Cuba breaks silence on Grenada: Mourns Bishop; claims no involvement in events
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To: Secstate Washdc Immediate 1215
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Secret Section 01 of 02 Havana 6579
E.O. 12356: Decl: OADR
Tags: Prel, CU, GJ
Subject: Cuba breaks silence on Grenada: Mourns Bishop; claims no involvement in events
(S) Summary: Breaking a week-long silence, the Cuban Communist Party and government released a formal declaration evening of October 20, claiming that Cuba had no advance knowledge of the power struggle within the New Jewel Movement and denying that Cuba had played any role in the events in Grenada. Statement admits, however, that Castro communicated with the Central Committee of the New Jewel Movement October 15, outlining Cuba’s position and promising continued Cuban support for the Grenadian people, regardless of any changes in the party, which Cuba considered purely an “internal matter”. The Cuban government has declared three days of mourning over Bishop’s death, the circumstances of which it said must be “clarified” and if it turns out to have been a cold-blooded execution, the guilty should be given exemplary punishments. Statement predictably warns that imperialism will try to use the Grenadian tragedy and the “errors committed by the Grenadian revolutionaries” to reverse the revolutionary process in Grenada. Comment: It sounds as though Castro, after having given a clear signal of Cuban acquiescence in Bishop’s ouster, was stung by unexpected killings and is concerned that the aftermath may be a setback for Cuban-inspired revolutionary movements. End Summary.
(U) In a lengthy statement read on nationwide television at 8:00 p.m. October 20 (presume FBIS has text) and published the following morning in the official daily of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), the Cuban government finally broke its week-long silence on the events in Grenada (reftel). Statement claims that when Bishop and a Grenadian delegation spent 36 hours in Cuba October 6-8 (following their trip to Hungary and Czechoslovakia), Bishop never told Castro about the “serious arguments and differences” which were taking place within the New Jewel Movement (NJM). (The statement says that Castro accompanied Bishop on a tour through the Cienfuegos area, where they visited plants and talked with workers, so the two men apparently spent a great deal of time together. Previously, the Cubans had only announced that the Grenadian delegation toured the area, with no indication that Castro and Bishop had spent much time together).
(C) On October 12, according to the statement, Cuba first heard from its embassy in Grenada the “surprising and disagreeable news” that there were profound divisions within the Central Committee of the New Jewel Movement. Saying that this was a “purely internal matter,” statement claims that the PCC, “despite our friendship with Bishop and our confidence in his integrity and governing capacity,” gave strict instructions to the Cuban representatives in Grenada not to become involved in an internal party matter. On October 15, Fidel Castro sent the New Jewel Movement’s Central Committee a message outlining Cuba’s position in terms of non-involvement in internal party matters. Fidel went on to say, however, that Cuba was concerned that divisions within the NJM could damage the “image of the Grenadian revolutionary process.” And recalling the high esteem in which Cuba held Bishop — he warned that it would be difficult to explain these events to the Cuban people. Moreover, Fidel’s message pointedly said that Cuba’s collaboration with Grenada “would be maintained as a commitment to the Grenadian people” regardless of how the intra-party struggle turned out.
(U) After recounting the events which led to the killings of Bishop and his aides, the Cuban statement says that it has not yet been possible to determine the actual manner or principle, nor any internal divisions within the NJM can justify “atrocious proceedings such as the physical elimination of Bishop and the group of well-regarded, honest and worthy leaders” killed. The statement calls for clarification of the circumstances around the killings. If it involved cold-blooded executions, the Cubans say, those guilty should be subjected to “exemplary punishments”.
(U) Cuban statement closes by saying that the current situation in Grenada is “extremely difficult and complex,” and that “only a miracle of common sense, equanimity and revolutionary wisdom” can save the Grenadian—Revolutionary process. Warning that “no step must be taken which could help imperialism’s plans”, statement pledges continued Cuban cooperation with Grenada, but says that “our political relations with those now responsible for ruling Grenada must undergo a serious and profound analysis.”
(S) Comment: Castro’s October 15 message to the NJM clearly gave a green light for Coard and his supporters to oust Bishop, but it is possible that the Cubans did not expect the result to be the murder of Bishop and his supporters. Indeed, in a conversation October 20 with a mid-level foreign ministry official, he told me that a Cuban statement on Grenada would soon be released, and that it would emphasize Cuba’s view that the divisions within the NJM were a “family matter”. The MINREX official also claimed that Cuba had considered the possibility that Bishop and his close supporters might be exiled to Cuba. He stated outright that Bishop had been “murdered” because “no soldier would shoot a leader without orders”, and then tried to draw a parallel with Che Guevara’s death. Much of the Cuban statement is window-dressing, of course, for the Cubans surely were aware of divisions within the NJM, and no reference was made in the statement to the role played by the Grenadian Ambassador to Cuba. For a Cuban government pronouncement on an international event, however, it is remarkable that no attempt was made to blame the U.S. or other “imperialists” for the events in Grenada, and the warnings that the free world may try to take advantage of the situation are rather muted. The implied rebuke in the admission that the new leaders of the NJM made “serious errors” and that Cuba’s relations with them will be reviewed may indicate Castro’s concern that the killings in Grenada will ultimately prove a setback to Cuban-inspired revolutionary movements in the Caribbean and elsewhere. Finally, as an example of pure gall, declaring three days’ official mourning is hard to beat. Todd
Confidential Department of State Incoming Telegram Page 01 Kingston 10366 01 of 04 211746z 8933
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META DATA
Declassified NLRR M86-81, #51823 By KMM/K NARA Date 1/4/10
Action: ARA-00
Info: OCT-00, Copy-01, ADS-00, AID-00, INR-10, EUR-00, SS-00, OIC-02, OPR-02, CIAE-00, DODE-00, H-01, IO-15, NSAE-00, COME-00, SSO-00, SY-06, HA-08, L-03, PM-11, PA-01, PC-01, MCT-02, OMB-01, INRE-00, CA-01, ACDA-12, A-02, USIE-00, SP-02, SNP-01, NSCE-00, TRSE-00, OCS-06, PRS-01 / 132
Secret Department of State Incoming Telegram O R 211700Z Oct 83