New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation | |
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| Abbreviation | New JEWEL Movement |
| Leader | Maurice Bishop |
| Founded | 11 March 1973 (52 years, 253 days) |
| Dissolved | 29 October 1983 (42 years, 21 days) |
| Merger of |
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| Succeeded by | Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement |
| Headquarters | St. George's |
| Newspaper | The New Jewel |
| Armed wing | People's Revolutionary Army |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| National affiliation | People's Alliance (1976) |
| Colours |
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| Slogan | "Forward ever, backward never!" (French:En avant jambes, en arrière jamais!) |
| Party flag | |
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| Administrative divisions(parishes) |
TheNew Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, orNew JEWEL Movement (NJM), was aMarxist–Leninistvanguard party in theCaribbean island nation ofGrenada that was led byMaurice Bishop.
Established in 1973, the NJM issued its manifesto prior to Grenada beinggranted independence from theUnited Kingdom in 1974.[3] The NJM took control of Grenada with a bloodlesscoup in 1979 andruled by decree as thePeople's Revolutionary Government until 1983. In October of that year, Bishop and seven of his associates were killed by paramilitaries affiliated withhard-line elements in his own party. Those elements formed amilitary government, which was quickly deposed by aU.S. invasion later in October.
The New JEWEL Movement (NJM) was established on 11 March 1973 as an alliance of (1) the Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation (JEWEL); (2) the Organization for Revolutionary Education and Liberation (OREL); and (3) the Movement for Assemblies of the People (MAP).[4][5] Although "JEWEL" was originally anacronym, since then NJM's name has generally been spelled out as "New Jewel Movement".
Maurice Bishop, a young lawyer who had returned to Grenada after being educated in England, andUnison Whiteman, the founder of JEWEL, were elected NJM's Joint Coordinating Secretaries.[6] The party's manifesto was largely drafted by MAP's prominent intellectual,Franklyn Harvey, who had been influenced by the writings ofC.L.R. James.[7]
In its early days, Bishop described the NJM as "a political party aimed at raising consciousness and taking political power if the accepted processes didn’t allow for electoral change."[8] TheNew Jewel newspaper, the party's principal publication, featured the motto: "Not Just Another Society – But a Just Society; Let Those who Labour Hold the Reins."[8]
From 1973 to 1979, the NJM functioned as an opposition party. During those years, the country's political situation became increasingly polarized and violent. For the1976 general election, the NJM forged an electoral coalition, known as the People's Alliance, with theGrenada National Party and United People's Party. However, the coalition lost toPrime Minister Eric Gairy's rulingGrenada United Labour Party. Many international observers branded the 1976 election as fraudulent.[4] In the late 1970s, the NJM became more militant and formed the National Liberation Army (NLA), also known as "the 12 Apostles".
On 13 March 1979, the NJM launched a revolutionary coup against the government of Prime Minister Gairy while he was away visiting the U.S.[9] Within hours, the NJM gained control of the country's military barracks, radio stations, government buildings, and police stations.[9] Maurice Bishop then suspended the constitution and announced that the NJM was now a provisional revolutionary government, thePeople's Revolutionary Government (PRG), with himself as Prime Minister.
Shortly after taking power, the NJM created thePeople's Revolutionary Army, granting them "the powers of arrest and search as are vested in the members of theRoyal Grenada Police Force."[10]
After the revolution, the NJM described itself as a Marxist–Leninist vanguard party, but not a communist party because it didn't believe it had advanced sufficiently to earn that label. According to the NJM, it "practiced policies to reach a point where a communist party could be formed, but considered themselves unready, due to the party not being led by a proletarian class, and due to the low level of education in Marxist-Leninist politics."[6]
The new government looked toCuba for aid since the PRG had a "strained relationship with the United States" right from the outset.[11] One of Bishop's first major projects was to supersede the smallPearls Airport on the north end of the island with a large, modernPoint Salines International Airport on the south end. Over 600 Cuban construction workers were brought in to assist in the project.[9]
The NJM also worked closely with Cuba to provide assistance to left-wing revolutionary movements around the world, such as theSouth West African People's Organization (SWAPO) inNamibia and theFarabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) inEl Salvador.[12]
The leaders of the U.S. government, and several other Caribbean nations, expressed concerns about the NJM government because of its close ties with Cuba, its alleged military expansion, and its new airport that could be repurposed as a Soviet-Cuban airbase.[13]
Meanwhile, the NJM ruling party started showing signs of internal dissension as early as July 1982. That's whenDeputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, who was also the country's finance minister, resigned from the Political Bureau of the NJM Central Committee. According to the recollections of Bishop's press secretary Don Rojas, Coard's reason for resigning was that "he was not satisfied with the style of work and the priorities the Central Committee was addressing itself to. He was not more concrete than that."[5] When several Central Committee members pressured Coard to be specific, he refused. Other members—who all came out of the OREL organization and were loyal to Coard (Rojas referred to them as the "OREL clique")—backed his decision and allowed him to resign his party posts while retaining his state posts.[5]
During the next year, Coard worked behind the scenes "to advance the OREL people within the Central Committee to very influential positions. Three of them were elevated to the Political Bureau."[5] By September 1983, the schism in NJM leadership had reached a crisis point. The "Coard faction" voiced their doubts about Prime Minister Bishop's continuing effectiveness and attempted to convince him to accept a power-sharing arrangement with Coard, wherein the two men would be co-equal leaders of the country.[14] After a couple weeks of consideration, Bishop rejected the idea, which precipitated a disastrous sequence of events.[15]
On 13 October, Coard took control of the PRG and placed Bishop under house arrest.[16] Bishop's arrest, once it became known, triggered demonstrations and strikes throughout the country. On 19 October, Bishop was freed by a crowd estimated at 15,000 to 30.000 supporters.[16] Bishop led the crowd to army headquarters at Fort Rupert. Eventually a military force from Fort Frederick (under Coard’s direction) arrived at the headquarters and fighting broke out. Many civilians were killed.[9] Bishop and seven others—Jacqueline Creft, education minister; Norris Bain, housing minister;Unison Whiteman, foreign minister; and close supporters Fitzroy Bain, Keith Hayling, Evelyn Bullen and Evelyn Maitland—were lined up against a Fort Rupert courtyard wall and executed by firing squad.[17] The military transported the bodies to an isolated peninsula known as Calivigny. "Their remains were put in a pit with tires and other debris, and set on fire."[17] The remains of Bishop and the others have never been found.
Immediately after Bishop's execution,Hudson Austin formed a military government. He instituted a 24-hour curfew for four consecutive days under which anyone who left home without authorization would be shot on sight.[18][19] Six days later, theUnited States invaded Grenada and overthrew the Austin government. As a consequence of the successful U.S. invasion and occupation, the NJM ceased to exist.[8]
In 1986, eighteen people involved in the murders of Bishop and the seven others were arrested and tried. Seventeen of them (they came to be known as theGrenada 17), including Coard and Austin, were found guilty and given lengthy prison sentences.[16]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Result |
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| 1976 | Maurice Bishop | 18,886 | 46.29% | 6 / 15 | New | 2nd | Opposition |
identifying symbol of the NJM revolution appeared everywhere: a white flag containing a red disc.
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