No good or bad coups

THE EDITOR: Those of us who have been around for half a century will recall that this country was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement; neither in the US nor Soviet camps.

We may also recall that late Grenadian prime minister Eric Gairy was overthrown in a bloodless coup and Dr Eric Williams was heavily criticised by the then Opposition for lack of enthusiasm toward the new regime.

When that Grenadian experiment ended in a Caribbean-backed US invasion in 1983, the then Opposition criticised George Chambers for his lack of collusion. After that, the press highlighted the presence of the US ambassador at political meetings of the Opposition.

It is no secret that sectors of our population esteem the US and Canada, even to claiming refugee status in the latter or ensuring that their offspring have resident status in the former.

It is convenient to forget that democracy and ethics do not fashion US relations anywhere in the world. We also forget that Grenada’s Maurice Bishop and Cuba’s Fidel Castro, popular though they were, did not offer themselves for election.

Post-1990, we should know that there are no good coups or bad coups.

ZILEN MERRELL via e-mail

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"No good or bad coups"

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