The Jamaican political conflict is a long-standing feud between right-wing and left-wing elements in the country, often exploding into violence. The

Jamaican Labour Party The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party (as is the case for "Labour" parties in sever ...

and the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local go ...

have fought for control of the island for years and the rivalry has encouraged urban warfare in Kingston. Each side believes the other to be controlled by foreign elements, the JLP is said to be backed by the American

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and the PNP is said to have been backed by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

History

Pre-Independence beginnings

By 1943 the JLP and PNP had established themselves as Jamaica's main rival political parties coming out of the recent Caribbean labour unrest. After the election of 1944 violence became a common aspect of their rivalry.

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Early life and education He was ...

began to encourage the attack of PNP sympathizers, claiming they were communists.

also started to specifically cater to his political constituents, such as offering migrant work visas specifically along political lines that favoured him.

Formation of garrisons

Jamaica gained independence in 1962, and by 1963 political parties were paying off members of the

Rude boy Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi, and rudy are slang terms that originated in 1960s Jamaican street culture, and that are still used today. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other ...

subculture to engage in turf warfare with political rivals. Once the JLP would come to power they would demolish a PNP sympathising slum and construct

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klam ...

in its place, starting in 1965. The project would be monitored by

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.Henry rebellion, the Coral Gardens incident, the anti-Chinese riots of 1965, the state of emergency of 1966–67, and finally the

Rodney riots The Rodney riots were riots and civil disturbances in Kingston, Jamaica in October 1968. The riots were sparked by the Jamaican government of Hugh Shearer banning Guyanese university lecturer Dr. Walter Rodney from returning to his teaching p ...

. These events were the beginnings of an ethnic nationalist element to Jamaican politics and a further normalisation of political violence in general in Jamaican society Political violence had become commonplace in Jamaica. Political parties began paying off crime bosses for local gang support. Assassination threats and attempts also starting becoming more frequent. By 1974 the PNP openly avowed their support for the principles of democratic socialism. PNP candidate

Michael Manley Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been ...

began public praise of Fidel Castro. The JLP emerged as a right wing counter to this new emerging leftism. The

began supplying weapons to JLP vigilantes. By the 1976 election over a hundred had been murdered during the conflict and political parties began forming paramilitary divisions. In 1978 five JLP supporters were massacred by official Jamaican soldiers.

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

music became a voice for peace in the country and the landmark

One Love Peace Concert The One Love Concert (OLPC) was a large concert held on 22 April 1978 at The National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. This concert was held during a political civil war in Jamaica between opposing parties Jamaican Labour Party and the People's ...

was held in hopes of peace. By the 1980 election 844 people were murdered in political violence preceding the vote.

Involvement in the drug trade

By the 1980s the JLP gained control of the country and embraced neo-liberal policies. Gangs began to be unsatisfied with the lessening handouts given by their political leaders and due to

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

campaigns turned away from marijuana smuggling and to the cocaine trade. Newly enriched these gangs began to be more involved in governing the garrison communities they controlled. The JLP aligned gang

Shower Posse The Shower Posse is a Jamaican gang, started by Lester Lloyd Coke, which is involved with drug and arms smuggling. Its home is in Tivoli Gardens in Jamaica, but it primarily operates in the Canadian province of Ontario and the US states of New ...

was one of these newly enriched gangs. The CIA provided Shower Posse with arms, training, and transport to the United States.

2010 Kingston unrest

After international pressure the Jamaican government agreed to arrest extradite famed gang leader Christopher Coke. Some in the Jamaican media speculated that the long time it took to arrest Coke came from Prime Minister

Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he led from 2005 to h ...

's political assistance he received from Coke. During the raids and attempts to arrest Coke violent gunfights would break out throughout Kingston by his allies to prevent his capture.

Recent developments

Despite many peace accords it is still common for political parties to pay off criminals for support and encourage paramilitary garrisons.

Garrison communities

Garrison constituencies in Jamaica are housing developments erected by the government who house carefully selected residents that will wholly support a local politician. As of 2001 about 15 hardcore garrison communities exist in Jamaica. The residents of garrisons form vigilante groups that engage in ongoing political turf wars. Originally these groups were solely politically motivated but eventually they all came to be invested in the drug trade and became what are known as

Jamaican posse Jamaican posses, often referred to simply as ''posses'', are a loose coalition of Jamaican gangs, based predominantly in Kingston, London, New York City and Toronto, first being involved in drugs and arms trafficking in the early 1980s. Jamaic ...

s. These posses are well armed, often equipped with assault rifles and grenade launchers. Since the 1980s these posses have participated more in the drug trade and relied less on politicians to arm them. Now about 80% of their weapons arrive from South Florida, while other weapons and armour appear to be police issued - suggesting that corrupt police officials are trading them with the posses.

References

{{Ongoing military conflicts

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Cold War conflicts

Cuba–United States relations

Proxy wars Riots and civil disorder in Jamaica Terrorism in Jamaica United States–Caribbean relations