During our trip to Jamaica we learned many things, but what was particularly interesting was the political system of Jamaica. The reason why it is so intriguing is because of how unique it is. Jamaican politics is comprised of two major political parties: the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). This is where things start to get interesting. Both parties’ followers are rivals and sometimes in gangs. For this reason, many people think that Jamaican politics is corrupted due to the involvement of organized crime in the political system. But it is a very unique relationship between Jamaican politics and domestic gangs in that they rely on each other for power. The politicians rely on the gangs to win elections and stay in power, and the gangs rely on the politicians for legitimacy and power (“Jamaica’s Mixture”). The reason why the political system operates this way is because of Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley's actions and because of how the government has not tried to combat organized crime.
Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean and was first discovered in 1494 by Christopher Columbus who originally named the island Santiago, claiming it for the spanish empire to colonize in 1510 (Arias) (“Embassy”). However, Jamaica was captured by the British in 1655 and became an official colony of the British in 1670 through the treaty of Madrid (Embassy of). Jamaica gained independence in 1962 as a British colony, they inherited a Westminster-style political system similar to that of the United Kingdom with a prime minister and a parliament (Arias). However, Jamaica began its travels down the road to independence in much earlier years. In 1938 workers rioted for better pay and working conditions with the help of organized crime (Arias). Alexander Bustamante was a major leader of the movement to gain independence mainly by how he fought for better labor rights. Norman Manley is another major leader who attempted to stop the riots, sometimes by force, in order to achieve a more positive outcome (Arias). In the aftermath of the violence, some Jamaicans created the People’s National Party (PNP) in an attempt to make a legitimate party to gain independence and appointed Manley as the leader (Arias). Bustamante left the PNP before the election of 1944 and created his own party called the Jamaica Labour Party, which would lead to violent interactions between the parties’ followers in the future.
Before Bustamante even broke off to create his own party, there were violent clashes between Bustamante and Manley followers (Arias). Violence began to escalate in the 1940s and 1950s.
Particularly during the elections, the opposing sides would send men to stop meetings and make sure voting went on in their favor (“Jamaica’s Mixture”) (Arias). Labour unions provided the muscle for the violence, but the PNP began to employ private armed groups; thus the beginning of gangs being affiliated with political parties started in the 1960s (“Jamaica’s Mixture”). Manley and Bustamante were the hypothetical fathers of the current Jamaican style of governance, having their followers fight the opposing party for power in the government. Now that Jamaica had gained independence and was now going to have a major vote for the prime minister, violence and corruption would begin to blossom.
"Inter-party violence and crime are thus an important and historic component of local political life" (Arias). In 1962 Edward Seaga, a member of the JLP, was elected prime minister of welfare and development (Arias). Mr. Seaga winning this position was very important to the JLP because they started renovating the slums and Back-o-Wall shantytown in order to create a new neighborhood called Tivoli Garden that they populated with JLP members (Arias). However, the PNP violently retaliated against being displaced from their communities and fought back for the next ten years (Arias). When the PNP won majority in 1972, they returned the favor and created their own housing projects for their followers, then won again in 1976, but the 1980 elections became the most violent time with over 800 people murdered (Arias). Party leaders imported firearms for their men and some people even made homemade guns to help their party through the affiliated gang (Arias). Gang violence has become normal in Jamaica and to its people (“Jamaica’s Mixture”).
In more recent news, on May 28th of 2010 the then prime minister Bruce Golding ordered a raid on the communities of Denham Town and Tivoli Gardens in Kingston to find Christopher “Dudus” Coke (Gray). Coke is the head of the shower posse, a major gang based in Kingston, and reportedly has a strong influence over Tivoli Garden. With the is also credited with getting the prime minister elected (“Jamaica’s Mixture”). The reason why Golding executed this order is because the United States wanted Coke to be extradited to the U.S. for drug trafficking and racketeering, but originally Golding was not cooperating because he was allied with Coke, and he is the reason why he was elected (Arias). The U.S. more, less called him out for the lack of control over his own government and for being corrupt (Arias). After escaping from the raid in 2010, Coke was eventually captured and then extradited to the U.S. in 2012 and was sentenced to 23 years in prison (Arias).
The actions of Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley have greatly influenced present day Jamaica and how it functions. Poor and innocent people are living in marginalized communities where the gang members rule over them and have more power than the government in the eyes of the people (“How Caribbean”). The two political parties do not combat organized crime because they rely on their existence in order to gain power and keep the other party weak. The gangs need the relationship in order to be protected from the authorities and to do as they please due to the fact they are allied with politicians. This is a very delicate and unique scenario that is very fascinating and should be known so that we do not ever stumble into the same corrupt issues as Jamaica.
Work Cited:
“Jamaica’s Mixture of Gangs and Politics Causes Grave Problem with U.S.” Jamaicans.com. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
"How Caribbean Organized Crime Is Replacing the State." How Caribbean Organized Crime Is Replacing the State. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Gray, Obika. 2003. “Predation Politics and the Political Impasse in Jamaica.” Small Axe 13, pp. 72-94.
Arias, Enrique Desmond.“Getting Smart and Scaling Up : The Impact of Organized Crime on Governance in Developing Countries”. June 2013. Web. 20Jan. 2016.
"Embassy of Jamaica, Washington, DC." Embassy of Jamaica, Washington, DC. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
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