[FOLLOWING up the bayonet with the briefcase, as…]

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FOLLOWING up the bayonet with the briefcase, as American troops pull out of Grenada, US businessmen are sizing up the chances of profitable exploitation from fresh investment in the island.

At a meeting at the White House, 100 executives were told that the Grenadian economy is "flat on its back" , but that an initial study had revealed "a lot of interesting business prospects"

The devastation of the economy in the aftermath of the US invasion was also the theme of a speech by the island's Uncle Tom Governor General, Sir Paul Scoon.

Glossing over the fact that when Maurice Bishop's New Jewel Movement ousted the former dictator Eric Gairy in 1979 they found only £9.00 in the country's bank accounts, Scoon alleged corruption by the NJM. But far more damaging has been the suspension of an IMF loan of $14 million negotiated by the NJM, whose credit rating was far stronger than the present stooge administration.

Interestingly, the island's US-installed rulers now intend to complete the Port Salines airport which the USA claimed was of no economic value, but a covert military base for 'Cuban terrorism"

Now that any element of political independence has been stamped out in Grenada, the obvious value of the airport for the tourist trade can be ad admitted. And with the green light for exploitation, the departing US commander can say without irony: 'We hope that in a couple of year we'll be able to treat Grenada the same way as the others in the Eastern Caribbean.'