1989, April 2 – August: (The April 2 Attentat: Casernes and Léopards Soldiers Mutiny over Pay and the Drug Trade, a Week of Spasmodic Struggle, Avril Triumph…

1989, April 2 – August: (The April 2 Attentat: Casernes and Léopards Soldiers Mutiny over Pay and the Drug Trade, a Week of Spasmodic Struggle, Avril Triumphs but More Indebted Than Ever, Despairing of Internal Consensus Avril Invites CARICOM to Impose Elections, the CARICOM Delegation Announces Elections for November 1990 with Insufficient Time for 1989, and Hearts Sink at Eighteen More Months of Military Government): Using the issue of the gutted constitution as cover, the soldiers of the Casernes and the Léopards made an attentat on April 2, 1989. The real concerns were pay and U.S. efforts to stamp out the lucrative drug trade — it was possible that some of the mutineers were indeed uncomfortable with the suspension of constitutional articles, particularly the one protecting them against arbitrary dismissal. After a week of spasmodic struggle, Avril triumphed, but at a cost — he was more than ever indebted to those in the army who had stood by him, leaving him less maneuvering room than ever. In an immediate post-attentat gesture he did constitute his own version of the CEP but grew impatient with a dearth of results as months went by. Despairing of ever reaching sufficient internal consensus to move forward on elections, Avril invited outsiders to impose it. The August visit of a high-level CARICOM delegation that included concerned foreign ministers of several countries seemed the perfect vehicle — following meetings with the Avril-denominated CEP, the delegation announced that it had learned that elections would be held in November 1990, there being insufficient time to organize them in the three months remaining before November 1989. Hearts sank at the prospect of eighteen more months of military government, but some political operatives began cautiously to seek alliances in advance of next year’s elections.