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(Trinidad Guardian) Word is due next week on whether or not Grenada’s Government would allow temporary US radar equipment on that island, and 112 organisations of Caribbean women have called on Caricom chairman Andrew Holness and regional leaders to support Grenada’s possible refusal of this request. The move came from the Regional Network of Caribbean Women and Caribbean Women’s NGOs, which includes 13 groups from and connected to Trinidad and Tobago. They copied the letter to Caricom Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett, Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, and Grenada’s Senate President Dessima D Williams. After Antigua and Barbuda rejected the US’s request to host foreign military assets, the US requested the installation of radar equipment and associated technical personnel at the Maurice Bishop International Airport in Grenada. On Friday, Grenadian Government officials told Guardian Media that a statement on the radar issue had been expected from Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell at a sitting of Grenada’s Parliament on Friday, but other matters arose. They said the statement is expected next Tuesday when another session of Parliament will be held. Meanwhile, the letter from regional Caribbean women’s organisations supporting the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace was signed by Peggy Antrobus (St Vincent and the Grenadines), Eudine Barriteau (Grenada and Barbados), Marion Bethel (The Bahamas), Crystal Brizan (Trinidad and Tobago), Joan Joy Grant Cummings (Jamaica), Joy Marcus (Guyana), Kimalee Phillip (Grenada), and Maggie Schmeitz (Suriname). The letter cited grave concern at recent incursions by the US military in the Caribbean Sea. The groups stated, “This signifies egregious breaches in international law. It has resulted in the extrajudicial killing of at least 32 people to date—two of whom are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago. These incursions threaten Caribbean tourism by jeopardising the safety of cruise ships and sailboats; they interfere with the livelihood of fishermen and all who depend on the sea to feed their families. “They violate laws protecting our regional waters and the people who depend on them. They contravene the commitment of our region by our leaders, past and present, and our citizens to establish our region as a zone of peace.” The groups noted Grenada’s receipt of the US request and the Grenadian Government’s assurance that any decision will be guided by Grenada’s sovereignty, public safety, and national interest, including protection of its tourism industry, travelling public, and economic well-being. They said the region should oppose the US’s insistence that the only way to halt drugs and weapons trafficking in the region, and its subsequent flow into their country, “…is to unilaterally arrogate to themselves the role of judge, jury and executioner in Caribbean waters—a flagrant violation of international law.” “We call on our governments to strengthen our sovereignty, defend our right to peace, the livelihoods of our peoples, and our right to be safe from the consequences of militarisation. “The Caribbean was formed through a history of genocide, slavery, and indenture. It has built its sovereignty from its refusal to repeat or continue the legacies of this violence in the present. We strongly condemn the US’s efforts, both obvious and covert, to strong-arm the region into acquiescence with measures that are inimical to peace, transparency, and the rule of law. “In the words of the late Barbadian Prime Minister Errol Barrow, ‘we are satellites of none,’ and in the words of the late Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, ‘we are in nobody’s backyard,’” they added.
