Antillean War

  

Antillean War
Part of the Caribbean Wars (Cold War)
An Antillean Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter hovers above the ground near an abandoned Continental ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft weapon during the invasion of the Bahamas
Date 16 December – 30 December 1982 (2 weeks) Location The Bahamas Result Antillean–OECS victory Collapse of the Bahamanian Continental Republic and New Jewel Movement Restoration of the former government Chattanooga Pact aid forces are expelled
Belligerents
Antilles Bahamian opposition ECS Peace Force: Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Dominica Jamaica (non–OECS member) Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Bahamas (CR) United People's Committees Military advisors: United Commonwealth Libya
Commanders and leaders
Amelia Abarough Ronald Hamilton William Taylor Montague Lockhart	Cecil Pritchard Bernardo Larrazábal Hugh Qualter Abdullah Aziz
Strength
Antilles: 7,500 troops 1 aircraft carrier 6 destroyers 3 frigates 1 supply ship 12 tanks 41 aircraft Peace Force: 1,003 troops	Bahamas: 2,400 troops 15 APCs 12 anti-aircraft guns United People's Committees: 900 troops, 5 APCs, 2 tanks United Commonwealth: 383 troops, 24 aircraft Libya: 52 troops
Casualties and losses
Antilles: 75 killed 329 wounded 9 helicopters destroyed 12 warplanes destroyed	Bahamas: 84 killed 510 wounded 5 tanks and APCs destroyed United People's Committees: 44 killed 306 wounded All tanks and APCs destroyed or captured United Commonwealth: 21 killed 17 warplanes destroyed

The Antillean War was a conflict between the Antilles and the Bahamas, that also indirectly involved the United Commonwealth, in October 1982. The Antilles led a coalition of six other Caribbean nations to launch an invasion of the Bahamas on 16 December 1982, codenamed Operation Caribbean Shield by the Antillean Armed Forces. Within two weeks all of the major population centers and islands of the Bahamas were captured, despite resistance from the Bahamian People's Revolutionary Army and its Continental, Andean, and Libyan military advisors. It was precipitated by a military coup within the Bahamian Continental Republic government, with the arrest and execution of Prime Minister Dustin Bastian and the creation of a new government by General Cecil Pritchard. After the invasion an interim administration was established by the Antilles and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) until new elections were held in 1984.

The Bahamas became independent from the United Kingdom in 1960 and the West Indies in 1976. The Marxist-Landonist New Jewel Movement won a majority of seats in the parliament of the Bahamas in the 1978 election, and began arresting political dissidents while renaming the country the Bahamian Continental Republic. This made the Bahamas the first socialist nation in the Caribbean and the NJM increased their ties to the Chattanooga Pact countries. President Amelia Abarough of the Antilles saw this as a violation of the Antillean sphere of influence in the Eastern Caribbean, which was maintained by the membership of the Antilles in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. The Bahamas withdrew from the OECS in 1979, calling it a mechanism of "Western imperialism and colonialism." Even though the Continentalist Party senior leadership at that time had no intention of precipitating a wider war and was moving towards détente with Western North America, hardline elements in the United Commonwealth deployed a "secret" military advisory mission (with their equipment painted in the Bahamian flag) to support the new Landonist ally in the Caribbean. In November 1982, disagreements between Bahamian Prime Minister Dustin Bastian and his military led to a coup led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army, Cecil Pritchard. Pritchard had the support of Continental military officers on the ground and wanted to make the Bahamas a continental republic of the U.C., arresting and then executing Dustin Bastian (who favored independence) for "high treason." Multiple civilian protestors against the coup were killed on 29 November 1982 when protests turned into a skirmish with Bahamian troops.

The OECS condemned the events in The Bahamas by Pritchard, and formally requested an Antillean military intervention, which the Amelia Abarough administration approved. The Antilles had recently pacified the last remaining rebel groups in Cuba during the Cuban insurgency, and the Federalist government feared a Continental-led uprising in the region that could leave it surrounded by Landonist Caribbean nations. The Conference of American States, including Sierra and Superior, officially opposed the intervention as part of their efforts to improve relations with the United Commonwealth, but tacitly gave it their approval. "Operation Caribbean Shield" began on 16 December.

The initial invasion was spearheaded by elite units of the Antillean Armed Forces, including the 1st Marine Raiders Regiment, the Navy SEALs, and the 101st Airborne Regiment, in addition to various support units, naval and air assets, and foreign allies from OECS countries. Together the intervention forces totaled around 8,500 personnel. The airborne and amphibious landings were carried out on the islands of New Providence (containing the capital city Nassau and 70% of the country's population), Grand Bahama, and Eleuthera, which together represent the main population centers of the archipelago. The majority of Bahamian and allied Andean ground forces were destroyed by 20 December, but operations to take outposts on outlying islands continued until 30 December. Air combat occurred on 16–18 December between Antillean aircraft and Continental fighters flying for the Revolutionary Air Force of the Bahamas. Once Nassau was taken, the Landonists were deposed and a new transitional government was declared with the backing of the Antilles, led by Prime Minister Montague Lockhart. Most Antillean troops were withdrawn in early January and the OECS peacekeeping forces (also including Jamaica) were tasked with basic security duties until a new Bahamian military could be reestablished.

The invasion was condemned by the majority of the League of Nations General Assembly, declaring it a "violation of international law and Bahamian sovereignty." Among North American countries there was a mixed reaction to it, with Sierran Prime Minister Kirk Siskind opposing the invasion while Superian President Alexander Ludendorff endorsed it. President Abarough declared that the League of Nations vote did not bother her at all, but the war worsened the rift between the Antilles and other Western countries, which had democratized while the Antilles remained an authoritarian dictatorship. Domestically, the war had popular support but would also be seen by some political forces in the Federalist Party that reform was needed to maintain the alliance with the CAS and EC states that the country depended on.

In the Bahamas, the former Landonist party was declared illegal by the new government and the country became a close ally of the Antilles and of the Conference of American States. The effective coordination between Antillean military units during the operation was noted by Sierran planners, who compared it to their own country's less successful record in the Colombia War and the Vietnam War, and their ongoing efforts to oppose Landonist groups in the Central American crisis. The resulting military reform would lead to the creation of the Sierran Special Operations Command, based on its Antillean equivalent.

Aerial warfare

Main article: Air engagements of the Antillean War

See also

• Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
• Foreign policy of the Antilles