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Michael Manley Stumps in Canada National Library of Jamaica OPPOSITION IN EXILE ________________ MICHAEL MANLEY STUMPS IN CANADA How does a former Prime Minister support FrankE Manning has been on the North tour inspired an encore later in the spring. He himself while leading an opposition party American lecture circuit with Jamaica's has also been joined by other West Indian which no longer holds a seat in Parliament? opposition leader Michael Manley. critics of the Grenada invasion and related Fo1 Jamaica's Michael Manley, part of the political trends. One of these is Don Rojas, answer has been to liead north to the university Maurice Bishop's press secretary, who is now lecture circuit. The pay is good. the travel living in Canada and seeking ministerial exc1ting and the audiences more receptive permission to remain. Rojas has given a than most of the voters at home. number of talks to university and community This year. as the long Canadian winter groups, and has become a familiar figure on sluwly relaxed its grip, Manley staged a the television talk show circuit. campus tour that took him from Ontario to More recently Rickey Singh, the contro­ Bntish Columbia. Beginmng at the University versial former editor of Caribbean Contact, of Western Ontario. Manley hammered out launched a four-week speaking tour in Canada the familiar themes that were the public sponsored by the Canadian Council of sig.natureboth of his 1972-80 rule in Jamaica Churches. Singh. whose work permit was and of his broader reputation as an advocate of abruptly revoked by the Barbados government international economic reform. last autumn after he severely criticised the .. There is a basic difference," he told an invasion of Grenada, has warned Canadian overflow Saturday night crowd, "between a audiences about the US military build-up in strategy of independence and a strategy of the Eastern Caribbean and its continui�rg neocolonialism. In a strategy of independence, dominance of Grenada. He has also acknowl­ you maximise your resources and productive edged, however, that the Grenadian public capacity, and develop your autonomy and feel a deep sense of "betrayal and trauma" self-reliance. In a strategy of neocolonialism, over the assassination of Bishop, and are in no you say you are too small to stand alone. and moodto tolerate further revolutionary activity. , tht:rcfore need to align yourself with a metro­ But Manley remains the star of the politan power and serve its interests. I stand travelling Canadian show. thanks to his un·1pologetically for independence. My suc­ superior platform skills and to the wide cc,�or in Jamaica stands unapologetically for Michael Manley: "reliance on the !MF was international publicity that he attracted during neocolonialism.·· the biggest mistake of my life" his eight years as Jamaica's Prime M mister. Referring to Nicaragua as well as Grenada, Speaking of that period in his first cam, �·s.t.all<. Manley claimed that "politics follows econ­ Fortunately, he added, Canada has gained Manley acknowledged that his indebtedness omics." The Monroe Doctrine was propa­ from its relatively greater experience. Com­ to the IMF - which he charged with gat<!d initially not to establish American pared with Caribbean countries. "You have "adjusting" rather than "developing" Third pulitical hegemony over the hemisphere, but a far more mature understanding of these World economies- was "the biggest mistake to protect what were termed "pecuniary matters internationally." of my life." He further insisted that Seaga 's interests .. by John Quincy Adams, then Manley further appealed to the Canadian "neocolonialist" strategy was doomed to Secretary of State and architect of the policy. tradition of moral rather than military leader­ failure. and was already faltering badly. The The "Yankee trader" was rising to prominence ship. "To the extent that you can develop a PNP would be ready to fight an election !lS in the early 19th century. and it was deemed genuine strategy of First World-Third World soon as voters' lists were updated and essential for the US to safeguard international cooperation." he exhorted. "you will have provisions made for a realistic campaign. markets and investments. guaranteed your security in a way that no "You can't lose this time. boss," yelled one faced with metropolitan and especially US army ever can." rabid supporter. economic imperialism, Third World countries, Manley's flamboyant rhetorical skills were At a reception following the speech, Manley in�isted Manley, must learn to cooperate best demonstrated in political remarks aimed talked about his current role as leader of a non­ economically with each other. But whenever primarily at his West Indian supporters. parliamentary opposition. The job of mobil­ they take step� in this direction, their energies, Commenting on Grenada, he began by ising public opinion, he said, was facilitat-::d he suggested, are invariably diverted by describing Eric Gairy as "an instinctive non­ by the PNP's tradition of social cnticism nat.onal crises. ln the West Indies, the answer rationalist member of the neocolonial move­ and political education. Unlike most other still lies in Federation- "an idea that failed ment." He then outlined the Gairy regime. Caribbean parties which have func .. oned because it was ahead of its time." He added alternating dramatically between pathos and exclusively "within a populist matrix.'' the enthusiastically. "I remain an unrepentant humour. Then he talked more indicatively PNP, he said. has promoted serious ideu1ogical federation is!.·· about the Bishop government. endorsing it for debate. He claimed that a recent poll �howed As at other Canadian campuses on the tour. economic efficiency and successful social that only 53 per cent of the Jamaican electorate Manley'� audience at the Universitv of programmes, and contending that there was a supported the invasion of Grenada. cu111pared Western Ontarioincluded Canadian and West genuine commitment t0 non-alignment until with upwa;ds of 80 per cent throughout the Indian students. profcssoh. and a high number the US began threatening intervention and Eastcm Caribbean. This. he said. shows that of Carihhean immigrants. mostly Jamaicans using Cuban aid as a "self-fulfilling prophecy" the PNP's impact h��pt been erased by the nnd �launch 'upporters of Manley's People's about Communist influence. Seaga Government. Nauonal Party (PNP). Many journeyed more After the assassination of Bishop. claimed Manley's current task in Jamaica is to than a hundrt:d miles to hear the talk. Manley Manley, the military government was willing translate generalised sentiment into ek-.:toral skilfully sensed the mix and mood of the to negotiate with neighbouring countries. If support. But he also needs to earn a living, and crowd, directing remarks to each segment of it. that course had been followed. Grenada could lo maintain his position as a spokesman for He woJed Canadian support by comparing have been "rescued.'' Instead, because of the non-alignment and a new international econ­ Canada's positionwith that of the West Indies. US-led invasion. "Generations of Grenadians omic order. The means of realising that "To develop independence strategies in the will be left with the thought that what agenda lie. ironically, in the metropolis. where face of your mighty neighbour lo the south is happened was the1 r fault. and that they were students. intellectuals, and Caribbean t.migrcs surely one of the major challenges to statecraft unable to solve it <'n their own." arc an eager and paying audience for a Third .. in Canada. he said to hearty applause. The success of Manley's Canadian campus World celebrity• NATION Lab� T )• ��" .-.
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