Statement by the Black Trade Unionists Solidarity Movement on Grenada

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This document is a 1983 statement from the Black Trade Unionists Solidarity Movement condemning the US-led invasion of Grenada and the participation of several Caribbean nations. It denounces the military intervention as a betrayal of Black solidarity and an attack on a revolutionary government that sought to provide social rights to its people. The statement highlights the broader implications for international Black struggles and calls for political accountability in the involved countries.

Key points:
– The statement condemns the invasion of Grenada by US forces alongside Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, St Vincent, St Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda.
– It criticizes these Caribbean countries for breaking a Caricom agreement to avoid military intervention in Grenada.
– The movement praises the Grenadian Revolution for securing free education, healthcare, and employment, contrasting this with corruption in the invading countries.
– It condemns the British Thatcher Government for complicity and allowing the invasion to proceed to install a puppet government.
– The statement mourns the execution of Grenadian prime minister Maurice Bishop and other revolutionary leaders, while emphasizing that these atrocities should not obscure condemnation of the invasion.

This statement reflects the internationalist dimension of Black British political activism in the early 1980s, a period when Black trade unionists and anti-racist campaigners strongly opposed imperialist interventions in the Caribbean. Bernie Grant and his contemporaries often engaged with global Black liberation struggles, connecting local activism to wider fights against racism, colonial legacies, and economic exploitation. The document exemplifies attempts to link trade unionism, anti-racism, and solidarity with revolutionary movements in Grenada and elsewhere.

Source note: The OCR transcript contains occasional typographical errors, such as inconsistent spacing and line breaks, but the overall message and key names are legible and coherent for interpretation.