Good evening sisters
and brothers of free Grenada: Today, one month after our historic
people's revolution, there is peace, calm, and quiet in our country.
Indeed, there has been a tremendous drop in the crime rate since
our revolution. Foreign residents in the Levera-Bathway are feeling
so comfortable and safe nowadays that they have advised the commissioner
of police that he could close down the sub-police station in
that area. An unusually high number of tourists for an off-season
period are presently enjoying the beauty of our land and the
warmth of our people, and this is so in spite of the fact that
we have just had a revolution and that a real and present threat
of mercenary invasion is faced by our country.
For this reason
we want the people of Grenada and the Caribbean to realize
that if all of a sudden tourists start panicking and leaving
the country, or stop coming to our country, then they should
note that this came after veiled threats by the United States
ambassador with respect to our tourist industry. The ambassador,
Mr. Frank Ortiz, on his last visit to Grenada some days ago,
went out of his way to emphasize the obvious importance of
tourism to our country.
The ambassador went on to advise
us that if we continue to speak about what he called "mercenary invasions by phantom armies" we
could lose all our tourists.... At the end of our discussion
on Tuesday, the ambassador handed me a typed statement of his
instructions from his government, to be given to us. The relevant
section of that statement reads, and I quote: "Although
my government recognizes your concerns over allegations of a
possible counter-coup, it also believes that it would not be
in Grenada's best interest to seek assistance from a country
such as Cuba to forestall such an attack. We would view with
displeasure any tendency on the part of Grenada to develop closer
ties with Cuba."
It is well established internationally
that all independent countries have a full, free, and unhampered
right to conduct their own internal affairs. We do not therefore
recognize any right of the United States of America to instruct
us on who we may develop relations with and who we may not.
From day one of the revolution we have always striven to have
and develop the closest and friendliest relations with the
United States, as well as with Canada, Britain, and all our
Caribbean neighbors-English, French, Dutch, and Spanish speaking,
and we intend to continue to strive for these relations. But
no one must misunderstand our friendliness as an excuse for
rudeness and meddling in our affairs, and no one, no matter
how mighty and powerful they are, will be permitted to dictate
to the government and people of Grenada who we can have friendly
relations with and what kind of relations we must have with
other countries. We haven't gone through twenty-eight years
of fighting Gairyism, and especially the last six years of
terror, to gain our freedom, only to throw it away and become
a slave or lackey to any other country, no matter how big and
powerful.
[W]e reject entirely the argument of the American
ambassador that we would only be entitled to call upon the
Cubans to come to our assistance after mercenaries have landed
and commenced the attack. Quite frankly, and with the greatest
respect, a more ridiculous argument can hardly be imagined.
It is like asking a man to wait until his house is burning
down before he leaves to buy a fire extinguisher. No, we intend
if possible to provide ourselves with the fire extinguisher
before the fire starts! And if the government of Cuba is willing
to offer us assistance, we would be more than happy to receive
it. Sisters and brothers, what we led was an independent process.
Our revolution was definitely a popular revolution, not a coup
d'etat, and was and is in no way a minority movement.
We
are a small country, we are a poor country, with a population
of largely African descent, we are a part of the exploited
Third World, and we definitely have a stake in seeking the
creation of a new international economic order which would
assist in ensuring economic justice for the oppressed and exploited
peoples of the world, and in ensuring that the resources of
the sea are used for the benefit of all the people of the world
and not for a tiny minority of profiteers. Our aim, therefore,
is to join all organizations and work with all countries that
will help us to become more independent and more in control
of our own resources. In this regard, nobody who understands
present-day realities can seriously challenge our right to
develop working relations with a variety of countries.
Grenada
is a sovereign and independent country, although a tiny speck
on the world map, and we expect all countries to strictly respect
our independence just as we will respect theirs. No country
has the right to tell us what to do or how to run our country
or who to be friendly with. We certainly would not attempt
to tell any other country what to do. We are not in anybody's
backyard, and we are definitely not for sale. Anybody who thinks
they can bully us or threaten us clearly has no understanding,
idea, or clue as to what material we are made of. They clearly
have no idea of the tremendous struggles which our people have
fought over the past seven years. Though small and poor, we
are proud and determined. We would sooner give up our lives
before we compromise, sell out, or betray our sovereignty,
our independence, our integrity, our manhood, and the right
of our people to national self-determination and social progress.
Long live the revolution! Long live free Grenada!
