Vol. 71/No. 23      June 11, 2007

BY MAURICE BISHOP  
Distinguished guests; Sisters and brothers; Comrades:

It is a great pleasure for me even at such short notice—in fact, about one hour’s notice—to have the opportunity of addressing this very important conference this morning.

You should have been hearing Comrade Bernard Coard, our deputy prime minister and minister of finance and planning, but unfortunately Comrade Coard has not been enjoying the best of health in the last few days and as much as he would have liked to be here this morning, he just could not make it. I express his regrets and his best wishes to you.

Comrades, the question before us during this conference will be the question of the problems of small island and other developing states.

The problem of smallness of economies, land sizes, and resources of developing Third World countries like Grenada is a problem which has been addressed on several occasions by several eminent people over the years.

It is a matter that has been looked at exhaustively in the United Nations, in the Organization of American States, the Nonaligned Movement, and at several other international forums. But it is a matter which has not lost its importance and I am sure you will agree that there are several ways in which the subject can be approached.

My approach this morning will aim fundamentally; not at looking once again at the numerous structural problems which small countries like ours face, but at trying to look underneath that, to see what are the underlying realities, what are the real reasons for the difficulties that small developing Third World states, which are very often also nonaligned states, have to face.

My own approach this morning will probably not be an entirely orthodox one, but we feel very strongly that this approach is nonetheless a valid and indeed the correct one.

We contend, comrades, that the real problem is not the question of smallness per se, but the real problem is the question of imperialism. The real problem that countries like ours face is that on a day-to-day basis we come up against an international system that is organized and geared towards ensuring the continuing exploitation, domination, and rape of our economies, our countries, and our peoples. That, to us, is the fundamental problem.

We certainly can see that if, even briefly, we look at the history of exploitation of countries like ours; this will give us a clearer idea as to why we in Grenada maintain this position…

The real problem is that United States imperialism, the United States ruling class, has always wanted to rule the world, has always wanted to grab everybody’s land, has always wanted to grab everybody’s resources; and that, with every shift in the balance of forces in the world, they have had to come up with new techniques, they have had to shift their tactics, they have had to move to overt action, like the landing of marines, to covert action—like the development of economic, propaganda, and mercenary techniques of destabilization and aggression. To us these are the real problems.

To us, therefore, in Grenada, while we are very, very happy to welcome you all, while we certainly look forward with great anticipation to the technical results of your conference, we nonetheless issue this caveat from the beginning, that if this conference were to produce yet again only more documentation of a technical character, emphasizing the usual structural difficulties which small countries like ours face, then the conference would not have achieved enough. For this conference to be truly successful, to be really meaningful to the people of the region and people of the Third World who find themselves in these difficulties, we must begin to show a new way forward by addressing what is the underlying and substantial cause of the problem that countries like ours face; and that problem is not the fact of smallness per se. That problem is the fact of imperialism.

I therefore formally declare open your conference and wish you the very best in your deliberations. I certainly hope that you will find the time during the period which you have in our country to enjoy our modest hospitality, to experience the warmth and friendliness of our people, and to feel and see the beauty of our country, and to see for yourselves the popular participation of our people in the new process that we are struggling to build.

Thank you very much. [Applause]  
 
 
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