Difference between revisions 743161491 and 773685585 on enwiki



The '''Mongoose Gang''' was a  [[private army]] or [[militia]] which operated from 1970 to 1979 under the control of Sir [[Eric Gairy]], the [[List of heads of government of Grenada|Premier]] and later [[Prime Minister of Grenada|Prime Minister]] of [[Grenada]], and head of the [[Grenada United Labour Party]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDgairy.htm|title=Eric Gairy : Biography|accessdate=2013-10-08}}</ref>  

The Mongoose Gang was responsible for silencing critics,<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/223562/Sir-Eric-Matthew-Gairy Sir Eric Matthew Gairy (prime minister of Grenada) - Encyclopeædia Britannica<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> breaking up demonstrations and murdering opponents of the Gairy regime, including [[Rupert Bishop]], the father of [[Maurice Bishop]] in January 1974. Maurice Bishop himself was beaten by members of the Mongoose Gang two months previously, in November 1973, and jailed.<ref name="Jessup1998">{{cite book|author=John E. Jessup|title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hP7jJAkTd9MC&pg=PA75|date=1 January 1998|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-28112-9|pages=75–}}</ref> The violence of the Mongoose Gang and the Grenadian police became a more important factor than the state of the economy in generating unrest.<ref name="Meeks2001">{{cite book|author=Brian Meeks|title=Caribbean Revolutions and Revolutionary Theory: An Assessment of Cuba, Nicaragua and Grenada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLs0H9cAGLYC&pg=PA142|year=2001|publisher=University of the West Indies Press|isbn=978-976-640-104-7|pages=142–}}</ref>  

In November 1974, 10 months after Grenada's independence from [[Great Britain]], Bishop's [[New Jewel Movement]] issued a People's Indictment calling for "power to the people" and declaring that "the Gairy Government was born in blood, baptized in fire, christened with bullets, is married to foreigners, and is resulting in death to the people".<ref name="Foran2005">{{cite book|author=John Foran|title=Taking Power: On the Origins of Third World Revolutions(contracted; show full)
The Mongoose Gang has often been compared to the [[Tonton Macoute]] of [[Haiti]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/grenada/history|title=Grenada : History|accessdate=2013-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-96/end-eric#axzz4AMgDH6uW|title=The end of Eric Gairy|accessdate=2016-06-01}}</ref>

== References ==



{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=980OYZ6M7k0 Video: GRENADA POLICE - Reporter statement about Grenadian police]
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

[[Category:History of Grenada]]
[[Category:Private armies]]
[[Category:Militias]]
[[Category:Irregular military]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1970]]
[[Category:Political repression]]