Grenada stalls on allowing U.S. to set up military radar near Venezuela

In the coming weeks, the small Eastern Caribbean nation of Grenada, which the U.S. had invaded back in 1983, has an important decision to make as Washington has asked it for permission to establish a military radar station at its main airport to monitor nearby Venezuela.

- By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

Prime Minister of Grenada Philip Diction Mitchell addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at U.N. Headquarters.

(AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

In late August, the U.S. had formally approached the island nation to use its main Maurice Bishop International Airport to house military radar that could monitor both commercial and military flights in the Southern Caribbean with a particular eye on Venezuela about 100 miles to the south.

But strident opposition from some lawmakers and civil society groups has apparently slowed the decision-making process, with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell telling parliament in recent days that his administration is working with an undisclosed deadline from the U.S., but won't be hurried into deciding on such an important issue. In not being rushed, he appears to be cognisant of the simmering undercurrents that still persist regarding the 1983 invasion by the Reagan administration, allegedly back then to stop Russia and Cuba from gaining influence in the region.