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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/274913-world-remembers-illegal-us-invasion-of-grenada-38-years-ago">radiohc.cu</a>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">World remembers illegal U.S. invasion of Grenada 38 years ago</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Ed Newman -
2021-10-25
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<p>Havana, October 25 (RHC)-- This Monday marks the 38th anniversary of
the military invasion known as Operation Urgent Fury, launched in 1983
by the U.S. government against the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada, in
which at least 70 Grenadians were killed and 358 were wounded. </p>
<p>From the beginning of the Grenadian Revolution in March 1979, the
U.S. claimed that Grenada constituted a danger to the security of the
U.S. and Caribbean nations. Observers say that the U.S. "fear" was
rooted in the spread of socialist ideas that were gradually penetrating
several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. </p>
<p>On October 25, 1983 the U.S. ordered the military operation to invade
the Caribbean island, since it maintained good relations with Cuba and
the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This attack by
Washington was based on three alleged pretexts: to protect resident U.S.
citizens, to restore order and democracy, and to prevent the island
from becoming a "Cuban-Soviet base.</p>
<p>With these arguments, the soldiers stormed by air, land and sea. As a
result of this lightning operation, dozens of civilians were killed,
among them many Cubans working at that time in the construction of an
airport in Grenada.</p>
<p>The Americans, during Ronald Reagan's administration, fostered the
climate of tension that led to a coup d'état on October 13 against
Maurice Bishop, followed by the assassination of the leader and the
invasion that took the lives of dozens of people.</p>
<p>The invasion began at 5 a.m. (local time) on October 25, 1983, and
was the first major military operation carried out by the US since the
Vietnam War. It involved the participation of 1,200 U.S. Marines. Some
eight thousand combined forces were organized, including the U.S. Army
Rapid Deployment Force, Marines, Army Delta Force, Special Operations
Forces, Navy SEALS. In addition to the Regional Security System, troops
from various Caribbean partner nations were pressured to join in the
invasion.</p>
<p>The military action by Washington was immediately condemned by the
majority of the international community and was not supported by the
United Nations, as it was a demonstration of military force by the U.S.
in its attempt to intimidate other socialist governments, as well as
representing an open violation of international law and the sovereignty
of peoples.</p>
<p>Since March 13, 1979, this small island began to live a transforming
and socialist process, promoted by the leader Maurice Bishop. These
changes were not accepted by Washington, which brought as a consequence
that the U.S. generated the necessary context to achieve its invasion
purpose.</p>
<p>The occupation of the Caribbean country was only a general rehearsal
of the U.S. way of acting, creating a political mechanism for the
development of military conflicts, which would later lead to the Panama
operation, the Gulf War and the occupation of Iraq.</p>
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