The event that triggered the current confrontation in Grenada between the government and the local media was the publication by the Miami-based Offshore Alert newsletter of a story concerning an alleged cash payment of US$500,000 to Dr Keith Mitchell, the Prime Minister of Grenada, by one Eric Resteiner, a one-time General Ambassador for Grenada.

Mr Resteiner, who obtained a Grenada passport under its now-defunct economic citizenship program, has since been indicted on 33 counts of wire fraud, 9 counts of mail fraud, and 18 counts of money laundering in the US District Court in Massachusetts.

As we have come to expect from Offshore Alert, its story is supported by comprehensive documentation, copies of which are also made available online. Nevertheless, even in the face of such compelling substantiation, the Grenada government appears to have chosen to try to suppress republication of the story domestically by intimidation of the local media.