Sunshine and Bullets

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Three million tourists have visited the luscious Caribbean island of Jamaica this year, including 1 million people who arrived on cruises, according to Travel and Tour World. This success reflects not only the island’s attractions but also a lack of awareness of how dangerous and violent some sections of the island have become recently.

For example, Prime Minister Andrew Holness in September declared a state of emergency in the central-southern parish of Clarendon, after a spike in gun violence related to gang wars, the Jamaica Observer reported. The move followed a state of emergency that was declared after a mass shooting last month on Clarendon’s Cherry Tree Lane that resulted in eight deaths. Two suspects have been charged in the incident, as the Jamaica Gleaner explained.

“The national security situation in Clarendon has reached a point where further decisive and urgent action is necessary,” Holness said. “The initial August declaration was an operational success, however, new intelligence assessments have shown that an additional response is required. We will not allow criminals to dictate the terms of life and security in any parish.”

The state of emergency meant nightly curfews, long detentions without formal charges in court and empowering the police to conduct warrantless searches. Holness said he especially wanted to forestall reprisal killings and other retaliation attempts.

Jamaica is the second-most dangerous country in Latin America and the Caribbean after Saint Kitts and Nevis. The country has a rate of almost 61 homicides per 100,000 people, reported Reuters. In comparison, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the US has 7.5 homicides per 100,000. The US, incidentally, is the source of almost 90 percent of the guns in the Caribbean.

Holness might not be a model of probity, however. As the prime minister has vowed to crack down on crime, the government’s Integrity Commission has called him to account.

As Loop News reported, the commission has called for a probe into Holness’s net worth after examining the personal financial reports he is required to file. The prime minister’s wealth increased by $32 million through the five years that ended in 2021. Commission members have recommended that Jamaican financial regulators and tax authorities assess his and his family members’ shares in firms to determine whether he has conflicts of interest or other potentially corrupt arrangements between his business interests and the public sector.

As a result, crime might bring his career in office to an end.

Meanwhile, Holness is popular. That’s likely because he has presided over an uptick in Jamaica’s previously stagnant and unproductive economy, World Politics Review wrote. After years of economic stagnation, Jamaica’s economy has recently experienced rapid and potentially sustainable growth, it added, noting that some people had described the development as a miracle, even if some of the success came at a high cost, notably cuts to public services via austerity measures.

But the violence could cut that success story short because the tourist sector contributes as much as one-third to the country’s earnings. Already, the US and other countries have issued advisories to their citizens and personnel.

The US advisory lists 11 no-go parishes.