Word: grenada
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...loser, with 36% of the ballot, was the Grenada United Labor Party, led by Sir Eric Gairy, 62, the country's first Prime Minister after independence in 1974 and an eccentric, authoritarian figure whose unsavory political history made his possible comeback a cause of much concern in Washington. G.U.L.P. won the remaining parliamentary seat, but then rejected it, alleging electoral fraud. Gairy offered a novel theory to buttress his charges of cheating. According to him, the ballots had been treated with a special chemical that was able to change votes to favor the winners. "Science and technology today...
...Jewel Movement, which seized power from Gairy in 1979. The M.B.P.M., headed by former Industrial Development Minister Kendrick Radix, was named after Maurice Bishop, the charismatic New Jewel founder who was assassinated by a hard-line faction of his leftist party six days before U.S. troops arrived on Grenada. The trial of 19 former New Jewel members for the murder of Bishop, 39, and ten of his followers was stalled last week by procedural wrangling...
...Reagan Administration's satisfaction at the election outcome was undisguised. A State Department spokesman hailed the islanders for concluding "a yearlong process aimed at putting Grenada firmly back on a democratic path." Said the spokesman: "We look forward to cooperating with the new government." The Administration asserted that despite the continuing presence of 225 U.S. servicemen on Grenada, it had tried to stay out of the contest. Said a U.S. official: "We maintained a hands-off policy. But anyone who knows anything at all about Grenada knew that a moderate party was the best bet. What everybody wanted...
Despite the size of Blaize's triumph, he was never considered a sure winner. Indeed, only two months before the balloting, the dominant political mood in Grenada appeared to be apathy, especially among political moderates. The N.N.P. was hastily cobbled together from three rival Grenadian parties only last August. During the low-key, three-month campaign, Blaize and his supporters emphasized the themes of economic development and safeguards against the abuse of power, while Gairy's G.U.L.P. ran under the slogan "Americans must stay forever." New Jewel loyalists tried to whip up sentiment over alleged CIA interference...
Despite the official U.S. neutrality, Blaize benefited from outside help. A variety of private Caribbean, West European and U.S. organizations, including the AFL-CIO and a number of conservative public-interest lobbies, funneled money into Grenada to heighten civic awareness and get out the vote. Local taxi drivers were paid as much as $130 on election day for carrying citizens to the polls. The assistance was nonpartisan, but the enlarged turnout probably helped Blaize to defeat the remnants of Gairy's Boss Tweed-style political machine...