Grenada One U.S. Invasion Later . . .

By Cristina Garcia/St. George''s

For an island only 21 miles long and 12 miles wide, Grenada has a surprisingly impressive airport. The 9,000-ft. runway of Point Salines International Airport can easily accommodate jumbo jets from any part of the world. But the most action the tarmac gets these days is from twin-engine Avro 748 island hoppers from Trinidad and Barbados. Cuban engineers began building the airport in the early 1980s, during the leftist regime of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. One U.S. invasion and $19 million in aid later, Point Salines International is completed and, much like Grenada, sits waiting for something to happen.

After the American intervention in 1983, the streets of the capital, St. George's, were filled with talk that U.S. working permits would be doled out like so many chocolate bars. Many even signed a petition urging Washington to annex the island. Those giddy hopes have passed, and Grenadians have turned their attention to rebuilding democracy and their notoriously bad roads.

But reminders linger of Grenada's four-year flirtation with socialism under Bishop. After a nine-month trial, former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard and 13 associates were sentenced to hang for the murder of Bishop and ten followers during the coup that prompted Ronald Reagan to send in U.S. troops. Coard and his cronies have been waiting on death row since last December, as their lawyers scramble with appeals that will probably keep the prisoners alive well into 1988.

Though Bishop was beloved by most Grenadians, a bust of the slain leader, its nose chipped off, stands desolate in a cemetery overlooking Queen's Park, where the U.S. Marines set up camp during what the locals call the rescue mission. The remaining leftists on the island are having a hard time attracting support. Although most observers say socialism has run its course in Grenada, skeptics contend that many leftist sympathizers are simply lying low.

At center stage is Prime Minister Herbert Blaize, 69, a lawyer who was elected in 1984. Blaize has been criticized for his remote, autocratic style. Last year his administration abolished a labyrinthine tax code in favor of a 20% value-added tax. Grenadians bemoaned the levy in a calypso song and even dubbed a local virus the VAT flu. Blaize has begun, amid yelps of protest, to reduce the flaccid civil service, which totals 7,800 employees in a population of 95,000.

A new opposition party, led by former Agriculture Minister George Brizan, has already undercut Blaize's support. Of the 15 elected members of Parliament who belong to Blaize's New National Party, five have defected to Brizan's National Democratic Congress. Some fear Brizan may split the country's political center and ensure the return of former Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy, whose eccentric, right-wing regime during the late 1970s led to Bishop's rise.

Most pressing to Grenadians, though, is the island's economy. An estimated 20% to 30% of the populace is unemployed. Some $90 million in U.S. aid since 1984 has done little to better the lot of the average worker. The money has been used to repair roads, complete the airport and build a bright pink mental institution to replace the one accidentally destroyed by American bombs. But impatience abounds. "We should have moved much faster than we have," says a waiter at a near empty beachfront hotel. "Except for the airport, I haven't seen much improvement."

Despite the favorable tax climate, only a handful of U.S. pharmaceutical firms have set up factories on the island. American enrollment at Grenada's medical school is on the rise after students were evacuated from the island in 1983. But the T-shirt industry, which flourished with brisk sales to U.S. service members, has waned since their departure in 1985. The prospect of increased tourism appears bleak. Grenada's twelve hotels remain half empty during peak season. Cruise ships make regular stops, but the mad dashes of passengers through gift shops are hardly a permanent boon to the economy. Vendors hawking spices and tropical shirts comb the beaches for stray tourists.

The airport has brought in traffic of another sort: cocaine. Although marijuana is not uncommon on the island, the government views the increasing use of cocaine as disturbing enough to start an antidrug campaign. "We're seeing crimes here we've never seen before," says Jude Duprane, who runs a fast-food kiosk along the bustling harbor of St. George's. But even he admits the bucolic life persists. Says he: "It's still the same old Grenada."

The brightest spot in the economic picture is agriculture. Nutmeg prices remain high, and the banana and coconut industries are flourishing after many lean years. Farmers are harvesting new products, including flowers and exotic fruits, and finding eager markets in the U.S. and Europe. This growth is especially critical now that U.S. funds are tapering off. "We didn't expect the aid to go on forever," says Pauline Andrew, Agriculture and Tourism Minister. "Now we have to do it ourselves." After years of political upheaval, Grenadians seem anxious to get back to business.