Eric Gairy
Sir Eric Gairy Matthew ( born February 18, 1922 in St. Andrew 's Parish, † August 23 1997 in Grand Anse, Grenada ) was a Grenadian politician.
Gairy was born in a village near Grenville, Grenada. He initially worked as a farmer and later as an elementary school teacher. In 1950 he founded the Grenada Manual and Mental Workers Union, a union that represented the interests of plantation workers against the planter aristocracy of Grenada, and later the Grenada United Labour Party.
From 1954 to 1960 and from 1961 to 1962 Gairy was Chief Minister. However, he had to resign in 1962 because of corruption. 1967 Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada. During his tenure, his country gained independence from Britain in 1974.
From the Queen Gairy was knighted and in addition to the UK, he maintained close relations with the United States. The management style of Gairy became increasingly paranoid over time and was characterized by massive violations of human rights. So were attacks on trade unionists and the media, the privileging of his supporters and the suppression of political opponents, among others. Related to him by a group called the " Mongoose Gang" on the agenda
On March 13, 1979, he was ousted by the opposition leader Maurice Bishop the New Jewel Movement in an almost violent revolution, when he was staying in a speech on UFOs at the UN in New York.
Gairy remained until 1983 in the United States in exile. When the United States intervened in Grenada in 1983, Gairy returned and stood in the presidential elections in 1984. However, despite its promises to have changed, lost his party. Further trials of Gairy and his party to regain political power (1990 and 1995) remained as unsuccessful.
Gairy died in 1997 in Grand Anse.