petty, to be manipulative, to not pursue the interests of the worker, of the youth, of the women. It is not surprising that in a singleminded fashion. without any care lor himself nor for the pains of office, he participated in a process to usher in the 1979 Grenada revolution. Finally in 1979 we thought that slavery was a thing of the past.
There are those around the world and those inside our elements, who said that the revolution was not a revolution d'état, that it was not a democratic revolution because there was no secret ballot. When the New Jewel Movement maac Is revolution there was voting of a different kind, people were prepared to put their lives on the line in support of that revolution. That is the highest form democracy, not voting once every five years.
Over the years of the revolution there was democracy of a different type. Not 'Mr Speaker sir', favour say aye'. It was a democracy of the many, where the masses of the people, once the peasants, unemployed, and the woman sat side by side on a monthly basis, either in the women's organisations, the workers' organisations, in the parish and zonal councils regular basis with the leadership of Lie country. The leadership of the country had to report and account to the masses.
That is. wnlal we people's participation and people's power.
We had the life of the revolution and our people are well able to judge.
Now that we've come all this distance we are marking an anniversary which has caused tremendous disillusion and grief in the hearts and minds. not only of our people in but of all democratic, peacc-lovilig throughout the world.
We have to say that the demise of the revolution, though it is, must be observed and marked. All the sceptics cannot deny the dignity our revolution gave to the people: the patriotic sentiment, a senSICpeople the in themselves, but how they their country none ecos later ship. told them, but a coup would condemn direction.
because tives were put into place.
organisation started by well founded.
"those in create own farmers, In, soldier them at their word.
youlli - meetings on a call meaningful suffering, progressive, people painful Go 9 EVE timent asking not how they can build can build Amidst all these actions and the of Maurice Bishop, there arose within our party a who characterised our leader as a petit bourgeois right opportunist and midst of this petty jealousy, rose up to create a hydra, a two-headed monster of dual leaderHave you ever seen anywhere two captains on a ship, two captains of a cricket team? Where was this model from? Coard and company claim to add to the science of Marxism by application and extension of even Lenin himself. And if Lenin came back and wrong', they as a revi- tion sionist, as petit bourgeois and lost in As a lead up to the events, a series You may have heard of OREL, which was an Coard. At that early time, when he came into the party, the New Jewel Movement was He claimed that we in the leadership were middle class, that we were moving too slowly and that he would foot soldiers and started OREL. But when they came we had an agreement that they would dissolve themselves and that they would join our party. We took But later when the morning of the revolution triumphed all members of OREL were put into the armed forces of the country to fight another day. All of them were put into the armed Technical and Allied Workers' Union, Grenada, on the march forces, which were 'to usher in the proletarian revolution' What was happening was they wanted to move Maurice Bishop and therefore wanted to move people in their path. Vincent Noel was path. Vincent Noel removed, Jaqueline Creft was removwarned Maurice Bishop they would end up murdering him. I resigned from the party and government in 1982. Maurice Bishop asked me to rejoin the government when I refused to rejoin the party.
I told him that the day they moved against him, I would come out and fight them in the streets. am happy to report that I was the first person on the streets to lead the first demonstraagainst the house arrest Maurice Bishop, for which branded a counter-revolutionary and thrown in jail on the orders of Bernard Coard.
It is not widely known or believed that Bernard Coard was responsible for these events, because he allegedly resigned a few days before. But when they were moving to remove Maurice Bishop, Selwyn Strachen, the former minister of mobilisation, had gone into St Georges. He was chased out by the working people when he announced that Bernard Coard prime minister.
All these events show that these people did not respect the political power in the country not only Maurice Bishop's leadership, was only a personification of that power. What they refused to do was to listen to the people. Everywhere they went villifying Maurice Bishop the people said no. But they would not listen to the people.
ine greatest that tragedy of Grenada has been its impact within the nationally. political left has been totally and completely discredited in the eyes of the working people. of the left Jamaica, which that hegemony, even displacing the sober judgement of our Cuban friends -the bastard father, disrespect to bastards, headed hydra of which I spoke ¡revor Monrof secret visit to Grenada, underpinning ideologically leadership. In the early days they put out disinformation, prime minister and others were neve of executed. was result of cross SITe should have said he died in bed of old age.
The damage to the left has been fundamental. The respect working working class values, the dignity of small countries and peoples has been cast aside Grenada certainly was in irritant for the United States. there were supposed to Cubas. Grenada broke that law and Nicaragua is a living reality in defiance to that law.
Bernard fellow. He had a computerised type of mind. He was able, but he was obsesswhich ed by power. discipline and so plunged the country into a fate which is worse than death - to be colonised again sacrifices of Fedon, after the tremendous sacrifices of our heroes and martyrs.
under the yoke and jackboot of the United States imperialists, the most terrible experience that our people can have. These people have put us in a state of total dependence, where the integrity and independence of our nation is smashed undertoot. proud while it lived. But the NJM was murdered with Maurice Bishop, and all the others who fell with him of the revolution, no one professing to the New Jewel Movement has hit the streets. hev cannot go onto int streets because publically they cannot accept responsibility for murder. All those who claim to be NJM people are Richmond Hill Vader of these events.
The dead. historical.
Movement Line neca lol dead.
4000 votes.
ly we have foul-up of the poor, wole Caribbean and inter- Many Within the Caribbean the The so-called doyen the Workers Party of spontaneously?
claims for itself alliances no of the twocall paid an almost masses.
concept of dual saying that the They said they died as a port prestige power Humphrey phrey After Cuba be no more we de clever He lost his control, his pollical .will bring These people have put us now The New Jewel Movement did us Since the murders and the collapse from: J.
New Eltham, could welcome the United States incould feel they were liberated by the United States. That is the dialectic of our people as a result Jewel Movement is contribution is now Its continuity is to found in the Maurice Bishop Patriotic We participated in the elections to put the working class agenda - about the right to develop the state sector, workers rignts mass popular democracy, the right of people to have human rights.
The United States spent $7 million to discredit us and say that the lett is.
. And in that climate our party was able to register something like The people, particularly the young people are turning to ourselves. They are turning to the MBPM because onthe programme for the for the exploited, for the people are sceptical. But must we sit down and say that by fate we are a people who cannot advance? Are we to say that we are waiting for another liberation •process lo arise?
we to opportunistically, with the New Jewel Movement and join with them, because they say that both of us are ideologically on the left and so there is a basis of unity? We say no.
never justify killing I must say something to show the breadth of vision of our party. Our party is not partisan. One question is the Chester Humphrey situation. few weeks ago we organised a rally and small demonstration. here wen 350 people at the rally. chester lumperet what be Chester Humphrey, should not be extradited to the United States. Many people say that Chester belonged to the Revoler. tionary Military Council, to Bernard Coard's faction. But Chester Hur not being extradited for anything he did in 1983. It is our duty to protect Chester Humphrey because what he is alleged to have done was a patriotic act, for which our people are eternally grateful.
organising at home with very limited resources and many of our supporters are out of work. We appeal to you to exercise the highest degree of solidarity to help our poor There is no other at home in Grenada nor here in the United Kingdom thai working class victory other than the MBPM At this time we must focus our attention on the terrific out-pourings of democratic aspirations of the people of South Africa to have their freedom at the price of blood. We say break the links now with South Africa so that we can end apartheid. There car be no compromise with apartheid, it must be overthrown.
I remember the words of Julier Fedon when he said: 'all is not lost the hour will strike again. Long live the glorious memory of the Grena dian revolution. Forward on our feel never on our knees.
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10 Socialist Action 15 November 1985 REDGRAVE ISSUES