JAMAICA: FATAL SHOOTING MARS ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF RULING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000972

SIPDIS, SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR (ANDRE CADIEUX)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ASEC SNAR SOCI KCOR JM XL
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: FATAL SHOOTING MARS ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF RULING
JAMAICA LABOUR PARTY

REF: (A) 07 KINGSTON 1336 (042044Z SEP 07)
(B) KINGSTON 626 (151330Z JUL 08)
(C) KINGSTON 571 (251519Z JUN 08)
(D) 07 KINGSTON 1681 (192007Z NOV 07)
(E) 07 KINGSTON 1462 (251614Z SEP 07)
(F) 07 KINGSTON 1237 (092125Z AUG 07)
(G) KINGSTON 707 (052139Z AUG 08)
(H) 06 KINGSTON 2251 (201627Z NOV 06)

Summary and Comment
--------------

1.(SBU) The fatal shooting of one man and wounding of two others
marred the annual conference of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party
(JLP) on November 16 in Kingston. An altercation apparently erupted
when a JLP supporter was denied access to a controlled area behind
the stage at the rear of the National Arena; the police then
intervened and shot a man who had drawn a pistol. Party Chairman
and Prime Minister Bruce Golding and other JLP officials did a
masterful job of calming the thousands of delegates and finished the
one-day conference peacefully, painting the picture of a dedicated
Government coping with global economic turmoil as well as could be
expected.
End Summary and Comment.

2.(SBU) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Trade Dr. Kenneth Baugh, JLP General Secretary and Minister
of Industry and Commerce Karl Samuda, JLP "G2K" Youth Wing President
Senator Warren Newby, Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture Olivia
Grange, and JLP Area Councilors and Members-of-Parliament James
Robertson, Horace Chang (Minister of Housing and Water),and Audley
Shaw (Minister of Finance) addressed an overflow crowd of thousands
at the annual conference of the ruling JLP held November 16 at the
National Arena in Kingston. In their presentations, the JLP leaders
emphasized:

(A) the extraordinarily difficult circumstances which have
confronted the JLP Government since it took office just over a year
ago (reftels A,B,C),including resurgent inflation (17 percent),
rising oil, food, and commodity prices, severe damage from
hurricanes Dean and Gustav, and the current global economic
recession;

(B) the chaotic state of Government finances inherited by the JLP
after eighteen years of rule by the People's National Party (PNP);

(C) nevertheless, the solid foundation laid by the current JLP
government during its first year in office;

(D) the JLP Government's achievements in abolition of education and
hospital fees, infrastructure planning, combating corruption, and
re-establishing the country's good relations with the World Bank,
Inter-American Development Bank, and Caribbean Development Bank.

Shooting Incident
--------------

3.(SBU) As Shaw was speaking, two shots rang out from the just
behind the main stage near the back entrance to the arena, and
screams were heard. To their credit, on the main floor of the arena
Shaw and Samuda managed to keep the densely packed crowd under
control for several minutes while police and security officers
rushed to the scene of the shooting. According to the Embassy's
Motor Pool Supervisor, who was parked a short distance away, a mad
rush of party supporters ensued outside the arena, with people
taking cover wherever they could. One of the gunmen threw a pistol
beneath a vehicle and tried to escape on foot, but was apprehended.


4.(SBU) While reports are still fragmentary, an altercation
apparently had erupted when someone was denied access to a
controlled area behind the stage at the rear of the arena, and the
police then intervened. JLP supporters from the Mountain View
neighborhood of Kingston and from Spanish Town (reftels , G),both
highly volatile areas with histories of gang-related violence, are
believed to have been involved. After police reportedly had shot
one person, onlookers began hurling abuse and stones at them, but
within a few minutes calm had returned. Authorities have not yet
released the identity of the one man killed; at least two others
were wounded. There is no indication that any of those involved in
the incident were supporters of the opposition People's National
Party (PNP).

5.(SBU) Back inside the arena, Prime Minister and JLP Party Leader
Bruce Golding proceeded to deliver the main address, the principal
theme of which, ironically, was Jamaica's serious crime problem.
When announcing the shooting death, Golding said that in all the

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years since 1968, when he had begun attending annual JLP
conferences, nothing like this incident ever had occurred. He
stressed that the JLP had not needed guns to win the last election,
and would not need them to win the next one; any JLP supporters
prone to violence should quit the Party. He then moved on to topics
ranging from the privatization of Air Jamaica to current pressures
on the exchange rate and budget, painting the picture of a dedicated
Government coping with global economic turmoil as well as anyone
reasonably could expect. (Comment: Under the strained circumstances
in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Golding did a masterful
job of finishing up the one-day conference.)
HEG