Grenadian Prime Minister To Pay Tribute To Maurice Bishop

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell will pay tribute to former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop (1979-1983) at the Fith State of the Black World Conference, which will be held from April 19 to April 23 in Baltimore City, U.S.

RELATED: 

Grenadians Celebrate 49th Anniversary Of National Independence

“Led by Bishop, the Grenada Revolution inspires progressive Pan-Africanists around the world. It is good to know that Prime Minister Mitchell will honor the life and legacy of Bishop,” said Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW21).

“I will organize a delegation of African American leaders to attend this historic and much-deserved tribute,”  Daniels stressed. Born in 1944, Bishop studied law at the University of London. In the 1970s, he created the New Jewel Movement, a Marxist party that overthrew the authoritarian regime of Prime Minister Eric Gairy in 1979.

Once in power, the New Jewel Movement appointed Bishop as its country's prime minister. Grenadians widely supported the Bishop administration since it implemented projects of great importance for the country, such as the construction of a new international airport with the support of Cuba and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

U.S. President Ronald Reagan accused Bishop of using the new airport as a Soviet military base and backed a media campaign to justify a coup against him. Years later, however, investigations proved that no Cuban or Soviet military adviser but only civil workers managed the airport.

In October 1983, a coup d'état overthrew the Bishop administration. A popular revolt freed Bishop, but the politicians who took power ordered his execution. A few days after Bishop’s assassination, the U.S. military invaded Grenada.

“Bishop is a symbol of resistance and social change. His ideas and ideals continue to inspire generations of Caribbean leaders, activists, and citizens,” Mitchel stated.