JAMAICA: COMMUNIST WORKING TO MODERATE IMAGE

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06805647
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2019
• Case Number: F-2017-01652
• Publication Date: February 9, 1990

Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647
Directorate of Seu e
Intelligence
1
ASTER FILE COPY
00 NOT GIVE OUT
OR .MARK ON
Latin America
Review (u)
�
9 February 1990
--Secret
�
� ALA LAR 90-004
9 February 1990
COPY
Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647
Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647
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Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647
Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647
-Seeret�
Jamaica: Communists Working lb Moderate Image
Leaders of the Communist Worker's Party of Jamaica are reacting to
recent developments in the USSR and Eastern Europe by trying to take
a more moderate coarse and broaden the party's popular appeal.
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Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647
Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647
Jamaica: Communists Communists Working
To Moderate Image
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Leaders of the Communist Worker's Party of Jamaica
(WPJ) are reacting to shifting political and ideological
realignments in Eastern Europe and the USSR by trying
to steer the party toward a more moderate course and
broaden its popular appeal.
although WPJ General Secretary Trevor
Munroe, who founded the party in late 1978, remains a
committed Marxist, the collapse of Communist regimes
in Eastern Europe and his party's failure in attract
significant support have forced him to reconsider his
strategy.
he WPJ, which has
a membership of only some 1,000 and an additional
2,500 sympathizers among labor and student groups,
realizes it must open its membership to non-
Communists and expand its support base to compensate
for almost certain cutbacks in the already minimal
financial assistance provided by Moscow and Havana.
According to press reports, the WPJ scrapped its
constitution and dogmatic program at a recent party
congress. 411
interim party executive has been tasked to prepare a
wide-ranging political platform incorporating a mix of
socialism and private enterprise for ratification by the
party rank and file in early 1991.
The WPJ leadership's new strategy is geared toward
establishing the party as a credible challenger to the
ruling People's National Party (PNP) and opposition
Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) in the next national election,
Reverse Blank
which must be called by 1994.
WPJ leaders calculate that their program
will appeal to the large number of voters who are weary
of continued economic austerity and fed up with the
inept performances of the PNP and JLP. Munroe
reportedly expects that his party will capture enough
seats in parliament to give it control over swina votes
and, therefore, greater leverage on key issues
We believe that a variety of problems probably will
handicap Munroe's efforts to move the WPJ into the
political mainstream. Munroe's autocratic style has
alienated many of his core supporters�it spawned party
infighting in 1988�and his longstanding commitment
to Marxist dogma may repel many Jamaicans.
although Munroe has won
over some malcontented PNP and JLP members, he will
be hard-pressed to smooth over potentially debilitating
political and personal rivalries that are certain to arise as
he reorients the party. Furthermore, many Jamaicans
who might opt to support the WPJ in the near term out
of frustration with the traditional parties eventually may
return to their home parties, particularly if economic
conditions improve or the PNP and JLP become more
responsive to the needs of their constituents
29
-Secret�
ALA LAR 90-004
9 February 1990
Approved for Release: 2019/07/10 C06805647