Hudson Austin
Encyclopedia
Hudson Austin is a former general in the
People's Revolutionary Army
of Grenada
. After the killing of Maurice Bishop
, he formed a military government with himself as chairman to rule Grenada
.
in Grenada. He was an early member of the military wing of the party and received military training in Guyana
and Trinidad and Tobago
. He participated in the 1979 revolution which established the People's Revolutionary Government
with Maurice Bishop
at its head. After the revolution, Austin was in charge of the military forces of Grenada.
In October 1983, factional political issues within the government led deputy prime minister Bernard Coard
to place Maurice Bishop under house arrest and to take control of the government. Austin supported the action. Popular demonstrations afterward broke out against the detention of Bishop. In the course of one demonstration, Bishop was freed from house arrest. Bishop was eventually executed by army soldiers along with many civilians.
After the execution of Bishop, Austin disbanded the existing government and formed a revolutionary military council with himself as chairman to rule the country. He made a radio announcement in which he stated: "The Revolutionary Armed Forces were forced to storm the fort, and in the process the following persons were killed: Maurice Bishop, Unison Whiteman, Vincent Noel, Jacqueline Creft, Norris Bain and Fitzroy Bain among others." He then announced a four-day total curfew stating that "No one is to leave their house. Anyone violating this curfew will be shot on sight."
The military government
lasted for six days, until the United States
invaded Grenada
on October 25, 1983. Austin was arrested, along with all of those in the government and army who were alleged to have either participated in the decision to kill Bishop or were in the army chain of command that carried out the orders. He was sentenced to death along with Coard and the other coup leaders in 1986, but their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.
In mitigation pleas made in 2007, while he sought to be released from prison he made no attempt to deny his responsibility for what happened in 1983. In the plea it was said that he "understand(s) the need to satisfy action for loss and suffering and the trauma of the Grenadian people."
Austin was released from prison on December 18, 2008, together with Colville McBarnett and John Ventour.
People's Revolutionary Army
People's Revolutionary Army (Grenada)
The People’s Revolutionary Army was the military of Grenada between 1979–1983.-History:The army was originally founded in the late 1970s as the National Liberation Army by 12 members of the New Jewel Movement who were known as “The 12 Apostles” including Hudson Austin and 11 others who had gone...
of Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
. After the killing of Maurice Bishop
Maurice Bishop
Maurice Rupert Bishop was a Grenadian politician and revolutionary who seized power in a coup in 1979 from Eric Gairy and served as Prime Minister of the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada until 1983, when he was overthrown in another coup by Bernard Coard, a member of his own...
, he formed a military government with himself as chairman to rule Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
.
History
Hudson Austin was a member of the New Jewel MovementNew Jewel Movement
The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement, was a Marxist-Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada...
in Grenada. He was an early member of the military wing of the party and received military training in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
and Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. He participated in the 1979 revolution which established the People's Revolutionary Government
People's Revolutionary Government
The People's Revolutionary Government was proclaimed on 13 March 1979 after the New Jewel Movement overthrew the government of Grenada in a revolution...
with Maurice Bishop
Maurice Bishop
Maurice Rupert Bishop was a Grenadian politician and revolutionary who seized power in a coup in 1979 from Eric Gairy and served as Prime Minister of the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada until 1983, when he was overthrown in another coup by Bernard Coard, a member of his own...
at its head. After the revolution, Austin was in charge of the military forces of Grenada.
In October 1983, factional political issues within the government led deputy prime minister Bernard Coard
Bernard Coard
Winston Bernard Coard was Grenadian Deputy Prime Minister in the People's Revolutionary Government of the New Jewel Movement, who placed Maurice Bishop under house arrest and took control of the government on 14 October 1983....
to place Maurice Bishop under house arrest and to take control of the government. Austin supported the action. Popular demonstrations afterward broke out against the detention of Bishop. In the course of one demonstration, Bishop was freed from house arrest. Bishop was eventually executed by army soldiers along with many civilians.
After the execution of Bishop, Austin disbanded the existing government and formed a revolutionary military council with himself as chairman to rule the country. He made a radio announcement in which he stated: "The Revolutionary Armed Forces were forced to storm the fort, and in the process the following persons were killed: Maurice Bishop, Unison Whiteman, Vincent Noel, Jacqueline Creft, Norris Bain and Fitzroy Bain among others." He then announced a four-day total curfew stating that "No one is to leave their house. Anyone violating this curfew will be shot on sight."
The military government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...
lasted for six days, until the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
invaded Grenada
Invasion of Grenada
The Invasion of Grenada, codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, was a 1983 United States-led invasion of Grenada, a Caribbean island nation with a population of about 100,000 located north of Venezuela. Triggered by a military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion...
on October 25, 1983. Austin was arrested, along with all of those in the government and army who were alleged to have either participated in the decision to kill Bishop or were in the army chain of command that carried out the orders. He was sentenced to death along with Coard and the other coup leaders in 1986, but their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.
In mitigation pleas made in 2007, while he sought to be released from prison he made no attempt to deny his responsibility for what happened in 1983. In the plea it was said that he "understand(s) the need to satisfy action for loss and suffering and the trauma of the Grenadian people."
Austin was released from prison on December 18, 2008, together with Colville McBarnett and John Ventour.