Friend or foe?
Did you know that 76 people in Jamaica were gunned down in the last week? Are you aware that 700 Jamaicans have been detained since the government’s attempt to arrest Christopher Coke started? You may know this information from following the news, but there is one piece of information that seems to remain unanswered: Who is the real threat in Jamaica? Is it Coke and his supporters or is it the government? I certainly do not have the answer to this question, but there seems to be some sort of cover-up.
Michael "Dudus" Coke
I first heard of Jamaica being under a state of emergency last Monday. I had just gotten home from school, and wasn’t paying much attention to the story until I heard the reporter say, “Some people look at him [Coke] as a Robin Hood.” That statement struck me as odd because most neighborhoods don’t care for people who are the source of trouble in their neighborhood. I know Jamaica is different from the United States, but I thought to myself that there must be more to this story, and sure enough, there was.
According to a New York Times article, Jamaican politicians ally with drug lords for political reasons. Because these drug lords supply the people in their neighborhoods with the food and resources that the government fails to provide, they have the influence over the people that Jamaican politicians need to win votes. The United States attempted to expedite Coke previously, but the Jamaican government refused to cooperate. What made the government suddenly change its mind? Why is it now ready to turn Coke over and why is it so desperate to do so?
In a recent TimesOnline article, Coke stated that the government, particularly Prime Minister Bruce Golding, is trying to kill him in order to prevent him from exposing Golding. Coke stated that if he is arrested by the Jamaican government, he will be killed just as his father was. Coke is allegedly trying to seek political asylum overseas as a result.
Is the Jamaican government hiding information or is Coke trying to come up with a plan to flee? According to CNN.com, Jamaican residents told reporters that the government had been burning citizens. In a different news story, the residents of Tivoli Gardens tried to get journalists to investigate a cemetery, where they said the government forces secretly buried some of the people they had killed during the upheaval. The government denied both the claim of a cemetery and burning people. Some Jamaican citizens stated that the people of Tivoli Gardens began shooting at the cops first. With all of these stories, it’s hard to determine who’s responsible for all that’s happened. Who do you think is the real bad guy?
