Jamaica

The CARICOM Blueprint for Illicit Drug Trafficking

This analysis was prepared by Melissa Beale, Research Associate for the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
December 28, 2011
The CARICOM Blueprint for Illicit Drug Trafficking

Drug trafficking and related violence is on the rise throughout the Caribbean at a time that the region is being heavily influenced by organized Latin American criminal groups. U.S./Mexico border controls have been profoundly tightened, resulting in a growing spillover of drugs into the wider Caribbean. The Caribbean’s natural landscapes and diffuse geographical locations make it appealing for drug traffickers who take advantage of such terrain that features long often uncontrolled coastlines and mountainous...

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An Economy Blinded by the Sun

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Amanda Knarr
September 23, 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk

It’s a Small World After All As globalization has carried with it a greater degree of potential for economic integration among different nations, the tiny English-speaking Caribbean states are fighting for their place in an ever-shrinking world. Aside from the potential boon associated with globalization, the spread of free trade and increased competition between transnational corporations could pose another considerable threat to vulnerable Caribbean nations that are often ill-equipped to retaliate against more economically...

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One-way Ticket or Circular Flow: Changing Stream of Remittances to Latin America

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Trevor Cohen
August 4, 2011
One-way Ticket or Circular Flow: Changing Stream of Remittances to Latin America

Inside houses held together by a collection of sticks, mud brick and plastic table cloths one can hear the hum of a stainless-steel refrigerator and the shrill buzz of a flickering thirty-inch color television set.  These appliances of modern convenience mix casually with poverty, a contrast almost obscenely commonplace throughout many parts of Latin America and especially Central America. Small towns in the campo, where unemployment seems to run close to  90 percent and the...

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U.S. Caribbean Policy Expands to Renewable Energy Initiatives

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Naomi Glassman
July 7, 2011

Source: U.S. Dept. of State Official Blog On June 22, Secretary Clinton attended the High-Level Caribbean-U.S. Conference to discuss progress in the areas of regional security and renewable energy. She reported a funding increase from USD 44 million to USD 77 million in the fiscal year 2011 for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), a program which consists of counter-trafficking and maritime security programs. Adding to the security funding, Secretary Clinton also announced the conferral of...

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Jamaica: Different Drug War, Different Strategy

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Katherine Haas
May 25, 2010

A state of emergency was declared in certain areas of Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday, as violence broke out over the extradition of accused drug lord and local hero Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Coke is the alleged head of the “Shower Posse,” a gang that has committed scores of drug-related murders in both Jamaica and the United States since the 1980s. Washington is seeking the extradition of Coke based on charges lodged in the U.S. for...

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