| With winter upon us, many Canadians consider a holiday in the Caribbean.
They care little about the political culture of the island they will be visiting. But each of these places is more than just "the beach." They have complex histories. This is especially true of the larger islands, such as Jamaica.
The third largest island in the Caribbean, Jamaica is 10,991 square kilometres in area, with 2.75 million people. Almost all Jamaicans are of African origin, with small minorities of east Indians, Chinese and Lebanese Arabs.
The first European to see Jamaica was Christopher Columbus, and the island was claimed in 1509 by the Spanish, under whose rule the native Arawak people all died, to be replaced by African slave labour. It remained a classical sugarcane and cotton plantation economy after its conquest by the British in 1655. By the 1930s the struggle for self-rule was led by Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley. Each leader eventually created his own party, Manley organizing the People’s National Party (PNP) in 1938 and Bustamante the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 1943.
Independence was granted in 1962, with agriculture, bauxite and tourism the basis for economic development. But even though Jamaica was by the early 1970s the second largest bauxite producer in the world, the industry was capital intensive and employed only one per cent of the labour force. Earnings were not reinvested into the Jamaican economy.
Michael Manley, Norman’s son, who became PNP leader in 1969, won the election of 1972. He asserted greater control over the transnational corporations, forcing them to plow more money back into Jamaica. The multinationals resisted Manley: foreign capital dried up and the economy was brought to the point of collapse. In 1979, the government was forced to seek loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In 1980, Manley lost power to the JLP. The country’s new leader, Edward
Seaga, imposed neoliberal economic policies and opened the country to foreign investment. Though there was initial economic growth, the post-1982 recession hit Jamaica hard and reduced demand for the island’s sugar and bauxite. There were also fewer tourists. Unemployment and inflation rose, while social services declined.
Not surprisingly, in 1989 Manley made a comeback, beating Seaga with strong support from workers and the poor. Manley had mellowed during his years out of office. He sought rapprochement with the United States and even privatized some state-owned industry. Nonetheless, per capita income continued to drop and many Jamaicans left for Canada, Great Britain and the U.S.
In ill health, Manley retired in 1992 and was succeeded by Percival J. Patterson. The privatization process continued, and the economy slowly improved. Patterson subsequently led the PNP to victory in general elections in 1993, 1997 and 2002. Patterson, who had by 2006 become Jamaica's longest-serving prime minister, stepped down a year ago, to be replaced by Portia Simpson-Miller. She became the first woman in the country’s history to hold the position.
Jamaica continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from remittances, tourism and bauxite. Indeed, money sent home from the expatriate communities, estimated at up to $800 million U.S. per year, makes increasingly significant contributions to Jamaica's economy. The nation continues to face serious problems, including large-scale unemployment and underemployment and a considerable trade deficit. (Canada takes 15 per cent of Jamaican exports and is also a major source of tourists.)
Simpson-Miller needs to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously trying to bring down an unemployment rate that stands at 11.5 per cent. Poverty has increased the level of crime, which in turn hampers economic growth. The government is hoping that continued privatization, financial sector
restructuring and the boosting of tourism will turn things around before the next election. Of course none of this will be easy.
Henry Srebrnik teaches political studies at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown. |
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