ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the common bases of the two countries and the Cuban involvement in Grenada, explores the social and cultural differences which hampered Cuban influence and speculates what this experience may mean for future attempts at extending Cuban influence in the Caribbean. The colonial period was extremely important in determining the unique character of both Cuba and Grenada. Cuban revolutionary ideology and fervor clashed with the predominantly gentle, religious, conservative Grenadian populace. Essentially the preliminary evidence indicates that Grenada was a situation where Cuban influence was very effective and far-reaching at the top, but with basic differences at the bottom. Cuba will face new obstacles in the future as a result of Grenada. Grenada's neighbors clearly evidenced their suspicion of its Cuban-aided non-conformist socialist experiment by calling upon the United States for assistance. The initial focus of Cuban involvement is also likely to shift to the economic area to minimize those prevalent destabilizing factors which detract from Cuban objectives.
