JAMAICA DEALS GINGERLY WITH SOCIAL UNREST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00927A006900030003-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2004
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: February 14, 1969
• Content Type: SUMMARY

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Secret
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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
WEEKLY SUMMARY
Special Report
Jamaica Deals Gingerly with Social Unrest
Secret
N9 44
114 February 1969
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Against a background of rapid population growth, high unemployment, inflammatory
slum conditions, an inadequate educational system, and serious income inequality, the
Jamaican Government led by Prime Minister Hugh Shearer is making only limited attempts to
build a more viable society. Discordant and often incompatible elements from Europe and
Africa have not been reconciled, and the Negroes in particular have little opportunity to
acquire education, skills, jobs, or anything other than a bare subsistence livelihood. The social
tensions thus generated have been reflected in a tendency toward sporadic violence, political
as well as criminal.
The government's response to recurrent strikes, a rising crime rate, and other social
problems has been confused and ill-designed to alleviate the causes of social unrest. Violence,
largely confined so far to urban areas, is exploited by a small handful of extremists who
would discard Jamaica's democratic institutions and impose a dictatorship. There are no
policy changes in sight that would cope adequately with these continuing problems.
BACKGROUND
Jamaica gained its independence in 1962
with impressive political assets: a 20-year history
of democratic government based on a two-party
system, an impartial judiciary backed by tradi-
tional respect for law and order, and a capable
civil service. Since then, however, its leaders have
tended to be middle-class foreign-educated mulat-
toes who have little personal experience with the
fundamental difficulties that affect the vast ma-
jority of the population.
One of the underlying problems in this mul-
tiracial country is the high correlation between
color and social status. Negroes, who account for
slightly more than three fourths of the popula-
tion, are largely confined to the lower class.
Mulattoes--approximately 15 percent of the
remainder--predominate in the professions and
commerce and hold most of the important gov-
ernment jobs. The rest of the population is a
potpourri of races and nationalities-East Indian,
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Chinese, northern European-many of whom are
the wealthiest members of society.
A third of the rapidly growing population is
concentrated in Kingston. Unemployed and un-
employable youth-almost a fifth of the country's
population-gravitate to the slums of West Kings-
ton, a breeding ground for vice, crime, and politi-
cal unrest. Residents of this area were largely
responsible for the rioting that followed a student
demonstration against the government last Oc-
tober.
Recurrent turmoil in the past several years
may be viewed against a backdrop of increasing
public dissatisfaction with the government as a
result of rapidly rising living costs, allegations-
some justified-of corruption, and breakdowns of
essential public services.
POLITICAL MALAISE
Both major parties, the incumbent Jamaica
Labor Party (JLP) and the People's National
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Port Royal
WES
KINGS
Kingston Harbour
Port Royal
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Party (PNP), claim broad popular support, but
their power base lies in the two major trade
unions. For this reason, although the large rural
population and other well-defined interest groups
are represented in the political process, party
leaders tend to be especially responsive to the
needs of organized labor and are less concerned
with the other segments of society.
Prime Minister Ilugh Shearer took over the
leadership of his party and the government in
April 1967 following the death of his predecessor,
Donald Sangster. 11e originally projected an image
of' decisiveness. He has failed, however, to cope
with such fundamental problems as race relations
Minister of Trade and Industry
Robert Lightbourne
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Although there have been sonic indications
of conflict be'ween Shearer and other cabinet
members such as the am hitious Minister of F'i-
nance Edward Seaga and the eloquent and per-
suasive Ministem of Trade Pobert Light')ourue, the
prime minister seems to have const lidatcd his
hold over botl~ the part,,, and the government.
During a recent JLP conference, Lighthourne re-
placed Seaga as the secom ranking member of the
party. It now appears that Shearer backed Light-
bourne, a loyal supportei against Seaga in order
to undermine .~ possible threat to his leadership.
Seaga remains the n),>st controversial figure
in Jamaican politics. A Harvard-educated Cau-
casian of Leb.,nese desc. nt, he is the lightest-
skinned member of the government, but his
power base is the black, poverty-ridden area of
West Kingston. Describint himself as a liberal, lie
once formed a leftist blu5~_ within the JLP ranks,
but has since. followed a cap=tious course to stay in
good standing with other party leaders. His con-
centration on the underprivileged and youth has
Prime Minister
Huqh Shearer
Minister of Finance
Edward Seaga
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brought him a large personal following and his
red-skirted henchmen were active in much of the.
violence in the West Kingston slums during the
riots of 1966.
Although Shearer is firmly in power, lie may
he losing much of his popularity. He has done
little to reduce the rising cost of living, which
especially affects foodstuffs, or to curb labor un-
rest. 't'here are recurrent rumors of corruption
among top government officials
The opposition People's National Party
(PNP) has had little success in exploiting the
government's shortcomings. In fact, it apparently
lost ground in the burst of popular endorsement
for Shearer's handling of the Kingston riots on 16
October 1968, which followed the government's
ban on the re-entry of Dr. Walter Rodney, an
extreme leftist Guyanese lecturer employed at the
Jamaica branch of the University of the West
Indies.
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During the past half year, the PNP has appar-
ently taken a more militant posture by aggres-
sively focusing on the government's failings. It has
not developed a coheir nt program of its own,
however, even though d claims to be socialist. It
appears, in fact, to have suffered as a result of the
government's counteraccusations that all who dis-
agreed with the government's handling of the
riots were backing Rodney's extremism.
The PNP's efforts to make political capital
have been hampered I:y an awkward period of
leadership transition. "I he aging party founder,
Norman Manley, recently resigned in favor of a
more energetic set of younger leaders, and his
son, Michael, was electt'd party chief on 9 Febru-
ary.
It is not clear if the new PNP leadership will
shift the party's orientation away from parlia-
mentary criticism in order to make a stronger
appeal to the black slum dwellers who are now
excluded from the political institutions. Elder
statesman Norman Manley has said that while the
party must recognize the constructive aspects of
the doctrine of "black power," especially in a
country that has an overwhelming majority of
black people, it must reject all forms of racism
and violence.
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Although Jamaica is one of the most pros-
perous of the Caribbean islands, its recent growth
rate has been sluggish. In 1967, the growth in
gross domestic product fell to two percent from
above four percent the preceding year. There
were several causes of this slowdown: a severe
drought, uncertainty following the death of a
newly elected prime minister, and the devaluation
of the Jamaican pound in keeping with British
devaluation. '[he rate of economic growth rose in
1968, but the continuing agricultural lag appar-
ently prevented a return to the five percent aver-
age growth rate of 1900 65.
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In recent years, industrial growth has far
outpaced that of agriculture. Jamaica's history of
political stability combined with its bauxite de-
posits has attracted substantial foreign investment
and has provided the main basis for economic
progress. 't'oday, Jamaica is the world's largest
exporter of bauxite and alumina, and the expan-
sion of this industry has provided a stimulus for
further industrialization and diversification. For-
cign investment has also encouraged a rapid ex-
pansion of the tourist trade, now an important
source of foreign exchange.
Agriculture, employing 40 percent of the
labor force, has been stagnant for years. The
combination of a vast number of extremely small
holdings on relatively poor soils, ignorance of
modern techniques, and lack of appropriate in-
centives condemns most peasant farmers to a sub-
sistence level of existence.
t'he government is aware of the agricultural
problems, but its programs to encourage increases
in domestic food crops have not been successful.
At the same time, government insistence that
sugar estates forgo the economic advantages of
mechanization in order to maintain high levels or
employment has resulted in high-cost sugar that
can be sold profitably only in markets with arti-
ficially high prices. The government's orientation
toward trade unions prevents it from finding com-
mon ground with an industry whose main prob-
lem is the reduction of labor costs.
Widespread unemployment is it more volatile
issue in Jamaican society. There is a surfeit of the
unemployable, while skilled labor is scarce. About
half of the estimated 18,000 young people who
enter the labor market annually cannot find jobs.
Chronic unemployment is approximately 18 per-
cent and shows no signs of diminishing. Economic
development has increased the uneveness in the
distribution of wealth and has not significantly
lowered the numbers of those who lack adequate
housing, education, or any reasonable prospect of
improvement. Although the government has made
some effort tO provide :pore schools, housing,
roads, and public utilitic-,_ it has not initiated any
large public works programs or significantly im
proved workin? conditions and salaries of such
public employees as police, teachers, and civil
servants. Instead, the government has chosen to
husband its funds and maintain credit-worthiness
in order to attract more foreign investors. The
immediate con;equencc ii is been a rash of strikes
in the public sc rvices ano rising social discontent.
Population pressure continues to be a prob-
lem, despite massive emigration to the United
States. Because of emigration, however, the rate
of population _nerease has been cut from 2.6 to
approximately 2.0 percent. Prime Minister
Shearer has called for an end to the "production
per mother of 12 and 14 children," and the
government officially encourages birth control by
operating some 80 family planning clinics. Never-
theless, knowledge of fancily planning is not vet
widespread and those most favorably disposed
toward birth control an the upper and middle
classes.
RACISM AND bXTREM l:' M
"Black power" and racist groups have be-
conic more active in Jamaica during the past year
and appear to Dave contributed to an increase in
antiwhite sentiment. Despite the government's
allegations, however, these groups have had only
limited success in exploiting conditions of deep-
seated poverty and unemployment in Kingston's
black slums.
One important racist leader, Claudius I lenry,
head of the New Creation International Peace-
maker's Tabernacle, espouses a doctrine of
Marxist-influenced racism and has made a number
of threats of antigovernrncnt action, hut there is
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no indication that he has made a systematic effort
to prepare for violence.
The radical left is particularly active among
intellectuals and students at the Mona campus in
Kingston of the University of the West Indies. A
number of left-wing groups have sought to stimu-
late support and interest for their radical plans to
effect sweeping changes in Jamaican society. All
efforts to unite the leftist groups have thus far
failed, however.
SECURITY FORCES
The Jamaican security forces are still bene-
fiting from British instruction in public safety and
are relatively well-disciplined, -trained, and -led.
They have been able to contain violence-
although at times they have been strained in
doing so-but would be hard put to deal with
island-wide disturbances. The 3,000-man Jamaica
Constabulary Force is backed up by the
University of West Indies at Mona
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1,200-man Jamaica Defense Force, whose major
responsibility is internal security. The effective-
ness of the internal security forces has at times
been hampered by inadequate internal communi-
cations equipment and very poor coordination
between the two groups. There is no reliable
evidence that political or social unrest has altered
the leaders' traditional commitment to demo-
cratic institutions, but any future prolonged
breakdown of the constitutional processes might
severely test their restraint, especially as the old
leadership gradually retires.
As part of its reaction to the Rodney affair,
the government has put special emphasis on en-
hancing the effectiveness of the police. For ex-
ample, it has recently approved a 20-25 percent
police wage increase to improve morale and spur
recruitment. In addition, the purchase of riot
control equipment was authorized, as was a series
of raids to control criminal and militant elements
in and around Kingston. Prime Minister Shearer,
who had ignored the wage demands for several
months until the police walked out, is now de-
voting attention to increasing the prestige of the
force.
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OUTLOOK
Although civil unrest does not pose an im-
mediate threat to the Jamaican Government, it is
increasingly apparent that many of the island's
most serious problems will probably not be solved
soon by any governmental action. Prime Minister
Shearer is likely to take whatever security meas-
ures are necessary to prevent any incident that
might endanger the lucrative tourist trade, but he
has yet to grapple with the root causes of social
discontent.
Shearer will not have to face the voters again
until 1972. He seems to be counting on the weak-
ness of the opposition's control of political
machinery as well as its inability to prevent
further gerrymandering and electoral manipula-
tion when elections are held. He is also building
an image as the staunch defender of Jamaica's
young nationhood against all foreign foes,
whether in the form of subversive university
lecturers or regional schemes with other ex-British
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Buses Set Afire During Rioting in Kingston
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eignty. 25X1
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