Bernard Coard
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Winston Bernard Coard (born August 10, 1944) is a former Grenadian Deputy Prime Minister in the revolutionary government of the New Jewel Movement, who placed Maurice Bishop under house arrest in 1983 and took control of the government.
He was deposed by General Hudson Austin who formed a military government after the execution of Bishop.
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[edit] Education
After being taught by Paul Scoon at the Grenada Boys' Secondary School, Coard moved to the United States, where he studied sociology and economics at Brandeis University and joined the Communist Party USA. In 1967 he moved to the United Kingdom, where he worked for two years as a teacher in London.
[edit] Early relationship with Maurice Bishop
Born in Victoria, Coard first met Bishop when they were studying together at the Grenada Boy's Secondary School. Interested in the left wing politics which he shared with Bishop from an early age, the two became friends, and in 1962, they joined together to found the Grenada Assembly of Youth After Truth. Twice per month Bishop and Coard would lead political debates in St. George's Central Market Place. He also ran several youth organisations in South London.
At the University of Sussex he studied political economy. During his time as a student at Sussex, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. After completing his doctorate, he moved back to the Caribbean, working as a lecturer at the Jamaican campus of the University of the West Indies. During his stay in Jamaica, he joined the Worker's Liberation League. Coard even helped draft the manifesto of the League. He also worked as a visiting lecturer at the Institute of International Relations from 1972 to 1974.
Coard published How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System in 1971.
In 1976 Coard returned to Grenada, soon becoming active in Grenadian politics. Soon after returning home, he joined the New Jewel Movement (NJM), his childhood friend's left wing organisation. He was to run for the seat of St. George's in the upcoming elections.
[edit] Revolution
The NJM lanched a revolution against the government of Grenada on March 13, 1979. The Radio Station, military barracks and police stations were targeted. Before long, they had control of the entire island. The NJM then announced the suspension of the constitution and that the NJM would rule by announcing laws.
Influenced by Marxists such as Daniel Ortega and Fidel Castro, Bishop's NJM established party control over all aspects of life in Grenada and banned all parties besides the NJM. Aid from the Soviet Union and Cuba allowed the NJM to build an international airport with a 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway in St. George's. In 1980, Coard was the head of a delegation to Moscow to formalise relations with the Soviet Union.
[edit] The removal of Bishop
Bernard Coard was acting as Bishop's Minister of Finance, Trade and Industry, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister. A dispute developed within the senior ranks of the party. A faction including Coard demanded that Bishop either step down or enter into a power-sharing agreement with Coard where they would share control of the government.
Coard ordered Bishop put under house arrest on October 19, 1983 and took control of the government. As word of Bishop's arrest spread, large demonstrations broke out in many places. A demonstration in the capital led to Bishop being freed from house arrest. Bishop and seven others including cabinet ministers of the government were eventually captured by the army and executed by a firing squad organized by a private.
Upon Bishop's death, General Hudson Austin proclaimed himself head of the "Revolutionary Military Council" and became the nation's new head of government. He announced a four-day total curfew in which anyone seen outside their home would be subject to summary execution. The Governor General Sir Paul Scoon was detained.
The United States then launched Operation Urgent Fury on October 25. Hudson Austin's military government was deposed and constitutional government resumed afterward.
Just after Marines landed in Grenada, Coard, along with his wife Phyllis, Selwyn Strachan, John Ventour, Liam James and Keith Roberts were arrested.
[edit] Deposed
They were tried in August 1986 on charges of ordering the murder of Maurice Bishop and seven others. Bernard Coard was sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life imprisonment in 1991. He is serving his sentence in Richmond Hill Prison, where he has engaged in teaching and instructing fellow inmates in many subjects, including economics and sociology.
On February 7th, 2007, the London based Privy Council ordered a re-sentencing of Coard and the others convicted for the 1983 killing of Bishop and some of his cabinet colleagues. The hearing began on June 18th. On June 27th the judge gave Coard and his fellow defendants a 30 year sentence which included the time already spent in prison. They are expected to be released by 2010.
Bernard Coard has three children, Sola Coard (born 1971), Abiola Coard (born 1972) and Neto Coard (born 1979).
