Posted on 09/06/2009 10:05:11 AM PDT by csvset
Seven men convicted of killing the Grenadian prime minister in the 1983 coup that spurred a US military invasion of the Caribbean island state (pictured: US soldiers arrest Marxist militiamen) have been released from jail.
AFP - Seven men convicted of the murder of Grenadan prime minister Maurice Bishop during a 1983 coup were set free Saturday, 26 years after the killing that spurred a US military invasion.
Former deputy prime minister Bernard Coard was released, along with former ministers and senior officers from the People's Revolutionary Army, after Governor General Carlyle Glean reviewed their sentences.
Scores of relatives, former revolutionary colleagues and supporters gathered at the prison gates and cheered as the men walked free.
"I will continue to make my contribution to Grenada as long as it is entirely in a non-political, non-partisan way, for obvious reasons," Coard said minutes after being released.
He said he planned to move to Jamaica to join his ailing wife Phyllis, who was released from prison in 2000 for health reasons.
The couple were part of the so-called "Grenada 17" convicted of murdering left-wing prime minister Bishop and several members of his cabinet in the 1983 coup. They received death sentences that were later commuted to life imprisonment.
The release of the last coup participants closes a chapter in the story of a four-and-a-half year revolution in Grenada, which collapsed at its height in a power struggle between Bishop and Coard.
Bishop and several of his cabinet colleagues were lined up against a wall at Fort Rupert, now called Fort George, and executed by members of their own People's Revolutionary Army in October l983.
One week after the coup, US troops invaded Grenada, with US president Ronald Reagan saying he was concerned about the government's close ties to communist Cuba and that the breakdown of civil order threatened the lives of US students on the island.
At the time, Cuba had close ties with Grenada, and this small island 100 miles (161 kilometers) from Venezuela was considered a possible base that could be used for the Soviet Union to transport resources for Central American guerrillas.
A government statement said the sentence review was the result of a court decision.
"Their release is based not on subjective factors but objective factors -- their conduct, their attitude, their industry in prison, their work, their contribution to development in prison and other prisoners," said Ruggles Ferguson, an attorney for the ex-prisoners.
Those peace loving leftists. /s
People's Revolutionary Army
Isn't that what 'Boma wants? His own personal goon squad, one that will kill the opposition?
Ah.. the good ol’ days :>)
“Bishop and several of his cabinet colleagues were lined up against
a wall at Fort Rupert, now called Fort George, and executed by members
of their own People’s Revolutionary Army in October l983.”
This reads like the work of the team on the original
“Mission Impossible” TV show.
Use of deception to convince enemies of the USA to kill each other.
And feel good about doing it!
Years ago I read a book by a Soviet dissident (sorry, but I cant recall the title or author, I read so many books by soviet dissidents). During the invasion of Grenada, he was a teacher in the soviet union. Naturally, the soviet government run media was filled with outrage about the invasion. But, upon learning of the Grenada invasion, he and a few of his fellow teachers went into a room inside the school building. They locked the doors behind them and drank a toast to Ronald Reagan. They way they saw it, here was an American President who, instead of neogtiating for peaceful co-existance, was finally fighting communism the way it ought to be fought.
>>>> a toast to Ronald Reagan ... an American President who ... was finally fighting communism the way it ought to be fought. <<<<<
Kudos to Reagan as always.
I wonder what he’d say to fighting the Communist sitting in his former office.
My team was tasked with searching and helping MI & a Security Detail transport the poor cuban workers on the island (castros special forces adviser’s) to mexico city.......counterfeit cash, weapons, corn fed body building experienced fighters with scars as souvenirs that we hog tied, left on the floor of our C-130 with the ramp down all the way after they had been briefed we’d throw em into the gulf if they got froggy........ they knew they were going home.
We actually didn’t get in on the first 2 days ....got left on a club med beach in barbados with a bunch of topless splitail tourists of all things .........:o) Dang the luck !
One of the guys in my old posse was the commo chief in the U.S. Interests Section in Havana during Operation Urgent Fury. Things were very tense then for any kind of negotiations between the Cubans and the U.S. This guy told me that when he left the island, he had to fly out from one of the minor airports in central Cuba. He said they couldn’t use Jose Marti Intl Airport as some of the body bags were being returned there from Grenada.
It was an adventure........yer buddy was lucky to get out at all IMO.
Hope yer well.......stay safe !
I am, thanks. It was pretty tense when I was there, too. The worst day was when the “Brothers to the Rescue” UNARMED aircraft came in from Miami to drop leaflets. Someone on the ground gave the order to engage the “enemy” aircraft and three of the four were shot down and all the pilots were killed. I think that was 24 Feb 1996.
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