ABSTRACT
The Cuban role was fundamentally that of providing a mantle of revolutionary legitimacy to regimes that had both achieved and retained power through less than revolutionary means. The coincidence between Cuban interests and the interests of radicalized middle-class groups bent on holding on to state power is clearly evident in Grenada. During the 1970s, however, politics in the Eastern Caribbean islands took a turn that caused a shift in the policies of both Trinidad and Venezuela. A renewed anti-Cuban alliance, similar to what existed in the early and middle 1960s, was in the making. In societies with very few resources and few opportunities for advancement and prominence, government and its bureaucracy offer remarkable rewards. or instance, the Cubans astutely, albeit sincerely, understanding the crucial importance of race in the Caribbean, took full advantage of the points built up by their popular and commendable anti-South African policies and actions.
