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Gairy claimed that God had appointed him to carry out a "divine plan" and that he regularly sent out "love waves" to his political opponents. Actually he ran a hateful little dictatorship. According to Bishop, Gairy was several times re-elected in blatantly rigged contests that included the registration of thousands of dead Grenadians and the bribing of living ones. Chief enforcer of his regime was the Mongoose Gang, a ferocious 30-man secret-police unit that he had recruited in the Grenadian underworld. He also attracted crooks and fugitives from justice from abroad, like Eugene Zeek, whom the FBI is seeking for allegedly cashing $1 million in bad checks in the U.S.
The Prime Minister himself profited while in office: his holdings included a beauty salon, several hotel guesthouses and the Evening Palace nightclub, where Grenadians seeking the favors of Sir Eric were expected to spend freely. When a 1973 general strike threatened Sir Eric's financial idyl, the Mongoose Gang savagely beat up three opposition leaders, including Maurice Bishop. Two months later, Bishop's father was killed by police during a demonstration.
Although few leaders in the Caribbean had been fond of the flamboyant Sir Eric, they were alarmed by the precedent that might be set by a coup d'état—the first for the English-speaking islands of the area. Barbados, Jamaica, Dominica, Guyana and St. Lucia issued a stuffily worded statement that the coup had been "contrary to the traditional method of changing governments" in the region.
Back in Grenada meanwhile, members of the new government feared that Sir Eric would try to stage a countercoup. Sure enough, while in New York City last week, Sir Eric vainly appealed to the U.S., Canada and Britain to return him to power. According to Bishop, Sir Eric then began seeking men and arms for a mercenary army that would retake the island.
Though the ousted leader had a certain genius for accumulating cash, it seemed unlikely that he would succeed in reinstating himself on an island that has been impoverished by his greed and mismanagement. The economy is nearly bankrupt, 50% of the labor force is unemployed, and most of the islanders live at subsistence level. Last week Bishop's government was planning to establish farming cooperatives and to seek foreign aid in an attempt to repair the damage.