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National Geographic : 1979 Sep
Contents
reprisals against real and imagined enemies. On March 12, globe-trotting "Uncle Eric," off to New York, left home once too often. The next day a small task force led by so cialist Maurice Bishop seized control of the country in a predawn blitz that caught all but its participants by surprise. Before noon Grenada's 300-man army had surrendered and most of Gairy's close supporters were in custody. Visiting the prison shortly after the take over, I found former army commander Win ston Masanto being detained there, but cheerful about his sudden change of station: "Heck," he said, "I trained half the fellows now guarding me." The 34-year-old Bishop, a London schooled barrister, took over as prime minis ter. At the same time, his People's Revolu tionary Government suspended the existing constitution, parliament, and court system; reinstated some long-ignored democratic rights; and pledged early free elections. Ten days into the new order, Prime Min ister Bishop stated his priorities to me: "An end to corruption, rapid reconstruction, and an all-out effort to increase national produc tion. This means getting alot of idle land and people back to work. For us, economics is a simple thing: If you don't put in, you can't take out." Back in 1955, what island farmers put in, Hurricane Janet took out. Grenville's L. L. Ramdhanny, heavyset grandson of an in dentured East Indian, remembers the day. "The storm made an unexpected turn on its way to St. Vincent and wiped out most of our main crops-cacao and nutmeg. I don't know how this house stood up unless the Almighty thought it was still the convent it once was. Everything else around was flat tened. So, I thought, was the future for my ten children. But the Lord and the land wouldn't let me give up that easily. "To speed recovery, we farmers began planting bananas. They not only bear in sev en months but shade young nutmeg and ca cao trees that take years to mature. Grenada's newly minted "green gold" for ests blotted out the sun as I crossed the island from Grenville to Gouyave (Charlotte Town) on a road that's barely there. One of the most productive stretches of land belongs to two Branch brothers-John and Endless summer bleaches the jumble of Frenchprovincial and Georgian colonial buildings in St. George's, Grenada'scap ital and chief port (above). Smallest na tion in the Western Hemisphere and a recent member of the United Nations, Grenadapacks one of the densest popula tions in the Caribbeaninto an area only twice the size of Washington, D. C. Summer's end means school's startfor students of St. Andrew's Anglican Sec ondary School in Grenville (right). Most schools are church relatedbut receivegov ernmentaid; attendanceis compulsory. National Geographic, September 1979 422
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