Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0198/01982.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 39KB | 606 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01982}
$Pretitle{233J}
$Title{Jamaica
Chapter 2D.   National Security}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Rex A. Hudson, Daniel J. Seyler}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{jamaica
security
police
jdf
training
military
prison
jcf
national
political}
$Date{1987}
$Log{}
Country:     Jamaica
Book:        Caribbean Commonwealth, An Area Study: Jamaica
Author:      Rex A. Hudson, Daniel J. Seyler
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1987

Chapter 2D.   National Security

     During its long history as a British colony, Jamaica looked to London for
its defense and security needs. Unlike many Hispanic countries of Latin
America, including nearby Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Jamaica remained
immune from foreign military intervention while under British protection.
Jamaica reciprocated by supporting Britain's war efforts. As a member of the
British West Indies, Jamaica participated in World War I by sending over
10,000 men to the front.

     After World War II broke out, the United States became the recognized
protector of the British West Indies, acquiring a ninety-nine-year lease for
base rights in Jamaica and other islands under the Lend-Lease Agreement (also
called the Bases-for-Destroyers Agreement) of 1941 (see The Strategic Setting,
ch 7). Jamaica also became a part of North Atlantic defense preparations,
hosting United States naval and air bases. Many volunteers from Jamaica joined
the various services, particularly the Royal Air Force. The Jamaica Contingent
of the First Battalion of the West India Regiment went overseas in May 1944.
When the war ended, the United States deactivated its bases in Jamaica, and
Britain reassumed responsibility for Jamaica's defense and foreign affairs
until independence. On August 7, 1962, the day after independence, Bustamante
announced that the United States was free to establish a military base in
Jamaica without any obligation to provide aid in return, but the offer was
declined. Nevertheless, as the Castro regime consolidated its power in Cuba
during the 1960s and the Soviet military presence in the region expanded,
Jamaica's importance to United States national security interests grew.

     Jamaica experienced no direct military threat during its first twenty-
five years as an independent state; in the early 1980s, however, it had to
deal with indirect threats to its national security interests posed by Cuban
activities in Jamaica and by the events in Grenada. The Seaga government
handled the issue of the Cuban presence in Jamaica by expelling the Cubans and
breaking diplomatic relations in 1981 (see Relations with Communist Countries,
this ch.). Seaga's concerns about Grenada's undemocratic practices in the
1979-83 period and its close ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union also prompted
his government to take a more active regional security role. Jamaica did not,
however, sign the 1982 memorandum that established the Regional Security
System (RSS) in the Eastern Caribbean (see A Regional Security System, ch. 7).
When Maurice Bishop was overthrown and assassinated by the short-lived
Coard-Austin regime in October 1983, the Seaga government's concern turned to
alarm. Jamaica joined several members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean
States in an appeal for United States military intervention in Grenada to
restore order and democracy and then participated in a joint United
States-Caribbean military operation in Grenada (see Current Strategic
Considerations, ch. 7). Jamaica, whose population favored the joint military
action by a 56-percent majority, also provided the largest Caribbean
contingent (250 troops) to the peacekeeping force in Grenada from late October
1983 to June 1985. The Seaga government continued actively to support security
cooperation among the Commonwealth Caribbean islands by having Jamaican troops
participate in regional military exercises, such as Operation "Exotic Palm" in
September 1985. In addition, Jamaica cooperated with the United States and RSS
member states on regional security matters by holding joint military and
narcotics interdiction exercises and by offering some training and technical
assistance to the Eastern Caribbean.

The Public Security Forces

     Jamaica has endorsed measures to ensure security of the Western
Hemisphere but has not participated in any formal defense agreements. Despite
its proximity to Cuba, Jamaica has not felt a need to maintain a large defense
force, perhaps because it has always had powerful protectors. Even with the
support of the police, the armed forces would be totally inadequate to resist
foreign military aggression, especially from Cuba. Like the other
English-speaking island nations in the Caribbean, Jamaica would have to rely
on the assistance of a powerful ally in the event of outside military
aggression. The nation's combined forces also would be inadequate to control a
significant internal disturbance. Jamaica has not been threatened by military
or mercenary invasion or internal insurgencies, however, in part because of
its powerful allies but also because of its traditional political stability
and its relative isolation from mainland countries and the more vulnerable
Eastern Caribbean microstates.

     In 1987 the Ministry of National Security (which had included the justice
portfolio during 1974-86) remained responsible for maintaining the internal
and external security of the island, but it no longer administered justice.
This ministry oversaw the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), Jamaica Constabulary
Force (JCF), and the correctional programs and institutions. The Ministry of
National Security's 1986 budget allocation was approximately US$69 million for
current expenses and US$6.5 million for capital expenses, accounting for 5.9
percent of the central government's budget. In 1984 US$38 million of the
ministry's budget was allocated to the JCF. The JDF budget declined in the
1980s for budgetary reasons; it was approximately US$20 million in 1986, as
compared with US$25.4 million in 1985 and US$38.9 million in 1984.

     Although traditionally apolitical, both the JDF and the JCF were subject
to governmental policy directives. Their commanders--the JCF commissioner and
the JDF chief of staff, respectively--were responsible for managing their
respective forces on a day-to-day basis. JCF and JDF commanders explained in
December 1986 that the minister of national security could make suggestions or
recommendations to either force and that the JDF or JCF high commands could
consider them as they saw fit.

The Armed Forces

     In late 1987, Jamaica's combined armed forces, the JDF, consisted of a
ground force supported by small air and coastal patrol contingents. Although
not strictly an army, the JDF is referred to as such in common parlance. Its
mission was to defend the country against aggression and to support the JCF,
as required, in maintaining essential services and in protecting the civil
population in the event of a disaster. The JDF also was responsible for
coastal surveillance and air-sea rescue operations. In addition, the JDF has
supported antidrug operations; since early 1982, JDF Eradication Units have
helped to destroy marijuana crops and illegal air strips. Since the defense
portfolio was dropped in the 1970s, the JDF has been under the minister of
national security. As in the other Commonwealth Caribbean islands, the prime
minister is the de facto head of the defense forces.

     The predominant element in the JDF is the Jamaica Regiment, whose origins
go back to the West India Regiment that was founded in 1798 and used by the
British in the American Revolution and various colonial campaigns in West
Africa, as well as during World War I. The regiment, reconstituted as the New
West India Regiment, formed the core of the defense force of the short-lived
West Indies Federation in 1958-62. After the federation disintegrated, the
First Battalion and Third Battalion of the regiment became the First Battalion
and Third Battalion of the Jamaica Reg