42 years after U.S. military invasion of Grenada

Oct 25, 2025 Letters

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Dead Editor,

Today, October 25, 2025 marks the 42nd Anniversary since the U.S. military invasion of Grenada on October 25, 1983. Six days earlier Maurice Bishop and seven of his colleagues of the Revolutionary People’s Government were brutally murdered which resulted in the destruction of the Grenadian Revolution.

It set the stage for the U.S. military invasion of Grenada in complicity with six Eastern Caribbean countries headed by Eugene Charles of Dominica. The People’s Revolutionary government lasted for four and a half years. It employed bold initiatives to revitalize, reform the stagnant economy. It made tremendous progress in its agricultural and literacy drive Its GDP of 5% was higher than any other Caribbean country.

In 1982, the World Bank endorsed its policies and forecast further advancement. The building of the Point Salines Airport, was designed to replace the obsolete Pearls Airport at the North side of the island. The 9,000 ft. runway was cited by U.S. President Ronald Reagan as evidence that the Grenadian Government intended to use it for Soviet and Cuban military aircrafts.

Bishop and his government contended that the Point Salines Airport was intended to make the island more accessible to European and North American tourists. Ronald Reagan, age 69 was inaugurated America’s 40th President in January 1981. He came to office pledging to restore America’s Glory and was looking for a place to flex the country’s military muscles. He sent marines to intervene in the Lebanon civil war. He wanted a victory, any victory!

Barbados was the launching pad for Operation Urgent Fury as it was called.  Reagan and his aides justified the Invasion of Grenada with three arguments. First, they depicted the Grenada regime as murderous, anti-American, supported by Cuba. Second, they said that they needed to protect the lives of the American medical students. After the Invasion it was found that the students were not in danger.  Third, they produced a letter signed by the governor general of Grenada Paul Scoon, requesting American intervention. It later turned out that the letter had been written in Washington and delivered to Scoon to sign after the Invasion began.

A senior British officer who had watched the Invasion from nearby Barbados, major Mark Adkin, wrote afterward that it was launched because of “the intense desire of the President and his advisers to raise US prestige, particularly at home and in the armed forces, where morale and self-respect had fallen substantially since Vietnam “.

A total of 8,612 medals were awarded to the participants. Reagan showered praises on them. In a speech to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society in New York, he said “Our military are back on their feet and are standing tall “.

The casualties in the US military Invasion of Grenada amongst U.S. troops 19 killed, 116 wounded, 24 Cuban construction workers were killed and 59 wounded. 29 members of the Grenadian army killed in action while civilian casualties numbered 24 dead and 337 wounded.

40 years after continuous demand by the Grenadian people, October 19th has been declared a National Holiday and Point Salines Airport renamed Maurice Bishop International Airport in remembrance of Maurice Bishop, his colleagues and the Grenadian REVOLUTION.

Bishop had a vision that embraced all Nations of the world. He was dedicated to Non-Alignment He did not believe in America’s backyard politics. He believed that Grenadians, and all peoples have the right to self-determination, the right to pursue their own destiny.  Maurice Bishop was a man of the people, loved by his people.

Grenada is an island of 344 km, with a population at that time, less than 100,000. The Grenadian Revolution was an experience that brought Grenadians together, it revitalized their lives and pride that they are Grenadians. It aroused the revolutionary spirit of the people, whose ancestors fought the French colonialist years before the Haitian Revolution. It is a lesson that any nation can learn from…

Guyana, a non-aligned country at that time, did not participate in the invasion nor did Trinidad. As a matter of fact, the late Guyanese President Linden Forbes Burnham condemned the US display of aggression and those Caribbean countries that orchestrated the invasion of Grenada.

In conclusion, on the first Anniversary of the US military invasion of Grenada, I submitted a sculpture made out of Mora wood, a hard wood of Guyana, for the Annual National Visual Arts Competition (NVAC) 1984. The sculpture titled Architects US military invasion of Grenada won the prestigious Judges Award. The sculpture was acquired by the Department of Culture for the National Collection. In 1995 it was selected from among a number of pieces in the National Collection to represent Guyana at the United Nations Headquarters in Washington.

This year I have done a painting in remembrance of the U.S. military invasion of Grenada 42 years after Operation Urgent Fury.

Yours faithfully
Desmond Alli (Senior Guyanese Artist)

 

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