Eugenia Charles, 86, Dominica Leader
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A former Dominica leader, Eugenia Charles, who gained attention for standing with President Reagan when he announced the invasion of Grenada, died Tuesday in a Martinique hospital. She was 86.
Charles, the Caribbean’s first woman prime minister, was known as the region’s “Iron Lady” for her uncompromising stances against corruption and communism.
Charles, prime minister from 1980 to 1995, survived two coup attempts. She won fame for standing with Reagan at the White House on October 25, 1983, when he announced the invasion of Grenada. She then scornfully dismissed criticism for supporting the U.S. action.
“The Grenadians wanted it, and that’s all that counts. I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks,” she said in a 1995 interview.
After forming the Freedom Party in the 1970s, she was elected an assemblywoman. She once wore a bathing suit underneath her lawyer’s gown in the House to protest a dress code for legislators.
She became the first woman prime minister in the Caribbean in 1980, two years after Dominica declared independence from Britain.
A firm anti-communist, she refused to accept scholarships offered by Fidel Castro to Dominican students. “I am not going to allow my students to study in Cuba where they will learn revolution,” she said.