POINT SALINES, Grenada -- Fifteen years after his troops fled an American invasion in a retreat so ignominious that Cubans joked that a running shoe should be named after their commander, Fidel Castro visited Grenada on Sunday in search of international support.

Calling it a ``beautiful initiative,'' Castro unveiled a plaque honoring an armed Cuban construction brigade that did much of the work on the international airport here in the early 1980s, when Grenada was governed by a Marxist regime.

But the Cuban president made no mention of another plaque, a few inches away, acknowledging the U.S. government aid that enabled construction to be finished after the Marxist government dissolved in self-inflicted bloodshed between rival Havana- and Moscow-line factions, which in turn triggered the U.S. invasion.

Castro's visit here -- which continues today -- is the last of three stops on a six-day swing through the Caribbean, seeking to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties in a region that feels increasingly estranged from the United States.

With a crowd of several hundred Grenadians singing ``Forward march against imperialism!'' and a steel-drum band playing a lilting version of Guantanamera in the background, Castro and his host, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, decided to tiptoe around the events of 1983.

``Those were sad days, when our cooperation was interrupted and our blood was shed, though it was not fighting each other,'' Castro said in a brief speech after unveiling the plaque. ``However, it was not to launch accusations or to pass judgment against anyone that I accepted Mitchell's friendly invitation. History will do that in due course, in a more serene and objective manner.''

`Important day'

Mitchell, for his part, declared that Sunday was ``an extremely important day in the history of our country.'' When a reporter asked if Cuban influence on Grenada had always been beneficial, Mitchell smiled and replied: ``I'll talk to you another time.'' Then he walked away.

Cuba and Grenada became close allies after Maurice Bishop's Marxist government took power in a 1979 coup. But Bishop and most of his Cabinet were executed by rivals within the regime in 1983, and a few days later, invading U.S. troops were greeted with obvious glee by most Grenadians. An angry Castro denounced anti-Bishop Grenadians as ``hyenas'' and turned his back on the country.

But the end of the Cold War left both sides disposed to let bygones be bygones. As the Soviet bloc crumbled and fell, Cuba needed new friends. And Caribbean countries, suffering severe withdrawal pains as U.S. aid withered away, were willing to accept any help from any direction. The deep-frozen relations began to thaw in 1993, and last year Mitchell visited Cuba.

``The Cuban government and people have been helpful to us, and we're proud of it,'' Mitchell said Sunday, noting that Havana is supplying dozens of scholarships to Grenadian students, as well as helping build two new sports stadiums here. ``I hope our friends in international circles who helped us in 1983 will understand. The United States needs a more deep concern for the people of the Caribbean.''

Aid, trade are sore points

U.S. aid to the Caribbean has fallen from $226 million in 1985 to $26 million in 1995. In addition, most governments in the region are furious at Washington for attacking a trade deal with Europe that gave preferential treatment to Caribbean-grown bananas at the expense of Central American plantations controlled by U.S. growers.

And though the U.S. government had nothing to do with it, governments in Grenada and several others of the smallest Caribbean countries are angry that American Airlines earlier this year threatened to end jet service to their islands unless the company received millions of dollars in subsidies.

``When people talk to me about what the American reaction to Castro's visit will be, I say, `What more can they do to us?' '' said Leslie Pierre, editor of the weekly Grenadian Voice and a staunch backer of the Mitchell government. ``The U.S. has done its best to undermine the economy of these islands. . . . They are destroying us.''

But many Grenadians, their memories still fresh of Cuba's role in this island's experiment with Marxism, disagree. Amid government-printed signs welcoming Castro could be seen scrawled graffiti like ``Cuba si, Fidel no'' and ``Fidel is a dog.''