Editorial


Prime Minister, Keith Mitchell and the New National Party (NNP) government have a duty and responsibility to give full disclosure on the decision that was taken to deport a Guyana national, Rudolph Hooligan from the country.

It matters not to us that a compromise was reached through the court system for Hooligan to leave in the end without eventual deportation.

The fact of the matter is that this citizen of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was deemed an ³undesirable² element by a member country of the regional grouping and this development is rather troubling.

The deportation of any Caricom citizen from a member country brings back bitter memories of the state of affairs existing in some Caribbean countries in the 1970¹s and 1980¹s. Those were the days when the so-called right-wing and reactionary governments in the region would deport and declare as ³persona non-grata² those persons who were known to hold strong leftists views.

The current Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves was banned from Barbados by the Tom Adams government and thus forced to quit his job as a Lecturer at Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Even the well-known Caribbean journalist, Ricky Singh was forced to leave Barbados by the Adams administration due to his alleged close links with the Cuban government. The People¹s Revolutionary government (PRG) of which National Security Minister, Major Einstein Louison was a prominent member was more accommodating than other regional governments on Caricom citizens travelling freely among the islands.

As a matter of fact, the PRG went further than most governments in the area by providing Grenadian passports to prominent members of the African National Congress (ANC) to aid them in their just cause to bring down the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Sen. Louison would have been fully aware of this tendency by a previous Grenada government to have an open door policy to nationals not only of sister Caricom States but to others beyond our regional shores. The only exception that the PRG had was those persons who were put into the category of ³counter-revolutionary².

And our current Prime Minister, Keith Mitchell was branded as a ³CIA Agent² and was forced to live in ³exile² in the United States and could not have returned to the Spice Isle during that period.

Do we need to remind Sen. Louison of his own personal experience in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the 1979-83 Grenada revolutionary process when all Cubans were ordered out of the country by then Governor General, Sir Paul Scoon.

Major Louison and other prominent members of the PRG, such as the late Kenrick Radix and his own brother George Louison protested vehemently on a matter involving Sen. Louison¹s own Cuban-born wife. His wife was entitled to remain in Grenada and even obtain citizenship like the wife or husband of any local since this was guaranteed by the constitution.

The view that was held by Sen. Louison and his backers then was that his wife as a Caribbean person should not be deported by another Caribbean country and that it was a most backward and reactionary move by Sir Paul and his Interim Government.

The then authorities in Grenada denied that Major Louison¹s wife was ever deported from the island. The information provided by the Interim government was that she had a choice to either remain in Grenada or return home with the other departing Cubans and the lady choose the latter.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the fact remains that Major Louison grew up in a political environment that promoted free movement and assemble of persons from the region. The conclusion can therefore be drawn that Rudolph Hooligan must have done something terrible in the mind and eyes of the Major and the NNP regime that resulted in him being asked to leave the country.

Like most other Grenadians, we want to ask the question - what is it that the young man did wrong that warranted this drastic action of deportation? It is our firm position that the government in St. George¹s should not hide behind the diplomatic niceties: Holligan was a threat to national security and considered to be an undesirable person.

If Mr. Hooligan did something wrong in terms of breaking the laws of the country then the law courts should deal with him. Is it a case of mistaken identity on the part of the powers-that-be in St. George¹s where this Guyanese is concerned?

The word on the ground is that Hooligan was living with another Guyanese who had an altercation with a Grenadian who ended up being injured. And that matter is apparently heading for the law courts.

Was Mr. Hooligan wrongly identified as the person who had the physical confrontation with the local person? Or is it true that this Guyanese youngster is being accused by the NNP hierarchy of bringing into the country other Guyanese of a political shade and colour to support and vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the next general elections?

As long as Major Louison, Prime Minister Mitchell and the NNP regime continue to remain silent on the Hooligan affair, the mistrust of the regime will continue in so far as it relates to some of its questionable actions. And the Prime Minister might also find that on his upcoming visit to the United States to celebrate his 60th birthday that the Guyanese community in the Big Apple might have a special birthday gift for him.

The Guyanese up there want to know why Hooligan was deported from Grenada which is part of the movement towards the creation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

We too want to know.