Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jamaica

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 03:19 AM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Originally posted</span>:

<span style="font-weight: bold">Don't deal in half-truths, Mr Burke</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">Friday, July 07, 2006</span>

Dear Editor,
I noted Mr Michael Burke's article "The year-long state of emergency" in Sunday's Lifestyle history page.

If this article did not coincide with the 30-year anniversary of this decision, which is still steeped in political controversy, I may have allowed his political indiscretions to pass.

However, in a country given to oral traditions and being myself a part of the medium of recording history, I feel it incumbent on me to refer yourself and Mr Burke to the paragraph which states, "The first effect of the state of emergency was an immediate reduction in violence.

It did not stop altogether, however, as a candidate vying for a seat in the December 15, 1976 election was shot. He was the PNP's Ferdinand Neita, the candidate for Eastern St Catherine."

Is Mr Burke ignoring or conveniently forgetting that (1) the JLP candidate Mike Henry was shot in York Town in 1976 and was forced to campaign on crutches, an act which preceded Neita's shooting?

If Mr Burke wishes to remain historically credible, and by extension if your paper wishes itself to be quoted, then I urge you to have your contributors declare their perspective so that the public can form their own conclusions.

As such, you must then have writings from the left and from the right. For my part, having lived through and been a part of it all, and indeed still carrying the physical scars of that era, I smile at some of the half-truths and denials I now see being proffered by many.
Suffice it to say I hope to record my version in my upcoming memoirs.

Till then let me hope that the effort to present history to suit one's own beliefs will not be accepted as fact, and people like Mr Burke will do more research before putting pen to paper, or declare when or what they write in defence of.

Mike Henry
MP, Central Clarendon
Gordon House
Duke Street
Kingston
Don't deal in half-truths, Mr Burke

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 03:21 AM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Originally posted</span>:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Wardob</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Tuff:
“My own experience of the SOE1976 was to see anyone that was labeled as a Labourite, they were either beaten, their homes torched, put out area or all of the foregoing.
The so-called Home guards that were sent from certain areas to guard the area battery the young girls, mash dung peple fences and just plain destroyed anything that felt like"

Well said,(and great post) we were there and share your experience, not certain if other were, to say it was not a tough time especially as you noted for Laborites or one labeled Laborite, can only come from those comrades who were the protected and privileged of the Country or were in Jamaica only in a dream.

Mike Henry:-
“Is Mr Burke ignoring or conveniently forgetting that (1) the JLP candidate Mike Henry was shot in York Town in 1976 and was forced to campaign on crutches.”

I wonder if Remo knew anything about that, oh maybe his cousin forget to tell him about it or he was told but like Mr. Burke he knows but ignore or conveniently forget </div></div>

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 03:23 AM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Originally posted</span>:

<span style="font-weight: bold">The strategy and anguish of the State of Emergency, 1976 - Pt 3</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">published: Sunday | July 9, 2006

Edward Seaga</span>

ON JUNE 22, 1976, Prime Minister Michael Manley addressed the House of Representatives on the State of Emergency declared three days earlier on June 19. This was the first opportunity the people of Jamaica would have had to hear specifics on the reasons for and consequences of the declaration of the State of Emergency.

Manley was very specific in his presentation but some vital facts were omitted or distorted which were critical for public understanding of the true purpose of the declaration.

There were some principal reasons for the declaration and some lesser ones undoubtedly. The principal reason was, as the Prime Minister stated, "A new and unique type of violence" which had emerged.

Trench Town was the first instance. Gunmen went on a rampage firing a barrage of shots and barricading the roads, preventing police and firemen from entering the area for the first time.

What was omitted from this brief notation was the politics behind the rampage. Gunmen aligned with the People's National Party (PNP) launched a campaign of terror to politically cleanse the predominantly Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) sections of Trench Town and Jones Town by firing high-powered weapons into homes and setting them ablaze with Molotov cocktails. The towering billows of fire could be seen across the city. The attacks were repeated on several occasions over the next six weeks.

By then the political damage had been done. An estimated 3,000 residents of Trench Town fled to various areas of St. Catherine. The land on which they resided was now free to expand the new community of Arnett Gardens. But a large part of this once densely populated land remained empty for the next 30 years.

<span style="font-weight: bold">ORANGE LANE FIRE</span>

Manley identified another instance of "a new and unique type of violence" occurring on May 19, 1976, at Orange Lane. Tenements were destroyed by arson leaving 500 residents homeless and 11 persons burned to death in the holocaust. Gunmen fired a barrage of shots to prevent firemen in the station next door from entering the area. Gunmen even committed the ultimate act of brutality, pulling babies from the arms of some fleeing mothers, tossing them back into the flaming houses. This act of savagery, which stands out as one of the most barbarous in Jamaican history, was condemned by Manley in his presentation as another "new and unique type of violence" which precipitated the need for a State of Emergency.

What Manley did not say was that the instigators, once again, were gunmen aligned with the PNP. Although the political identity of the terrorists was generally known by persons who lived in the inner city, it was never officially determined until Mr. Justice Small, who presided over a commission of enquiry on the Orange Lane Fire, decided to hear certain witnesses who, out of fear, wished to be heard in secret. Justice Small, in a secret report, identified the terrorists as supporters of the PNP originating from Arnett Gardens. The secret report was never published.

<span style="font-weight: bold">UNIQUE TERRORISM</span>

Had Manley given full disclosure on these two pivotal events as unique instances of terrorism to be decisively stamped out without wrongly implicating the JLP, he would have had full political support. But he claimed that these acts "served a double purpose of embarrassing the economy and undermining the democratically elected government." This clearly labelled the two atrocities as acts of terror instigated by the JLP against the Government, deliberately paving the way for Government to declare the State of Emergency to target the JLP.

If there was any further doubt that the Government was launching a devious plot to entrap its political opponents, all doubts were demolished by Manley's further allegations in his presentation in which he blamed the JLP for discrediting the electoral system, undermining the democratically-elected Government and, of spreading hysteria by accusing the Government of being communists. This caused the entrepreneurial classes to export their money, slow down business activity and cease any expansion.

<span style="font-weight: bold">MESSIANIC COMPLEX</span>

This is a clear picture of a leader with a messianic complex who could not accept that these positions taken by the Opposition were part of its legitimate role in an open Westminster system of government. Manley obviously regarded criticism as attacks on Government, as is the case in socialist types of governments where harsh criticism of the state is not tolerated. This only reinforced the allegation of Manley's deep socialist commitment. It is the role of government to refute or dispute such criticism by advancing convincing arguments to the contrary, not by locking up the Opposition in a State of Emergency to incapacitate and immobilise opposition support.

But worse was to come. Manley's trump card was his claim that the security forces warned that a new wave of violence would be launched at the end of June to coincide with the staging of Carifesta, the regional cultural expo. He compared this to the holding of another international conference on January 5, between the IMF and World Bank with the Group of 24 Developing Nations at the Pegasus Hotel where a large turnout of the international press and diplomatic corps was present.

An anti-apartheid protest was held outside the hotel, organised by PNP supporters led by Government ministers to denounce the presence of a South African delegate. But the media also got a spectacular view of the distant skyline of fire as Trench Town burned. The international media reported on the political mayhem to the detriment of Jamaica. Manley rightfully did not wish a repeat performance but deliberately failed to say that the damage was done by gunmen on a rampage of arson and killings in Trench Town.

These were some of the negatives plaguing the Government which Manley chose to ignore while focusing on ways and means of implicating the Opposition in the sliding fortunes of his government.

<span style="font-weight: bold">CROWNING BLOW</span>

The crowning blow to the web of fabrications which Manley weaved in his presentation in the House of Representatives would not be revealed until a commission of enquiry in 1978 on matters concerning the State of Emergency, presided over by Chief Justice Kenneth Smith, uncovered that the head of both intelligence agencies of government, the Special Branch of the Police Force and the Military Intelligence Unit (MIU) of the Jamaica Defence Force, never advised Manley of any potential threat to national security during Carifesta and, indeed, Deputy Commissioner Curtis Griffiths, head of the Special Branch, testified to the commission that he knew nothing about the intention to declare a State of Emergency; he read of it in the press although he was the chief intelligence officer of government. Captain Carl Marsh, in charge of the MIU also gave devastating testimony. He advised that there was no need for a State of Emergency.

The statements by the intelligence chiefs and the secret testimony on the brutal roles of PNP supporters in the Orange Lane Fire were not publicly known before the declaration of the State of Emergency. If full disclosure had been made, the declaration could not have been used as a political instrument to stifle the Opposition.

The path would still have been open, however, to proclaim a state of emergency to genuinely deal with "new and unique types of violence" if the approach had been stripped of politics. This would have created a platform of joint commitment by both parties to effectively stamp out violent crime. Instead, the political campaign of state terror generated such ill-will, aroused such passions and developed such a lust for vengeance that, in the end, the State of Emergency spawned tribal conflicts on a scale that reached the level of a near civil war. The forces activated by that war, once the electoral outcome was settled, virtually detached themselves and progressed on their own as gang members absorbed by other areas of gangsterism: narcotics, extortion and robbery.

<span style="font-style: italic">To be continued.

Sources: Struggle in the Periphery by Michael Manley; Politics of Power by Pearnel Charles; various ministry papers, archives of The Daily Gleaner.

Edward Seaga was a former Prime Minister. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the University of the West Indies. Email: [email protected].</span>

The strategy and anguish of the State of Emergency, 1976 - Pt 3

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 03:26 AM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Originally posted</span>:

))))))))))))))))Start((((((((((((

[<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Wahalla</span>]

As one of those who lived through this glorious events... I was
profoundly influenced by it.... To be honest at the time growing up Ithought such behaviour was normal but felt in my youthful innocence itwas wrong.... And though we poor country folk were not at the center of the Malestrom we felt the effects..

The blanket condemnation based on perceived political belief, the lossof Heabus Corpus, the separation of poltical and judiciary, the polticalcensorship of the press,. The attempt subvert the role of the police with the home guard ratehr than reform the police into a service.. The harassement of Cargil, Hearne, Maxwell ect.... And the rule by badmanism.. The out right racism.. (a month back a marxist Chinese former senator from the PNP died an interview with him was revealing ).

I have always felt the prolystisation of christianuity was an offense toeducation.... There was an attempt to offer do the same with socialism.. in fact it haooened at times to hear Christians condemned as labourite sellouts was often happened.

But the thing that irks the hell out of me is when people go on aboutthe saint hood of Joshua and how wonderful it was.. And it was all the bad usa. The fact of the matter he ran the economy badly, [censored] off the biggest trading partner who had alternative supply, wasted the good will of our name, under invested in projects that would add value, used the influx of cash from the one good thing he did to establish and run pork
belly projects, put incompetent party hacks in charge of state
enterprises, demonise the creators of wealth, socially elevate being poor as a good thing rather than encourage enterprise, basically as Evanovich put it make the reason detra of government as wealth distribution ratehr than wealth creation then distribution.

"suffra," became the calling card to explain bad behaviour... I am sure Lenin would have written a rationalisation of using anti- social elements to further the cause of socialism.... He certainly rationalised the suspension of rights of citzens to the processes of law. But then for the most of history the process of laws was denyed to the majority in Jamaica... The SOE was simply formalise the poliisation of the police... In fact it is interesting that Adams joined the JCF duringthis period.

Well in the end t the entrapauers were chased to Miami and now their children post fawt about a period their own parents ran from.... (Whythe hell was apples confiscated from vistors at the airport ???) . .
People were harassed and harangued, based on difference, be it skincolour, poltical postion. (How many people ever saw coolie man and chiney man being insulted for running a little shap...as exploiters ???) Well they in the end made it black man time...

It was actually in this period that we deconstructed the economy... I then hear people on here going on about socialism and we need more of that::::: for another country or successful economy... And then rationaisle the bullies, thieves and killers were not really socialist.. Well when a socialist thief he is a socialist....

And those who wernt there never wathced the destruction of our selfs into parodies of failures.... Socilist interlectual pen dragons .... At the heart was teh attempt to force us into a mold that did not fit the last attempt was the SOE...

On a more personal note.... As my formative years were done during
these times.... I had a very insecure existence, being ostrasised,
being threatened was a near constant occurance. It si amusing now to
think back to the times when people who had more than we had come and
tell us me I was exploiter of "Suffera" and we would be sent back to
where we were from. Now reconcile that with the fact I claim Taino
heritage.

The fact of the matter these socialist impoverished the concept of
being African in Jamaica.. the use

The use of Suffera was a coded language for being of African desent ...
The brown middle class hijacked it.... It is amusing to recall DK Duncan
and Manley using expressions as we deh Suffera.. Or When Eli Matalan use
it took some beating...

It may come as a strange fact to many but I though bob was a black man..
I never saw images of him till I was in my later years.. Was too poor to
buy an album and never had a record player any way.. but I recall a
program on the JIS where a man was saying Bob wasn't a suffera as he
had a white father so he should stop pretending.

))))))))))))))))END((((((((((((

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 04:56 AM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

https://<span style="font-family: 'A...venties</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">published: Sunday | February 20, 2005

By Laura Tanna, Contributor </span>

BRUCE GOLDING became a member of the Central Executive of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 1969 and after graduating from the University of the West Indies with a B.Sc. in Economics in June 1969, spent the next two and a half years campaigning to be elected member of Parliament for West St. Catherine (1972-76). He and a group of young university graduates, including Percy Broderick, Pearnel Charles and Errol Anderson, began working closely with Eddie Seaga.

HIS FAMILY

In 1971, through Pearnel Charles, Bruce met Pearnel's sister, Lorna, who was living in New York working for the NAACP. Engaged in November 1971, they married the following year and have three children Shereen, Steven and Ann-Merita. Golding says of Lorna: "She's the disciplinarian and I am the philosopher. She certainly raised the first two and I kind of helped with the last one. Because of that I was very attached to my daughter, very, very, very attached." Shereen is in her final year of law school at Georgetown University. Steven, a graduate of Rutgers University, is a passionate Garveyite, goes to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and works with his mother at their Honeycrust Bakery, while Ann-Merita, in her second year at Howard University, is considering a career in rehabilitative speech therapy.

The fear and violence which transformed Jamaica in the 70s came much closer to home for Golding than many people realise. His brother-in-law, Pearnel Charles, imprisoned by the People's National Party (PNP) government during the State of Emergency in 1976, wrote of the experience in his book, The Politics of Power. I asked Golding, who once said that he slept with a suitcase packed, in case the proverbial knock on the door came in the night, to describe the impact of that period on his own life as a member of the Opposition party.

"My brother Tony was charged during the 1976 Election. It was a trumped up charge of shooting with intent. He was taken to the Gun Court and eventually acquitted. They had no case whatsoever. There was a plan to take me and it wasn't done because of the intervention of Hugh Shearer. Hugh Shearer always had a special relationship with Michael Manley and my name and Errol Anderson were on the list. Hugh Shearer managed to argue a case that there was no basis for our being detained. Still, we expected to be detained, and therefore you didn't want to be taken in your underwear so you had a suitcase in which you had your essentials and toiletries with you.

"Edward Seaga assumed the leadership of the Labour party in November 1974. Immediately after that, I became the general secretary of the party. We mounted a campaign in 1975 called the Action Team Campaign, where we went to all the major towns. It was a blistering campaign. Percy Broderick and I were in charge and we were beginning to have a significant impact. The growth that the PNP government had inherited remember 1971, the growth rate was seven or eight per cent they had lost it. We had growth in 1972, their first year. We had minimal growth in 1973 and by 1974, the economy was in trouble. So we were having a significant impact. That took us into 1976 when we started putting pressure now for the elections to be called. Manley was determined that he was going to cauterise this political pressure and a State of Emer-gency was concocted. Because that is what it was. There were all sorts of plots that we were supposed to be involved in.''

STATE OF EMERGENCY

Golding spoke of ''Robinson trying to ingratiate himself with the Labour party as a plant. This was being set up as a trap for Seaga. There was a question of some meeting being held at Turtle Towers in Ocho Rios. He [Seaga] very wisely called the JDF [Jamaica Defence Force] and asked them to send one of their intelligence officers, in plain clothes, totally incognito, who sat in and listened to the discussions. Were it not for that, Mr. Seaga himself might have been detained

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 12:17 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<a href="http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oaget002.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"> CASTRO'S TERRORIST CONNECTION</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">By Ernesto F. Betancourt</span></a>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The New Jewell Movement in Granada seized power with Cuban assistance and the attempted coup by Michael Manley in Jamaica in 1980 was coordinated by Cuban Ambassador Ulises Estrada, a high ranking member of the Americas Department. Depending on the circumstances, all these efforts involved kidnappings and bank robberies to raise funds, links with drug smuggling and assasinations. The US was not immune to Castro's terrorist efforts, including support for groups such as the Black Panthers and the Puerto Rican Macheteros. Several of those involved in such actions have been granted asylum in Cuba.</div></div>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In the late sixties, Castro pursued his overt strategy by promoting revolution in Latin America until Che's failure in Bolivia, and Soviet pressure, forced him to stop. By 1975, there was a shift in theater to projecting Cuban military forces to support expanding Soviet influence in Africa. In the late seventies, Nicaragua and Grenada were targets of successful Cuban supported violent takeovers. Cuba was chosen to preside the Non-Aligned Movement. Convinced the Carter Administration was a pushover, Jamaica was selected as the next target. </div></div>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In the late sixties, Castro pursued his overt strategy by promoting revolution in Latin America until Che's failure in Bolivia, and Soviet pressure, forced him to stop. By 1975, there was a shift in theater to projecting Cuban military forces to support expanding Soviet influence in Africa. In the late seventies, Nicaragua and Grenada were targets of successful Cuban supported violent takeovers. Cuba was chosen to preside the Non-Aligned Movement. Convinced the Carter Administration was a pushover, Jamaica was selected as the next target.

However, in July, 1980, Castro was forced to back off from supporting a Grenada-like takeover by his friend and follower Michael Manley, who had openly announced he planned to abolish Parliamentary rule. The takeover was coordinated by Cuban Ambassador Ulises Estrada, a member of the Americas Department of the Central Committee, whose task was to promote revolution. A Cuban construction brigade, similar to the one that fought later in Grenada, was already in Jamaica, supposedly building a high school. A thousand Manley followers, known as the "Brigadistas," had been given military training in Cuba. They were to be supported by Cuban forces airlifted from Oriente Province to a strip habilitated for night landings in Mandelville, ten miles west of Kingston. CIA renegade Phillip Agee appeared in Kingston to denounce a CIA plot against Manley. The home of the CIA resident was shot at. President Carter issued strong warnings to Prime Minister Manley against such a move and beefed up our naval presence in Guantanamo. The Jamaica Defense Force destroyed the landing strip. Grafitti in Kingston called for "Cubans, go home." Manley abandoned his plans. He lost the parliamentary elections held shortly afterward. Facing a firm US stand, Castro backed off, leaving Manley on a lurch.</div></div>

**johnnycakes** · 06-29-2009, 12:20 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

Yes indeed a whole lot of writing on the violence that happened back in the 70's when Michael Manley led Jamaica.

Not a word about where the guns came from and more importantly very little discussion of the Cold War issues that were central to the events that destabilized Manley's government.

It is not logical to presume that Manley would import weapons to aid his cause when he was in control of the JDF. Rather it is more than likely that anti-Manley (anti-socialist) rumour-mongering to rabble rouse and then arm those people to disrupt the country and government was done with U.S. involvement as was its way during the Cold War.

That huge CIA contingent at the U.S. embassy in Kingston was not there in Jamaica for the sunny beaches and rum punch.

Oh there was this rather intriguing statement from Mr. Seaga;

"We did not receive any help from the CIA. In any event, a good CIA operative does not declare his presence," said Seaga......"

A somewhat different phrasing is used when likely covert activities are questioned in the United States and answered with" We cannot admit or deny involvement'

But you know what? Believe and say what you want and you and I both have.
I do not see the sense in repeating ourselves ad infinitum.

We are talking likelihoods and possibilities and this because Bush II has locked up the intelligence files on this era for what should be obvious reasons and none of us will get the CIA confession for some time yet.

If you wish to contend that Jamaica existed in a bubble that was exempt from the U.S.'s Cold War policies then go right ahead.

The parochial views of interested parties in jamaica that you have presented are limited in their scopes because of their vested interests and do not take in the big picture.
You cannot see the forest for the trees.

We should leave it at that.
You believe that Michael Manley's political demise was purely of Jamaican origin while I believe that he'd have remained in office a lot longer without U.S. /CIA plotting /action and Edward Seaga would have been opposition leader at best.

As a parallel and just this week, leftist President Zelaya in Honduras was ostensibly ousted by his own military.

As yet no one in the United States government nor on the side of the coup are admitting U.S. involvement but how much is anyone willing to bet that the U.S. was not neck deep in the coup?

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 12:29 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<span style="font-style: italic">March 7, 2000 Part 1 of 2 </span>

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">The Orange Lane Fire Enquiry </span>
<span style="font-style: italic">
Laura Tanna</span>
The story of Justice Ronald Hugh Small

IN PREPARING this series of articles on the human side of Hon. Mr Justice Ronald Hugh Small, one of the first black Supreme Court Judges in Jamaica, appointed in 1956, I interviewed not only him, but also two of his sons. On June 2, 1999 his eldest son and partial namesake, Hon. Ronald Hugh Packer Small Q.C., spoke about two of the most powerful political figures in the turbulent 1970s: Michael Manley and Tony Spaulding.

"After he retired from the Bench," Hugh Small says of his father, "he did a number of public enquiries. Let me tell you something about the interface between my father's role as an enquirer, my own position in the Cabinet (Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Development 1977-79) and the pain and difficulties it caused both of us.

He did a general enquiry into the violence that was taking place in the Corporate Area and then the Orange Lane thing happened (On May 19,1976 ten people died in a fire set by gunmen at a tenement building on Orange Lane, Kingston) and the Governor-General asked him to extend it, to deal with the Orange Lane fire.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">"What I'm about to say now, I've said to some people before. I think somebody needs to do some research into it, because it is an indictment of Michael Manley and an indictment of the PNP Administration.</span>

"A number of people went to Ronnie Thwaites and told him that they had evidence as to who was responsible for the Orange Lane fire. And they were afraid for their lives. Ronnie Thwaites, who had a fairly close relationship with my father, contacted him and he agreed that he would hear this evidence in camera. Tony Spaulding gave evidence (amongst others) and he was represented by a lawyer.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">In camera </span>

"After the 1976 election, which was held on the 15th of December 1976, before Michael Manley did his Cabinet, one day I was at Michael Manley's home and I was told that daddy had sent him a preliminary report on the Orange Lane Fire which he wanted Michael to have before he appointed the Cabinet. In it, he had made findings about Tony Spaulding's involvement in the Orange Lane fire. He had called the then Attorney-General, Carl Rattray, and asked him to deliver the report to the Prime Minister, that the Prime Minister should know about it before he made any appointments.

"A couple of months later, the full report of the Commission of Enquiry came out. It did not include the secret report that had been sent to the Governor-General. In the course of the report, he made a reference to Tony Spaulding as having: 'More than a blushing acquaintance with gunmen'.

I sat through the Cabinet meeting in which I heard most of the members of Cabinet, but mostly lawyers, savaging my father: 'There was no evidence in the enquiry for this. How can this be done?' Michael Manley kept quiet.

"The truth is, I used to run with Michael in the mornings. I spoke to him. The matter was put off to the following week's Cabinet meeting. I said to him: "Michael, I had to sit down and listen to you people say some very unkind things about my father, which I know are not true. I think that there is evidence for what he said, in his findings, and I wish to be excused from the Cabinet meeting while you deliberate." He said he would think about it and he would let me know.

"The next Cabinet meeting, he said: "Well, we've discussed the matter and the Cabinet feels you can't be exempted. You have to stay." I remember it very clearly because Winston Jones, I had a lot of respect for, was the person who he got to articulate the position. They came up with a statement blasting my father, criticising him for this finding. He was very hurt and upset about it.

"After the 1980 defeat, Michael Manley's action against The Gleaner Company and John Hearne, for libel, was being heard. I was brought into the case late. P.J. (Patterson) was junior to me at the Bar but he insisted he was leading the case. I said: "All right, no problem."

He assigned to me that I should prepare Michael Manley, leading him in evidence. He was going to take cross-examination of John Hearne and so on. I had 88 hours of conference with Michael Manley, preparing him. And one of the things that happened is that I mock cross-examined him.
Copyright (c) The Gleaner Co. Ltd.

<span style="text-decoration: underline"> Part 2 of 2</span>

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">The Orange Lane Fire Enquiry </span>
<span style="font-style: italic">
Laura Tanna</span>
The story of Justice Ronald Hugh Small

"Among the justifications that The Gleaner had pleaded were: what he had allowed D.K. Duncan to do; what had happened in relation to Paul Burke; what had happened in relation to Tony Spaulding; how he had kept Tony Spaulding in his Cabinet after this finding by the Commission of Enquiry. I had known at the time that The Gleaner had served a subpoena on my father to produce his reports. My father had taken the position that he had handed over his reports to the Governor-General, because he wasn't going to get involved in that controversy at that time. But also I knew that he had been subpoenaed."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Initially it was alleged that JLP gunmen had surrounded a building, at 182 Orange Lane, inhabited by PNP supporters, set it on fire, had even thrown a baby back into the fire and prevented firemen from reaching the building. This took place on May 19, 1976 and was one of the events cited when the PNP Govern-ment declared a State of Emergency the next month, in June 1976. The Jamaica Labour Party refuted these claims, countering that the building, which had been purchased by the Ministry of Housing, of which Tony Spaulding was the Minister, had been marked for destruction and that it was in fact PNP gunmen who carried out the action with high-powered weapons and Molotov cocktails to force Labourites from the area</span>.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Indictment</span>

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">That a former member of the PNP Government should be alleging that Manley suppressed part of the report by the Commission of Enquiry and in so doing smeared Justice Small's reputation would be an indictment of Michael Manley's administration and makes one wonder if the fear of either a suppressed report appearing, or of witnesses who had testified at a closed hearing being called, might have contributed to Manley's dropping the case against The Gleaner</span>.

It also makes one wonder about the nature of the role Tony Spaulding played within the administration during that turbulent period of Jamaica's history.
Copyright (c) The Gleaner Co. Ltd.

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 12:39 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<a href="http://forum.jamaica-star.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1199007210/180" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Green Bay survivors remember</span> -
30 years after killings</a>
<span style="font-style: italic">published: Sunday | January 6, 2008 </span>

<span style="font-style: italic">Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator</span>

After his narrow escape from the jaws of death 30 years ago at the Green Bay military range in St. Catherine, Ian Brown is still shell-shocked. He remembers the controversial killings as if it had happened yesterday.

"Every time I see soldiers in uniforms and listen to the Green Bay song (They Can't Run Away on Judgment Day by Glen Richards) I feel really sad. I still remember everything clearly, especially the gunshots and the cries of my friends pleading for their lives. It was total wickedness," Ian Brown, one of the five men who survived, tells The Sunday Gleaner,

On January 5, 1978, 14 men from the Jamaica Labour Party stronghold of Southside, central Kingston, were escorted to the military range at Green Bay, St. Catherine, by soldiers. The men were lured with the offer of jobs. Five of them were allegedly shot dead by the soldiers, resulting in a scandal for the ruling People's National Party.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Before the incident</span>

Those killed were identified as Norman 'Ghutto' Thompson, a former national footballer, Howard 'Gargo' Martin, Glenroy Richards, Winston 'Saddle Head' Hamilton and Trevor 'Gold Eye' Clarke.

Allegations are that the men were recruited to work by a man known as Junior Star, who claimed he was a member of the security forces. Further allegations were that the men from Southside were promised a salary of $500 per week, plus each person would receive a Datsun motor vehicle.

On the night before the incident, most of the men who took the trip, went to the Palace Theatre to watch the movie Honour Thy Father. It was an action-packed film that involved gun play.

"Is that show (movie) saved my life. When I saw one of the soldiers hug Saddle Head around a corner, I heard one shot. I got flat immediately. My sixth sense told me that Saddle Head was dead. More shots started to fire and I began to run," related Brown.

He ran uphill, through the bushes, ignoring the pain caused by prickles.

"While running, I could still hear the gunshots and my friends crying out in pain. I ran until I saw a road. I then hitched a ride in a van back to King Street, downtown Kingston," the pint-sized Brown recounted.

It was a different experience for another survivor. Dodging bullets, Delroy Griffiths ran and jumped from a cliff into the sea to save his life. He was picked up by fishermen in a boat.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Scarred for life</span>

The impact of the incident has left Griffiths scarred for life. He walks the streets of Kingston, most times with a box on his head, or bags in his hands, looking like an insane person, but don't be fooled by his attire.

His two sons and common-law wife have since migrated to the United States. He does not have a family and is homeless. According to Griffiths, the memories of Green Bay have wrecked his life.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner, S Man (not his real name), who was one of several persons who chose not to make the trip, explained that the deal about the promised work was initiated by a man named Junior Star, and Saddle Head. He said prior to the Green Bay incident, some of the deceased and survivors had gone to the Forum Hotel in St. Catherine where they met men claiming to be senior military officers.

'I became suspicious when they said that we would transporting some guns and will be escorted by soldiers in front and from behind. I raised the question that if soldiers will be escorting us, then the boss don't need us. He could just use the soldiers to transport the illegal guns where he wants them to go," said S Man.

The concern was raised the night before the incident in a yard on Ladd Lane in Southside. At this stage, the men became disinterested and declined to go on the mission.

"If they had listened to men, nobody would have died," recalls S Man.

Of the five survivors, only four are still alive. Ruddy Nesbeth died last year, while Tony Spencer and 'Fire Booger' are living in the United States. Griffiths and Brown are still in Jamaica.

On January 5, 1978, 14 men from the Jamaica Labour Party stronghold of Southside, central Kingston, were escorted to the military range at Green Bay, St. Catherine, by soldiers. The men were lured with the offer of jobs. Five of them were allegedly shot dead by the soldiers, resulting in a scandal for the ruling People's National Party. This is the final part of a story in which survivors relate their ordeal.

It was 5:15 in the morning and an ambulance and a minivan were already parked in the darkness, waiting in the volatile community of Southside, Central Kingston, to transport a group of men to the military range in Green Bay, St. Catherine.

But not all the men who were recruited and had agreed to go, made the trip. Some were still asleep, a few had declined to take the ride in the ambulance, while others who had become suspicious of the mission, stayed away when the transport arrived.

Most of those who were supposed to go, retired to bed late the night before the bloody incident because they went to the now defunct Palace Theatre to watch the movie Honour Thy Father.

"It was my bigger brother who was supposed to go, but when the ambulance and minivan, came he was still asleep, so I took his place," recounts Ian Brown, one of the five survivors of the controversial Green Bay Massacre.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">bad luck</span>

Danny Roots, who was originally supposed to go on the journey, became upset when he saw the ambulance and changed his mind. He tried to persuade his dreadlock friend, Trevor Clarke, alias 'Gold Eye', not to go, telling him that it was "bad luck fe dreadlocks travel inna ambulance".

Delroy Griffiths, alias 'Jadda Brag', was 23 years old at the time, unemployed and had two children to support. His name was not among the recruits. However, the morning the transportation arrived, he made sure he got a seat in one of the vehicles.

"Me neva did a work at de time and me decided that me nah beg nobody nutten. Me hear seh a work de man dem a get, $500 a week. Me did want a work, so me mek sure seh me get a seat inna de vehicle," Griffiths tells The Sunday Gleaner.

His attire would fool anybody that he is insane. Since his near-death experience at Green Bay, he has become scared of going out and approaching strangers for jobs. Instead, he chooses to walk the streets of Kingston and 'hustle'."What dem do to the man dem at Green Bay is total wickedness. Imagine, dem come and promise we work, then tek we and carry we go a Green Bay fe kill we off," relates Griffiths.

The Sunday Gleaner understands that the job they were promised was to transport and guard shipments of illegal guns.

Recounting what took place on January 5, 1978, at the military range, Griffiths remembered that when the transportation arrived that morning, the drivers of the vehicles told them they were going to meet the so-called boss.

When the vehicles turned off the main road and disappeared into the bushes, going towards the military range, Griffiths said several things began racing through his mind. The closer he got towards the military camp, the more he became suspicious of the mission.

"Me tell miself seh, if a de boss we going meet fe get work, then something must wrong, because no boss nah go de in a bush weh so much soldier deh," said Griffiths.

When they arrived at the range, there were soldiers all over. He said a huge and unusual, high-powered weapon immediately caught his eye. The weapon was partially concealed in the bushes, pointing in the direction of the shooting range.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">permanent limp</span>

Griffiths, who now walks with a permanent limp, said one of the soldiers then gave orders for them to assemble at the shooting range, at which the gun was pointing. He said another soldier pointed to Rudolph Nesbeth and asked if he was the leader of the group. Nesbeth answered no and pointed at Winston 'Saddle Head' Hamilton.

According to some of the men who were supposed to go on the trip but had changed their minds at the last minute, Hamilton was the main man. He was the one who had met and spoken with a soldier by the name of Junior Star and had organised everything.

"I watched one of de soldier hug up Saddle Head and walk wid him, until dem disappear roun a corner. Less than a minute after dat, me hear a shot fire and then me tell miself seh, 'A 'Saddle Head' de boy just kill'," Griffiths recalls.

He says within seconds after hearing the initial gunshot, he heard a barrage of shots and saw blue flames coming from the huge machine gun that was partially concealed in the bushes. He heard some of his friends scream in pain, while others shouted that it was a trap.

"Me dive pon the ground and roll. De machine gun dig up the dirt and me feel stone and dirt start sting me inna me face," the Green Bay survivor relates.

He got up and dashed towards the bushes, making his way towards the sea. During his attempt to escape, he ran into a soldier.

"When me see de soldier, him point de gun pon me and fe couple seconds him neva fire. Me run off again. This time, me mek a dummy run, turn back, dive to the ground and get up and run again," Griffiths recounts. "De soldier open a barrage of shots, but me just keep running, till me climb down pon some rock near de sea. Me see a boat wid two fisherman, me signal and dem pick me up and carry me come a Greenwich Farm," says Griffiths.

Eventually, the five traumatised survivors - Griffiths, Rudolph Nesbeth, Ian Brown, Tony Spencer and 'Fire Booger' - returned to the Jamaica Labour Party stronghold in central Kingston to tell their sad tale.

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 12:46 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">1970s Flashback - The 1980 General Election </span>
<span style="font-style: italic">
published: Tuesday | August 29, 2006

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer</span>

The security forces and criminals clashed frequently during the months leading to the 1980 General Election. Here is one of those battles, which took place in West Kingston. - Contributed

GOING into 1980, the Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley was a man under pressure. It was almost certain that his People's National Party (PNP) would be forced to call early general election that year.

That they did, and on October 30, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) led by Edward Seaga, whipped the PNP 51 seats to nine, the biggest margin of victory in elections since Jamaica gained Independence from Great Britain in 1962.

Manley's turbulent eight-year tenure as the country's fourth Prime Minister had ended.

There were not only celebrations among the country's middle-class which had feared a Communist takeover due to Manley's socialist leanings. In 1974, Manley declared that his administration would pursue a policy of Democratic Socialism. He consistently denied accusations that he would go Communist.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Grassroots programmes </span>

The poor, many of whom benefited from the PNP's grassroots programmes, also voted against Manley who came to power in late 1972 with a mandate to elevate the country's impoverished masses.

Kenneth Baugh, who was one of the JLP's new parliamentarians, said the overwhelming victory was not surprising.

"It was a great relief for the people, because things had gone very wrong in the country," Baugh said in a recent interview with The Gleaner. "The economy had failed, and there was no money to pay public sector workers. There was also the danger of us becoming a one-party state".

One day after the elections, D.K. Duncan, the PNP's general secretary, claimed that the polls were marred by widespread fraud. He accused members of the security forces, chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee, Professor Gladstone Mills and Director of Elections, Carl Dundas, of not doing enough to stop the alleged vote tampering.

"They should look into their hearts and say whether justice has been applied in this election by an independent, impartial group of men of integrity," Dr. Duncan said. "I warn Edward Seaga, the corrupt members of the judiciary and the police force, that they can attack the blood, the life and the body. But they cannot attack the idea."

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Fiery Manley </span>

The PNP executive's tirade summed up the tension in Jamaica leading into elections which were announced by Manley in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, on October 5.

A massive crowd turned up at Sam Sharpe Square that evening. It inspired a fiery Manley to predict victory with his now famous declaration that "50,000 strong can't be wrong!"

In February, the Prime Minister said that elections would be held later in the year. In the months that followed, the political hostility that sparked inner-city violence throughout the 1970s, spilled over into 1980.

In April, five persons were killed in what became known as the Gold Street Massacre, in Central Kingston. That month, the Hannah Town Police Station in West Kingston was attacked by thugs; two persons, including a policeman, were killed.

Things were just as unstable on the labour front. In January, Manley announced that 11,000 public sector jobs would have to be cut to facilitate the $50 million budget. Days after that statement, 300 Jamaica Public Service workers went on strike, leaving 70 per cent of the country without electricity.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Manley blamed the JLP for the instability. </span>

"We have no reason for making our economic situation worse," he said in Barbados in March. "They have a record of using economic destabilisation."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Even though Manley remained combative, his Government was falling apart. Late into the second term, senior members David Coore and Vivian Blake had resigned. Two weeks after his speech in Barbados, Finance Minister Eric Bell also called it a day.</span>

Despite the unfavourable signs, Colin Campbell who became the PM's press secretary in early 1980, said it was a confident Manley who went on the campaign trail.

"He always had very high popularity, even in those days," Campbell said in a 2000 interview. "Throughout he remained in a very determined mood."

Kenneth Baugh, who contested the North West St. James seat against Howard Cooke, recalled that the mood in the JLP camp was reflected in their campaign slogan, 'Deliverance Is Near'.

"We had very high motivation. At the start of 1980, the polls showed us in the lead and by the middle of the year we had gone into heavy campaigning," he said.

Just before Manley announced the election date, pollster and University of the West Indies lecturer Carl Stone, predicted in The Gleaner that the JLP would win as many as 40 seats.

Going into election day, there were several tragic and eventful incidents:

Manley's motorcade was fired on in May Pen.

Roy McGann, the PNP's candidate for East Rural St. Andrew, and his bodyguard, acting corporal Errol White, were killed in Gordon Town.

Seven persons were killed by gunmen on National Heroes Day in Kingston. Two children were killed in Top Hill, St. Elizabeth where JLP and PNP factions clashed.

Gunfire disrupted a PNP rally in Spanish Town.

Twelve members of the Workers Party of Jamaica, including Lambert

Brown, were arrested in Lucea, Hanover for possession of bombs.

On election day, the results were devastating for Manley and the PNP. Not only did the JLP return to power in a landslide, several big names in the former administration lost their seats in parliament, including P.J.

Patterson, Howard Cooke and Arnold Bertram.

The JLP victory was welcomed islandwide, with many persons participating in day-long celebrations. Many schools and business places remained closed.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Manley, who came to power as champion of the poor, was a beaten man. In his concession speech, he said his decision to stand by Cuba and other Third World countries not popular with the United States Government, proved his Government's downfall.</span>

"Maybe what I did wrong was to challenge the power of the western economic structure ... And for this I will remain unrepentant and unreconstructed," he said.

Two days after the election, Edward Seaga was sworn in as Jamaica's fifth Prime Minister. Within days, he expelled the Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica, Ulises Estrada, severed ties with that country and attempted to rebuild Jamaica's ties with the U.S.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">After three years in office, he too would feel the pressure of unpopularity.</span>

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 12:59 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

January 26, 1981
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>
<span style="font-style: italic">by Kruger, Alexander </span>

<span style="font-style: italic">Backgrounder #131
(Archived document, may contain errors) 131 January </span>26,

1981 JAMAICA AFTER THE ELECTIONS OPPORTUNITY FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY INTRODUCTION On August 6, 1962, the day Jamaica achieved its independence from Britain, the country's first Prime Minister, Alexander Bustamante, announced "the irrevocable decision that Jamaica stands with the West and the.-United -S.tates I This irrevocable decision held true for one decade 1962-1972 the most prosperous decade in the island's history. During this period, Jamaica became an attractive site for foreign investment, rapidly increas- ing the. country's productivity and with it the Jamaican's standard of living.

This prosperity came to an abrupt end following the victory of Michael Manley and the People's National Party (PNP) in the elections of 1972. Manley proceeded to implement socialist reforms which eroded the country's economic structure until the economy nearly collapsed in 1980. These reforms reduced the standard of living sharply and caused nearly half of all Jamaican professionals to .flee from the povertyistricken island. The recent election results in 1980, with the landslide victory of the pro-U.S. and free enterprise Jamaica Labour Party (JLP leader, Edward Seaga, have once again brought hope to the Jamaican people for better times ahead.

Jamaica has the potential of becoming a viable free enterprise alternative to Cuba'.s' communist model Under the Seaga Administration MANLEY'S ECONOMIC FAILURE During its eight years in offic?, the Manley government almost completely destroyed the Jamaican economy.Manley's defeat, unemployment was running at more than 35 percent; the figure stood at roughly 50 percent among the nation's youth.Inflation had skyrocketed as well; prices had increased by 78 percent since 1977. Even for those who could afford Jamaica's exhorbitant prices, it was still difficult to locate any'commodi At the time of 2 ties. In fact, the scarcity of such staples as bread and soap reportedly was the cause of riots in Kingston supermarkets.Overall, Jamaica suffered a 25 percent reduction in its standard of living from 1972-1979 Manley placed the blame for his nation's plight upon imperial Manufacturing output declined by 10 percent during Manley's ism and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

In reality, however, much of Japaica's <span style="font-style: italic">(Jamaica's)</span> economic turmoil was home grown last year alone. Agricultural production diminished, with the important banana crop having fallen 78 percent in volume since Manley assumed power declined sharply since 1972 becoming Jamaica's principal source of foreign exchange developments derived largely from policies initiated by Manley during his eight years in power reforms under the banner of lldemocratic socialism" measures ostensibly designed to decrease the island's still pervasive poverty, but which, coupled with Manley's pro-Cuban rhetoric began to take the appearance of "creeping communism." Manley forced foreign mining companies to sell the majority of shares of their bauxite operations to the Jamaican government, and later introduced an expropriatory tax on bauxite exports. As a result Jamaica's share of world bauxite exports fell from 18 percent to 12 percent, with its net-'-production- declining by a third Overall Gross National Production had Only marijuana production increased These In his early years in office, Manley introduced a series of In a similar action, the Manley government nationalized eight of the island's twelve sugar plantations; since 1974 Jamaica's sugar production has fallen by 22 percent. Punitive tax policies, aimed primarily at the country's middle clas's contributed to a massive exodus of educated Jamaicans. During Manley's two terms in office,'an estimated 40 percent of Jamaica's professionals fled the island primarily to Britain, Canada and the U.S.Manley's counter-productive socialist measures, combined with increased government size and spending, forced his govern turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency relief Over the .course of the next two years, the IMF supplied Jamaican government pursue sounder economic policies.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

In 1980, however, when the IMF demanded that any new aid be accompanied by austerity measures, Manley terminated loan negotiations. As a result, the Manley Administration was unable to secure new loan agreenents from any of the 100-plus commercial banks holding more than 1 billion dollars in Jamaican government debts. The loans the Manley Administration did obtain 50 million from Libya and $43 million from European and OPEC nations, were insufficient to counter Jamaica's 1980 deficit. ment to seek loans to remain functioning. In 1978, Jamaica Jamai.ca. with 350 .million an tems:which; required that the 3 Due to Jamaica's insolvency, foreign exchange reserves were depleted, making it impossible for manufacturers. to import vital industrial commodities. This, in turn, exacerbated Jamaica's unemployment problem: from January 1980 through September 1980 78 factories were forced to close, adding at least 5100 people to the island's unemployment rolls.

According to the best economic surveys, per capita income in Jamaica fell about 40 percent during the Manley years I FOREIGN POLICY UNDER MANLEY Since 1974, Manley pushed his country closer and closer into the Soviet orbit, and developed particularly good ties to the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. Manley became a staunch suppor ter of Cuban interventionism in Africa and defended the placement of Soviet combat troops in Cuban bases.

At me same time, he condemned the U.S. military presence in the area as tlimperialism.tl Ironically, the Soviets have praised Manley's Jamaica as a true non-aligned country within the Third World.Manley's hostility to the West extended beyond the North-South debate; he opposed Western society on a variety of social and political issues. In a speech before the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in Havana on September 4, 1979, Manley declared: "We may call ourselves communists, socialists or humanists or simply progressive, but all anti-imperialists know that the balance of power irrevocably changed in 1917 when there was a movement and a man in the Great October Revolution, and Lenin was the catalyst and unmovable r0ck.I the U.S he went on to state NO area in the world has been more exposed or has experienced more or been closer to imperialism than Latin America and the Caribbean. We have seen Guatemala's progressive forces extinguished destroyed in the Dominican Republic and undermined and finally overthrown in Chile.Ill Ilthose who struggle for the independence of Puerto Rice and denouncing the Ileconomic blockade against Cuball and the U.S military presence in Cuba's Guantanomo Bay. In the speech Manley indicated llnon-alignmenttt should not be confused with llneutralityll in the conflict between the Western and Communist worlds.

In a similar speech presented by Manley during his April 1979 Soviet tour, he praised Cuba and the Soviet Union for their actions in Africa and referred to Brezhnev as 'lour respected comrade, the genuine friend of all national liberation movements the leader and ally of all those who struggle against imperial- ism To specifically associate imperialism with In the same speech, Manley pursued the anti-U.S. stance by supporting Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Latin America, Daily Report Tuesday, September 18, 1979, Vol. VI, No. 182, Supp. 026, Speeches at Sixth Nonalined [sic] Foreign Ministers Summit Neetings, Part I, pp 43-45.Steven D. Symms, "Manley's Soviet Love-Fest: Is Jamaica the Next Cuba Congressional Record, July 17, 1979, p. E3691. 4

The Carter Administration's Ilideological pluralismll policy designed to demonstrate its "tolerance of ideological diversity,Il provided the Manley government with a large increase in U.S foreign assistance. In contrast to the Ford Administration which provided Jamaica with a modest $2.2 million in economic assistance for 1976, the Carter Administration increased the economic assistance to Jamaica to $32.1 million for 1977. This American nations and the Carter Administration, since these traditional allies of the U.S. received far less generous assist ance from the United States. An economic officer at the Jamaican Embassy in Washington pointed out prior to the Jamaican October 1980 elections that, since 1977, the U.S. has given Jamaica almost $100 million in aid apart from the $22 million which had been made available to Jamaica through the Food for Peace Program.In addition to economic aid, the Carter Administration also sought to provide the Manley government with diplomatic support I policy created friction between the pro-U.S. Caribbean and Latin In 1977, Manley was received warmly by President Carter at the White House on the very day the Jamaican leader chided the World Bank for having failed to invite Cuba to a conference on Caribbean development. Although the $100 million in aid failed to persuade the Manley government to become less hostile to the U.S Carter sent four high-level delegations to Jamaica one headed by First Lady Rosalynn Carter, one by State Department official Philip Habib, and two by former U.N.
Ambassador Andrew Young.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

It is fitting that Andrew Young should have been sent twice to Jamaica to represent the Carter Administration, for in many ways the President's accommodating view of Manley's anti Americanism is the product of the former Ambassador. In an article written for the Washington Post (August 25, 1980) Ambassa dor Young wrote "The American difficulties with Jamaica began with Henry Kissinger in 1975" when Kissinger attempted to solicit Jamaican support for U.S. opposition to Cuba's intervention in Ango 1 a.Ambassador Young conveniently overlooked a variety of hostile actions taken by Manley prior to 1975: his expropriation of American-owned. mining operations, his anti-American invective and his attempts to establish an OPEC-style bauxite cartel.

Even if Young were correct that the first sign of friction between Washington and Kingston arose over the issue of Angola his failure to see anything amiss in .Manley's hypocritical approval of Soviet imperialism reflected the Carter Administration's failure to understand the threat imposed to the U.S. security by pro-Soviet or anti-U.S. elements of the Third World. Manley, of course, was weil aware of the Carter Administration's leniency with his nation; thus, Carter ought not to have been surprised when, after having accepted millions in aid from the U.S Manley- proceeded to attack the U.S. so vehemently before the Havana Conference of the so-called non-aligned nations, and again in the Soviet Union during his April 1979 tour I I 5 CUBA AND JAMAICA criticism of the U.S., contributed greatly to the flight of talent from Jamaica sionals that left the country, Manley sought help from Fidel Castro, who provided doctors, teachers, and management personnel from Cuba. Manley tried to downplay the Cuban role, claiming that only 450 Cubans were working in Jamaica; opposition party JLP) leaders claimed that an accurate figure would be closer to 5,000 Prior to Jamaica's latest election, Cuba's diplomatic delegation was the largest in Kingston, attracting criticism from both the Jamaica Labour Party and Jamaica's free press It is widely believed that the Cuban diplomats were engaging in systematic destabilization.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

There is evidence to support such claim: Ulises Estrada, Cuba's Ambassador to Jamaica through October 1980, is the former head of Castro's 'Iliberationll campaign aimed at fomenting revolution throughout Latin America. Thus, it should come'as no surprise that a 19,000 pound container of shotgun cartridges was confiscated enroute to the Moonex Interna- tional Establishment, allegedly a Cuban front company operated by a Lichtenstein.company with branches in Panama and Jamaica.Shortly after the discovery of the shipment, the Cuban manager of the Jamaican company branch, Rupert0 Hart, was spotted in Miami on board a Cuban diplomatic jet with the Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica and the head of the Jamaican Ministry of Security ty by training and indoctrinating a new police force comprised of PNP supporters (the Jamaican Home Guard) and a communist guerrilla type brigade (the Brigadistas). The Home Guard and the Brigadistas had been built up to the point where they were nearly as powerful as the combined regular police and the Jamaican Defense Forces.

The Home Guard and the Brigadistas, loyal to the People's National Party, provided that party with an excellent tool for political intimidation or a possible coup the local police force traditionally had been impervious to politicization. Manley, however, sought to change this by sending new recruits to Cuba for basic training and by procuring an increasing proportion of his armaments from Eastern bloc sources Manley's socialist economic policies, as well as his harsh In order to replace the thousands of profes Cuba also sought to play a role in Jamaica's internal secure(sic)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

The Jamaican Defense Forces and Manley also attempted to politicize the Jamaican press. 1972, his government bought Jamaica's only independently owned radio station, giving it complete control of the island's electro nic media. Jamaica's last remaining independent information service prior to the election was the newspaper Daily Gleaner.Next to his political opposition, it has proven to be Manley'a single greatest and most influential detractor. Accordingly, the PNP government attempted to silence the Gleaner. Using Jamaica's economic difficulties as a convenient pretext, it gained control of the importation and distribution of newsprint, thus giving it the power to shut down the paper completely. The government then funded a competitive daily paper, and, when the Gleaner published In I an article stating that both Cuba and the Jamaican Security Ministry were involved in the covert importation of weaponry, a PNP Parliamentary committee served an unconstitutional summons to Gleaner reporters in order to determine the author of the contro versial article THE 1980 ELECTIONS Given this combination of economic disintegration coupled with the destabilizing influence of communist Cuba and Manley's announcement of upcoming elections in Jamaica, it is not surpris ing that Jamaica experienced an unprecedented rise in crime and violence. Kingston was a virtual war zone, unsafe to walk through even in broad daylight. What had been particularly troubling about this rise in social disorder was the fact that much of it was politically inspired, with the capital literally divided into PNP and JLP territory, with political murders and reprisals a common occurrence.Following Manley's February 1980 announcement of an election date later during the year, opponents to the People's National Party expressed their concern that a replay of the 1976 elections might take place.

At that time Manley called for elections, ar?,d then used internal strife as an excuse for declaring a state of emergency and imprisoning his foes.3 A tactic employed in the 1976 elections was used in 1980 namely, the importation of American CIA critics who were more than willing to claim that the U.S. government was responsible for the destabilization taking place, and that the ultimate goal of such illegal interference in Jamaica's internal affairs was the overthrow of Manley.In 1976, the PNP brought in CIA turncoat Philip Agee; in 1980, it was Louis Wolf, co-editor of the "Covert Action Information Bulletin." Wolf made public a list of 15 so-called CIA operatives in Jamaica, and provided such information as their telephone numbers, home addresses, and license plate numbers. The Manley government allowed the state-run media to publish Wolf's list twice! Furthermore, PNT youth operatives distributed such information in flyer form, clearly demonstrating PNP support for Wolf's visit.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

The day after the publication of Wolf's list, the home of a political officer at the U.S. Embassy listed by Wolf as chief CIA operative was attacked by gunfire.On October 5, Manley announced the date for Jamaica's general elections was scheduled for October 30, 18 months ahead of the constitutionally reauired election date and both parties stepped up their campaib rfietoric tion in Jamaica's electoral process in supposed complicity with Charges by both parties of interven See, Jeffrey B. Gayner The Marxist Threat to Jamaica," Heritage Founua tion Backgrounder Number 9, May 20, 1977. 7 foreign governments swept the island. However, with Jamaica's economy in shambles, and no visible signs of improvement, the economy became the central issue of the elections; this in turn diminished Manleyls chances for re-election.

Although public opinion polls projected Manley's defeat, supporters claimed the polls were an instrument of the upper and middle classes, and therefore did not represent Jamaica's majority, the poor.On October 30, violence spread throughout Kingston as rival groups tried to keep their opponents from voting. This, however did not prevent the majority of the Jamaicans from voting; the turnout reached 80 percent. Seaga and the Jamaica Labour Party won the elections by the largest electoral landslide in Jamaica's history by obtaining 57 percent of the popular vote. This made Seaga Jamaica's new Prime Minister and gave the JLP 51 out the 60 seats in Parliament. The election turnout and the results clearly indicated disaffection with Manley's socialist pro-Cuban path and his poor economic performance Following the elections, the People's National Party opted to re-elect Michael Manley as the party leader and the next opposition leader. The PNP also reconfirmed Donald Duncan as secretary general of the party. Duncan, who is openly Marxist stated he would not concede to the I'fascist terror of Edward Seagall and that "we now move into the next phase: revolutionary politics. However, Robert Niesh, chief of the Jamaican Army General Staff, cautioned llradicalll forces opposing Seaga's govern ment not to disrupt the country's reconstruction plans. Niesh further indicated that the 6000-man army and police forces have the capacity to face and combat any situation which might threaten Seaga's government. Winston Spaulding, Seaga's Minister of National Security, has "pledged all the assistance which the cabinet can afford" toward the security forces to decrease violence and crime in Jamaica.

To depoliticize the governmentirun media compri'sed of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, the Jamaica Daily News and the Agency for Public Information the Jamaica Labour Party has proposed to set up Ita non-partisan Public Media Commission, the membership of which would be selected by joint agreement of government and opposition.Il5 It would be the Commission's task to depoliticize and re-orient the government-run media, so that the media will not serve as a propaganda tool of the government.

The JLP has also proposed that the government-run Jamaica Daily News and Radio Jamaica be turned over to private ownership and control, while the government-run Jamaica Broadcasting Corpora tion television be used to.supplement education through academic programs John Huey Seaga Faces Some ilajor Obstacles in Restoring Jamaica's Economy The Wall Street Journal, November 3, 1980, p- 35.The Jamaica Labour Party, Change Without Chaos, A National Programme for Reconstruction (October 1980 The Media p. 26. I 8

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

During his November 1980 U.S. tour, Seaga visited several international lending organizations including the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to discuss and develop a lending program for Jamaica's reconstruction and to solve its immediate insolvency problem. Following exploratory talks with the IMF, Seaga announced-that Jamaica was eligible for loans up to 600 million over the next three years (1981-83 at attractive and concessionary rates of interest."However, the Jamaica Labour Party foresees financial short ages for its production expansion projects.

Therefore, it has devised a strategy to attract funds and foreign investments into the country through the formation of a '!Capital Development Bank." This bank project is designed to encourage foreign inves tors to assume operations in Jamaica by providing 'lequity and loan financing" for If joint-venture projects comprising foreign and Jamaican interests The Jamaica Labour Party will request that friendly governments and international development institu tions subscribe to the "initial authorized share capital of U.S 100 million" along with Jamaica r In order to obta,in an additional funding source for Jamaica's economic recovery, Seaga has initiated negotiations to resume channels of commercial credits for his country.

This task has been difficult due to Jamaica's poor credit ratings developed during the Manley years. Nevertheless, Seaga has been conducting negotiations with the I1commercial banking system'l to obtain letters of credit for the country's most "urgent needs." Further more, Seaga has had to initiate negotiations to refinance and reschedule Jamaica's external debt, which accounts for $898 million out of the country's llgross national debt" of $2.2 billion.Due to Jamaica's insufficient financial resources, the Seaga government has placed special emphasis on the country's two principal legal sources of foreign exchange and revenues, the bauxite and tourist industries. The recuperation and expansion of both these industries are of critical importance to the island's economic recovery particularly the tourist industry which has drastically deteriorated due to Jamaica's adverse image and violence.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

To remedy the depressed tourist industry, the Seaga Admini stration has initiated a program to improve tourist services including air transportation and tours: it is restoring historical sites and has begun an advertising campaign aimed at attracting tourists from abroad. The Seaga government has'also enacted a program to increase Jamaica's bauxite markets overseas, Darticular ly within the United States where the stockpile of bauxite is being increased for strategic purposes. Internally, the government has encouraged the country's two bauxite producing organizations Kaiser and Reynolds, to expand their operations in Jamaica In the case of agriculture, the Jamaica Labour Party govern- ment plans to initiate a program shortly to reactivate Jamaica's 11 I banana and sugar industries. The production of these agro industries.has drastically decreased during the Manley years because of insufficient funds and foreign exchange with which to purchase fertilizers, tractors and spare parts for farm-related equipment. Seagals agricultural program consists of improving irrigation facilities, allocating "foreign exchange for fertili zers chemicals, trucks, tractors, spare-parts, e I providing technical assistance, improving rural living conditions, providing production incentives, and promoting private ownership of farms instead of the state-manage'd cooperatives, which have failed to produce the needed crops In addition to the proposed programs to reactivate Jamaica's tourist, mining and agricultural industries, the Jamaica Labour Party has also designed a recovery program for the island's manufacturing and commercial enterprises.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

This program consists of allocating the necessary funds and foreign exchange to import the goods, spare parts, and raw materials required for this sector to resume production.Even though the Seaga government will reduce its involvement in commercial enterprises, it will continue to assume a major role in Jamaica's economy. The "monopoly-type enterprises in the utilities and transport sectors" will remain under the government's control. However, they will receive "proper management I' thereby providing the Jamaican .populace with improved services at lower costs. The Seaga government will also initiate several major public sector projects aimed at reducing the islandls unemployment crisis, reducing the rural migration to the urban areas, and providing improved services to all Jamaicans, particularly within the depressed rural areas. These public sector projects include a rural development program, aimed at improving the rural living and working conditions; a local transportation program, to link rural and urban areas through an improved railway network; an electricity generating program, to increase efficient electricity sources; a water program, to increase water supplies for both domestic and irrigation usage; a health program, to restore and upgrade medical facilities; and a youth program, to train young sters in certain skills and to keep them temporarily off the job markets.

However, because of its limited financial resources, the JLP government has set priorities Ifto meet Jamaica's most urgent needs for food, fuel and raw materials To fulfill its fuel requirements, the Seaga government has concluded two crude petro leum purchasing agreements at attractive terms with Venezuela and Mexico for processing in Jamaica's refinery. A third petroleum purchasing agreement is still un2er negotiation with Trinidad, as well as a $23.5 million Inter-American Development Bank loan for petroleum exploration within Jamaica. The government has also obtained limited funds and foreign exchange to import urgently needed raw materials and spare parts required by Jamaica's manu facturing industries, which currently are operating at less then 50 percent capacity; similarly, funds were obtained to import the country's short-term food needs 12 U.S. POLICY INITIATIVES With the elections of Edward Seaga as Prime Minister of Jamaica and Ronald Reagan as President of the United States to the Cuban centrally planned economy model within the Caribbean region To assist Jamaica in confronting its devastated economy the U.S. should provide financial assistance to rebuild the private sector and to meet Jamaica's most urgent requirements In the period following the rise to power of the Sandinista forces in Nicaragua, the United States provided over 100 million of assistance to this Marxist government.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

With the rise to power through free elections of a strong supporter of the free enterprise system, the United States should probably provide even greater assistance. Moreover, as indicated earlier in.this paper, the U.S. provided significant support to the Manley government and thus the level of assistance provided to Seaga may provide a test case to indicate whether the Reagan Administration intends to encourage developing governments to follow more conservative economic and political policies Jamaica has the potential of becoming an attractive alternative In the fiscal year 1981 program proposed by the outgoing Carter Administration, the U.S. promised to provide the Seaga government with 540 million in Economic Support Funds (ESF) to stimulate the private sector. Supplemental ESF possibly may be needed to help stabilize critical balance of payments problems the new government may confront.

Through existing ESF programs and other foreign assistance programs proposed under AID, the U.S. should be able to assist in Jamaica's economic reconstruction by restoring and expanding private sector production and employment, particularly within the depressed manufacturing and agricultural industries. Funds for these industries should rapidly be made available to import the needed spare parts, fertilizers, equipment, raw materials, and other products necessary to resume operations U.S. financial assistance should also be channeled to reactivate the tourist industry, improve and upgrade Jamaica's transportation services and help finance programs to provide Jamaica's poor with essential needs such as health and food.

With economic improvements Jamaica need not rely heavily on marijuana as a cash crop for foreign exchange, and the U.S. should do all that it can to stop the exportation of this product to our shores.Although substantial U.S. government assistance programs may provide vital help in the immediate future, ultimately Jamai.ca must succeed on its own. Rather than becoming deFendent on foreign grants, the Seaga government Ehould primarily encourage private sector investment and development. The U.S should use itsvarious programs to encourage foreign investment in Jamaica Such programs include the Trade and Development program or a possible use of OPIC insurance guarantees since Jamaica's per capita of GNP has fallen below $1,000. Moreover, the U.S. should 13 work through the International Financial Institutions to provide loans to -Jamaica..The overall objective of U.S. economic policy toward Jamaica should be to encourage their government to reduce its role in the economy and attract both foreign and local investment.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

This policy should also include the elimination of protective tariffs so that the consumer need not bear the burden for high government costs or inefficient industries. However, due to Jamaica's deteriorated economy, these policies should be implemented through a transitional p,eriod graduating from the present government controlled economy to a mixed economy, and thereafter to the ultimate goal of a free market economy must be remembered.that Cuba has lost an ally with the defeat of Manley, and it may instigate subversion on the island to create difficulties for Seaga To prevent this from occuring, the U.S should provide Jamaica's security forces with the training and equipment necessary to counter any aggression which threatens Jamaica's society or government Finally, Jamaica may confront some security problems. It CONCLUSION the poli for Few countries offer a better opportun Reagan Administration to both signal a cy and implement on a global basis its economic recovery. Under the previous i .ty than Jamaica for shift in foreign general prescriptions Manley Administration Jamaica aliqned herself with Cuba and adopted socialist economic policies which brought the country to the- brink of bankruptcy.Despite the foreign and domkstic policies pursued by the Manley government, the Carter Administration provided significant finan cial and political support to Jamaica This action contrasted sharply with policies pursued toward traditional allies of the U.S. in Latin America With the Caribbean now in economic and political chaos, the Reagan Administration has an opportunity to construct a new policy in the area built around nations which share our economic and diplomatic objectives.

Jamaica provides a sound basis for constructing such a new policy by encouraging economic growth through the free enterprise system and creating' new diplomatic initiatives to isolate the Castro regime and the Marxist revolu tionary movements now disrupting much of Central America. If successful in achieving economic recovery, Jamaica can provide an excellent alternative model to Cuba for other countries in the region tc emulate. At the same time Jamaica can also contribute to bringing political stability and security to the most volatile area in the Western hemisphere.Alexander Kruger Policy Analyst The author wishes to acknowledge the valuable research assistance provided by Neff Breen on this paper during his internship with The Heritage Foundation.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaica After the Election: Opportunity for Economic Recovery </span>

**Tuff Gong** · 06-29-2009, 01:07 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Jamaican Premier Hailed by Old Foes</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">By HOWARD W. FRENCH,
Published: Saturday, March 28, 1992</span>

For many who knew the Michael N. Manley of the 1970's, a White House dinner with President Bush on Tuesday seemed an unlikely way to cap off four decades of a sometimes strident, sometimes eloquent, but always energetic public life lived on the left.

But as he makes his final public appearances before stepping down on Saturday, roughly halfway into his third term as Prime Minister, Mr. Manley, who has been plagued by serious health problems, has found his calendar crowded with onetime political adversaries and ideological foes as well as friends seeking to wish him well.

Mr. Bush, speaking with reporters shortly before Mr. Manley's arrival for a private dinner with a handful of senior aides, called the the 67-year-old Jamaican leader "a great example" and added, "I just wanted to pay tribute to his leadership."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Arriving moments later, Mr. Manley said of himself and Mr. Bush, "We share a lot of common views." 'No Room for Millionaires'</span>

Two decades ago, when Mr. Bush was Director of Central Intelligence and Mr. Manley was serving his first term as Prime Minister, the Jamaican leader was a keen admirer of Fidel Castro, a prominent spokesman of militant third worldism and "a leader as magnetic as any that exists," a State Department briefing book of the era said.

Convinced that the United States was seeking to destabilize his Government, Mr. Manley preached to his followers that capitalism was "a morally bankrupt way of life," and urged his nation of two million to mobilize for national self-reliance.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">"Jamaica has no room for millionaires," he was widely quoted as saying in one famous speech. "For anyone who wants to be a millionaire, we have five flights a day to Miami."</span>

But when he was returned to office in 1989, nine years after losing to the conservative Jamaica Labor Party in an election marred by violence that followed Jamaica's economic decline under his stewardship, Mr. Manley was a changed politician. Ties Replace Ascots

Gone were the trademark two-piece shirt-jacket suits and ascots that he had favored over traditional business suits and ties, and gone also were the fiery anti-imperialist speeches. In their place, to the surprise of many, were cautious economic policies and a new warmth toward the United States.

Mr. Manley, who once championed state control of the economy, began urging his neighbors in the Caribbean to support Bush Administration economic initiatives like the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The turnabout won Mr. Manley many converts among Jamaica's conservative business class, which had once been deeply suspicious of him. It also won him the admiration of skeptics in Washington and rivals at home who saluted the change.

"It is not easy for men to reconsider their beliefs," said Edward R. Seaga, the leader of the opposition Jamaica Labor Party, Mr. Manley's constant and often bitter rival for the last quarter-century. "It takes a masterly command of the art of leadership to turn on their heels those who follow."

For his own part Mr. Manley, in a farewell speech before Parliament on Thursday, expressed confident satisfaction that his country had arrived at a broad consensus over an economic system he described as "built on entrepreneurship" and "the assumption that we have to compete in the world."

If Mr. Manley, who aides say plans to devote himself to teaching, lecturing and writing his memoirs, leaves behind a consensus over economic direction, many say his sudden departure leaves his party, the People's National Party, and Jamaican politics in disarray.

Although widely favored to win the prime ministership in a party convention to be held on Saturday, the man Mr. Manley was seen as grooming to succeed him, P. J. Patterson, was forced to resign as Deputy Prime Minister in early January amid indications that he approved a waiver of duties on gasoline imports for a member of the his party's governing board.

**Morpheous** · 06-29-2009, 05:04 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Humano</div><div class="ubbcode-body">hey TG, the man lives in the UK so I don't think he'll get the "short bus" joke. </div></div>
The joke is on her. She seem to be quite familiar with the short bus. I wind her up with a windup key and watch her blow a fuse. Works every time and quite an entertaining laugh for me

**johnnycakes** · 06-29-2009, 06:40 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Humano</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is reason to think that some members of the PNP (I'm not saying the PNP as a party) may have been involved in the coup in 1979 in which the Maurice Bishop-led New Jewel Movement (NJM) overthrew the sitting PM, Eric Gairy. Bernard Coard, who was in Jamaica during the period of 1976-78 at a lecturer at the UWI-Mona, met and became friends with Trevor Monroe. Coard joined the Marxist Workers Liberation League, the forerunner to the Workers Party of Jamaica which was founded by Trevor Monroe. I'm not sure if it was during his stay in Jamaica that he met his wife Phyllis who was also charged in the murder of Maurice Bishop.

The Workers Liberation League which became the Workers Party of Jamaica was a communist outfit and supported the PNP, only that they were more radical than the PNP. In fact, Bernard Coard was involved with communist activities wherever he went: when he was at Brandeis University in Boston, he joined the Communist party of the USA, and when he was a doctoral student at the University of Sussex in the UK, he joined the communist party of Britain. And when he lived in Jamaica, he sought out Jamaican communists and joined their organizations. He was to the left of Bishop whom he deemed insufficiently-communist and which led to the splitting of the NJM into two factions.

The fact is that while the Workers Party of Jamaica and the PNP were legally separate entities, they were aligned on many issues, and there were close relations between members of both parties. Some members divided their loyalties between both parties. It was with the backing of the WPJ that the PNP went ahead and pursued closer ties with Cuba. I won't say who the members of the PNP were who were close friends with Bernard and Phyllis Coard, but he did have some allies there, of course in addition to his buddy, Trevor Monroe and some lecturers at UWI. A close friend of mine who holds a PhD in history from UWI once told me that <span style="text-decoration: underline">some</span> of the planning of the Bernard Coard-led coup which deposed Bishop in 1983, as well as the coup four years earlier, may have been done in Jamaica.

So, yeah, there is reason to think that members of the PNP were involved in planning coups in Grenada. At the very least, there is strong circumstantial evidence for this.

This is my opinion.

BTW, you said Michael Manley was removed from power by the USA. You didn't prove this, except to post excerpts of articles claiming a plan of destabilization of Jamaica. If these were deliberate policies of the US government (and I'm not suggesting that the US is beyond these capabilities), can those claims be corroborated by de-classified materials?

I have shown you why Manley was not removed, but was voted out of power by the Jamaican people. </div></div>

Humano,

If you, like TG, wish to believe that Jamaica under a left leaning Manley was somehow exempt from the Cold War policy of the United States and that the Jamaican people alone were the ones that got Manley voted out of power, so be it.. Of course they voted him out. The created rice and oil shortages, the increased violence, the disastrous cut-off of IMF and other agency loans and who knows what ever else in the CIA bag of tricks (also used in Chile 1973) are what, in large part, precipitated making Manley unpopular.

It is standard operating procedure for destabilizing a country and the CIA and other covert U.S. agencies are masters of it and it is particularly easy in a country like Jamaica where rumor is king.

There is enough information available to make U.S. destabilization of Jamaica a near certainty. As said by the CIA and Seaga, an agency such as the CIA and its operatives never admit anything about covert activities .

The information on the destabilization held in CIA files has been locked up by Bush II despite the law which is supposed to make 25 year old info public and it is my bet that the Saviour Obama will not be the one to make that information public. It is too embarrassing for the government.

Sure, Cuba and Grenada were subject to the Cold War but not Jamaica.

It's just not at all likely.

**Dr.Dudd** · 06-29-2009, 06:57 PM

Re: Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jama

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: johnnycakes</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Humano</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is reason to think that some members of the PNP (I'm not saying the PNP as a party) may have been involved in the coup in 1979 in which the Maurice Bishop-led New Jewel Movement (NJM) overthrew the sitting PM, Eric Gairy. Bernard Coard, who was in Jamaica during the period of 1976-78 at a lecturer at the UWI-Mona, met and became friends with Trevor Monroe. Coard joined the Marxist Workers Liberation League, the forerunner to the Workers Party of Jamaica which was founded by Trevor Monroe. I'm not sure if it was during his stay in Jamaica that he met his wife Phyllis who was also charged in the murder of Maurice Bishop.

The Workers Liberation League which became the Workers Party of Jamaica was a communist outfit and supported the PNP, only that they were more radical than the PNP. In fact, Bernard Coard was involved with communist activities wherever he went: when he was at Brandeis University in Boston, he joined the Communist party of the USA, and when he was a doctoral student at the University of Sussex in the UK, he joined the communist party of Britain. And when he lived in Jamaica, he sought out Jamaican communists and joined their organizations. He was to the left of Bishop whom he deemed insufficiently-communist and which led to the splitting of the NJM into two factions.

The fact is that while the Workers Party of Jamaica and the PNP were legally separate entities, they were aligned on many issues, and there were close relations between members of both parties. Some members divided their loyalties between both parties. It was with the backing of the WPJ that the PNP went ahead and pursued closer ties with Cuba. I won't say who the members of the PNP were who were close friends with Bernard and Phyllis Coard, but he did have some allies there, of course in addition to his buddy, Trevor Monroe and some lecturers at UWI. A close friend of mine who holds a PhD in history from UWI once told me that <span style="text-decoration: underline">some</span> of the planning of the Bernard Coard-led coup which deposed Bishop in 1983, as well as the coup four years earlier, may have been done in Jamaica.

So, yeah, there is reason to think that members of the PNP were involved in planning coups in Grenada. At the very least, there is strong circumstantial evidence for this.

This is my opinion.

BTW, you said Michael Manley was removed from power by the USA. You didn't prove this, except to post excerpts of articles claiming a plan of destabilization of Jamaica. If these were deliberate policies of the US government (and I'm not suggesting that the US is beyond these capabilities), can those claims be corroborated by de-classified materials?

I have shown you why Manley was not removed, but was voted out of power by the Jamaican people. </div></div>

Humano,

If you, like TG, wish to believe that Jamaica under a left leaning Manley was somehow exempt from the Cold War policy of the United States and that the Jamaican people alone were the ones that got Manley voted out of power, so be it.. Of course they voted him out. The created rice and oil shortages, the increased violence, the disastrous cut-off of IMF and other agency loans and who knows what ever else in the CIA bag of tricks (also used in Chile 1973) are what, in large part, precipitated making Manley unpopular.

It is standard operating procedure for destabilizing a country and the CIA and other covert U.S. agencies are masters of it and it is particularly easy in a country like Jamaica where rumor is king.

There is enough information available to make U.S. destabilization of Jamaica a near certainty. As said by the CIA and Seaga, an agency such as the CIA and its operatives never admit anything about covert activities .

The information on the destabilization held in CIA files has been locked up by Bush II despite the law which is supposed to make 25 year old info public and it is my bet that the Saviour Obama will not be the one to make that information public. It is too embarrassing for the government.

Sure, Cuba and Grenada were subject to the Cold War but not Jamaica.

It's just not at all likely.

</div></div>It was declassified for a while and then some criminal pettitioned for it to be almist deleted. So it was withdrawn andis due in anither few years. I don't know if Ibama would mane it happen, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Copies are still available though from th eorogonsl declasified ones,from some college libraries under international relations dept.

Michael Manley was the only dirty Prime Minister of Jamaica

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