The island of Grenada

The island of Grenada, in the Eastern Caribbean, is part of the West Indies, a chain of islands formed by the peaks of the Caribbean Andes. The main island is 21 miles long and 12 miles wide at its widest point--about twice the size of Washington, D.C. The nation of Grenada also includes some inhabited islands from the Grenadines chain, the larger of which are Carriacou and Petit Martinique. Both Carriacou and Petit Martinique have colonial histories that parallel Grenada's.

As the twenty-first century nears, Grenada struggles to stabilize its economy. Grenada is mainly rural; farming techniques are not much different from those employed 100 years ago. And when prices decline for one of its few exports, the overall earnings of Grenada plummet. Like many small island nations, Grenada is economically dependent on the changing forces of international trade.

Grenada's small size has hampered its economic development. The area's population is only about 110,000 and its total area only about 133 square miles. More than 90 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) is derived from traded goods and services (Thomas 237). Educational and employment opportunities are so limited that the most talented of the island's young people often go abroad to study or get jobs. Relatively few return, creating a significant "brain drain" that exacerbates the economic situation.

Grenada's recent leaders have largely failed to put the country on the road to progress. Al

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er Bernard Coard, apparently favoring ties with the Soviet Union, led another coup in which Bishop was assassinated along with other government leaders. About 100 civilians were killed during the uprising. Alarmed by these events, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States--an organization of five nations formed in 1981--requested that the United States try to resolve the situation. On October 25, 1983, President Ronald Reagan ordered almost 2,000 U.S. soldiers onto the island, accompanied by several hundred troops from neighboring Caribbean islands. Order was restored, and a nonpolitical interim administration, led by Governor-General Sir Paul Scoon oversaw island affairs. Scoon became a one-man government, severing diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union and Libya and allowing the Cubans to retain only one diplomat on the island. Scoon also appointed a nine-member advisory council made up of Grenadian citizens, with Nicholas Braithwaite as chairman, to assist him until new general elections were held in 1984, when Herbert Blaize was elected prime minister. After the subsequent withdrawal of military personnel in 1985, the financial presence of the United States remained strong. It sent Grenada $3.4 million in disaster

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