Caribbean & Central America - April 2017 (ISSN 1741-4458)

*** JAMAICA’S PEOPLE’S NATIONAL PARTY (PNP) CHANGES LEADER. Former prime minister Portia Simpson Miller has stepped down as leader of Jamaica’s main opposition PNP. She is replaced by Peter Phillips.

Phillips was appointed by the party membership “by acclamation” on 26 March, and his first act as new leader was to attack the government’s plans to give more power to the security forces in the fight against crime. Just hours after his promotion, he said: “The solution to crime is not to be rooted in having the state unleash more violence on the people or in passing laws that take away people’s rights.”

Phillips said the solution lay in community-based projects and determination. He said: “Look at August Town. A few years ago August Town was being overrun by violence until the community decided to organise to stop it.”

The target of Phillips’s criticism was the introduction of three security-related bills on 21 March by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, leader of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Amongst other things, the measures enable the prime minister, on the advice of the National Security Council, to declare any high-crime area a zone for special security operations for up to two months. This will enable the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), acting with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), to establish a security cordon around the zone for a period of 24 hours. The joint force will also be able to impose a 72-hour curfew.

Members of the joint JDF-JCF force are empowered to search any place, vehicle, or person without a warrant if they have suspicions that a crime has been or is about to be committed. They are also able to seize property and documents when deemed necessary to protect public order.

*** GUYANA BUILDING OIL INFRASTRUCTURE. Following major offshore oil finds, which should begin to come on stream in 2020, Guyana has announced that it is to build a US$500m onshore facility on Crab Island in the Berbice River. It will serve as a logistics and supply base. The facility is expected to create 600 jobs.

*** MASS DEMONSTRATIONS IN SURINAME. On 6-7 April, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Suriname’s capital Paramaribo to demonstrate against increases in the prices of fuel, water, and electricity. There have been further demonstrations since, and on 18 April riot police arrested several protesters including a union leader during the fourth protest in the capital.

The move by the government led by President Desi Bouterse to increase prices has come as a result of the sharp fall in revenue from gold and oil since 2015. However, union leader Roddy Berenstein summed up the protesters’ anger by saying: “What has been done since the Bouterse-led administration came into power in 2010 and again in 2015 has resulted in extreme hardship for the people.” He said that the protests would continue until the price rises were reversed.

The government appears to be sticking to its guns, and the Ministry of Education has warned teachers that any participating in the demonstrations during the working week will suffer deductions from their salaries. Wilgo Valies, president of the Association of Teachers, responded by warning the government: “We will fight to the bitter end for a better life, better wages, and better positions.” He said teachers would not be intimidated. Valies was one of those arrested on 18 April.