Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement [MBPM]

The Maurice Bishop October 19th Martyrs Foundation was officially launched on January 21, 1984, the 10th anniversary of Bloody Monday when Maurice Bishop's father, Rupert Bishop, was killed.

According to an informant, the Foundation's

intended objectives at the time were to coordinate activities to preserve Bishop's legacy and provide assistance to relatives of supporters killed at the Fort or in the US invasion.

The Maurice Bishop October 19, 1983 Martyrs Foundation had an office on Grenville Street, St. George's. It also had a short-lived 'monthly' publication, "The People's Heroes" with Vol. 1, No. 1 issued on 10 March 1984. Among the key figures behind the Foundation's launch were the late Kenrick Radix and George Louison, Lincoln Smith and Peggy Nesfield. Within the primary article on the front page of the first issue is the paragraph:

Today, most Grenadians are still shell-shocked by those events of October. Those sho have launched the Foundation - however, see it as a fundamental duty to rise and do somthing positive in the name of Maurice Bishop and the October Martyrs.

Everyone who supported, admired or respected Maurice Bishop and the Martyrs must come forward and give every assistance to the Foundation. In the midst of the grief and the sorrow we have to still hold our shoulders high and do not allow anyone to slander ordestroy the names of the genuine People's Heroes.

In an interview at the time, George Louison said:

We cannot expect Government relations, even in Cuba, because of the fact that the Foundation is not a government or a political party, and the foundation will not become a party.

George Louison, formerly a key leader in the Peoples Revolutionary Government, got to the point in another interview when he reviewed this trend -

But then grew a cancer within the Movement and blind ambition and greed for power by a group of fanatics within the Party and within the PRG turned back the revolution in the most fatal way and gunned down some of our most brilliant leaders

The Foundation was never a political party, but soon a group of people from the Foundation migrated their pro-Bishop allegiance into a separate political party, the MBPM.

The Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement [MBPM] was established with its base in Grenada on May, 1984 in St. John's.

Kenrick Radix was, according to a source, "chosen as leader of the party, with George Louison as his de facto deputy. Others notably involved at the time were Lyden Ramdhanny, Peggy Nesfield, Einstein Louison . . ."

A publication, Indies Times, was issued by the group on 7 April 1984. The newspaper was published for well over four years. Members were put up for the 1984 national election, but won only 5% of the vote and no seats.

According to the source - "Sometime in 1988, Radix stepped down as leader of the MBPM and was succeeded by [Terrance] Marryshow . . ."

Terrance A. Marryshow is a Grenadian-born, Cuban-trained medical doctor. Terry Marryshow was a former captain in the People's Revolutionary Army (PRA) and Commander at Camp Butler. Dr. Marryshow is a grandson of the late Grenadian statesman T.A. Marryshow.

Others in MBPM May/June 1988 were Einstein Louison, Deputy Leader; Joseph Charter, Secretary for International Relations; Benny Langaigne, Treasurer; George Thomas, Secretary for Workers Affairs, and Lyle Bullen, Secretary for Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs.

It was the Thursday, June 2, 1988 that Don Rojas was refused entry to Grenada from Cuba. He was to attend the MBPM Convention, but was flown out the next day. Also, from Trinidad, Dave Mayers [Daul Abdullah] was refused entry to Grenada. He represented the Oilfield Workers Union and was to attend the MBPM Convention that same weekend.

The group was plagued by internal conflict sometime after 1987. Kenrick Radix's leadership was replaced by Terry Marryshow in 1988. Others associated with the group at different times were, other than those officers above, Brian Lindsay, Terence Baptiste, Dessima Williams, and Garvey Louison. The initial momentum of the group eventually lost ground.

MBPM supported or supports:

"The renaming of the airport from the Point Salines International Airport [PSIA] to the Maurice Bishop International Airport [MBIA].

Celebrating Maurice Bishop and the other people who were executed as martyrs and paying tribute to them as Martyrs and Heroes of October 19, 1983.

MBPM members stress the blame for the fall of the Revolution and the consequent 'US invasion' on the Coard clique; i.e. Bernard Coard and the 16 others incarcerated in Richmond Hill Prison. They struggle, with passion, against any chance those prisoners, known as the Grenada 17, may be released.

Certain MBPM members have led efforts to find the missing bodies, not only of those executed, but others who have not been given proper burial. They led an effort to place a plaque on the wall where Maurice Bishop and the others were executed at Fort Rupert, now Fort George.

MBPM members have had run-ins with post-Revolutionary governments or governmental bodies concerning passports, the importation of literature from the Socialist Workers Party of the United States, the declaration of a national holiday honoring the 'invasion' by the US, refusal to recognize National Heroes Days of individuals held high by the former Peoples Revolutionary Government, and other issues. The MBPM ran in the general election of 1990, garnering 2.4% of the vote.

The Martyrs Foundation, during the period of re-sentencing of 13 prisoners convicted in the Maurice Bishop murder trial, posted their reasons for opposition to any release of the prisoners. See Martyrs Foundation.