Hudson Austin (26 April 1938 – 24 September 2022) was a general in the People's Revolutionary Army of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. After the killing of

Maurice Bishop Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of New Jewel Movement – a Marxist–Leninist party which sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education, and black liberation ...

, he formed a military government with himself as chairman to rule

History

Early life and political career

Hudson Austin was a member of the

New Jewel Movement The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement (NJM), was a Marxist–Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada that was led by Maurice Bishop. Established in 1973, the NJM issued its ...

in Grenada. He was an early member of the military wing of the party and received military training in

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

along with eleven other Grenadians, sometimes referred to as "the twelve apostles". Austin was unique in this group as he also received training in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. He participated in the 1979 revolution which established the

People's Revolutionary Government The People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) was proclaimed on 13 March 1979 after the Marxist–Leninist New Jewel Movement overthrew the government of Grenada in a revolution, making Grenada the only socialist state within the Commonwealth. T ...

with

at its head. After the revolution, Austin was in charge of the military forces of Grenada.

1983 Coup d'etat

In October 1983, factional political issues intensified within the government, most notably Bishop's alleged favoring of

rapprochement In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word ''rapprocher'' ("to bring together"), is a re-establishment of cordial relations between two countries. This may be done due to a mutual enemy, as was the case with Germ ...

clashing with Austin's wish for affiliation with the Soviet Union. These conflicts led deputy prime minister

Bernard Coard Winston Bernard Coard (born 10 August 1945) is a Grenada, Grenadian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister in the People's Revolutionary Government (Grenada), People's Revolutionary Government of the New Jewel Movement. Coard launched a coup ...

to place Maurice Bishop under house arrest and to take control of the government. Austin supported the action. Conflicts between Austin and Bishop were established early on in the 1979 coup with Austin's wanting to eliminate as many members of the opposition as possible conflicting with Bishop's wish for a bloodless coup. Popular demonstrations afterwards 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. Throughout the conflict,

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the po ...

continued to provide arms to Grenada and did nothing to aid Bishop throughout this ordeal. It has been suggested that Austin and Coard were at least passively supported by the Soviet Union in their ousting of Bishop.

As Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council

After the execution of Bishop, Austin disbanded the existing government and formed a military council with himself as chairman that would rule "until normality is restored." He made a radio announcement in which he claimed Bishop had led a mob to seize Fort Rupert, headquarters of the armed forces, with the intention of eliminating the NJM leadership and the army. As a result, Austin said, "the Revolutionary Armed Forces were forced to storm the fort, and in the process, the following persons were killed:

Unison Whiteman Unison Whiteman (died 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian politician. He was one of the leaders of the revolutionary New Jewel Movement and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the People's Revolutionary Government from 1981 to 1983 Death He was part of ...

, Keith Hayling, Vincent Noel, Jacqueline Creft, Norris Bain and Fitzroy Bain among others." He then announced a four-day total curfew, warning the people, "No one is to leave their house. Anyone violating this curfew will be shot on sight."

Invasion of Grenada

The

military government A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...

lasted for six days, until the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

invaded Grenada on 25 October 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 A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

that carried out the orders. He was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

along with Coard and the other coup leaders in 1986, but in 1991 their sentences were commuted to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

After 1991

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 18 December 2008, together with Colville McBarnett and John Ventour."Grenada releases 3 coup prisoners"
The Victoria Advocate, 19 December 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Hudson 1938 births 2022 deaths Grenadian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Grenada Grenadian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Grenada New Jewel Movement politicians Leaders who took power by coup Heads of government who were later imprisoned 20th-century Grenadian politicians