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“The Economist” paints grim picture of Caribbean
By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
~~Adz:Left~~ BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Caribbean has been painted in a not so favourable light as an article which appeared in “The Economist” names the region as the world leader in violent crimes.
The article, entitled “Sun, Sea and Murder”, which appeared online at http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609414 makes reference to the most recent case of mass murder that took place in Guyana where 11, inclusive of five children, were shot to death. It further states, however, that notwithstanding the gruesome nature of the incident, “many of Guyana's neighbours suffer even worse violence”.
The article notes that the Caribbean, which is “better known for its blue skies, cricket and rum punch”, is ahead of the world relative to crimes of violence. In driving the point further home, the article made reference to a joint UN-World Bank Study conducted in 2007, which informed that 30 in every 100,000 of the Caribbean’s inhabitants are murder victims. This equates to “four times the North American figure and 15 times the West/Central European average.”
The “world’s most murderous country”, as stated in the article, is Jamaica followed by El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela.
Even more alarming is that the article reports that smaller islands in the Caribbean, regardless of their wealth or size, seem to be gaining momentum on these countries.
“Pretty little St. Kitts, with just 40,000 inhabitants, suffered three murders in four days last November. The Prosperous Bahamas are far more dangerous that impoverished Guyana. In Trinidad and Tobago, the murder rate has quadrupled over the past decade, despite a fall in unemployment from 18% in 1994 to 5% last year.”
The article not only identified symptoms of the problem but went on to inform of what might be the underlying problem; drug-trafficking.
“The common factor behind this violence is the illegal drugs trade, which provides gangs with cash and weapons. But the link with narcotics is not simple. Since the 1990s, cocaine shipments in the Caribbean have stabilised while murder rates have soared.
Suriname, no slouch in the drugs business, has the region's safest streets. Violence surges when gang politics are unsettled. Fights break out over turf, bad debts or deals gone sour. Rivalries peak when supplies run dry, and when arrests or deaths create a leadership vacuum.”
Measures are being taken by the Caribbean countries to curtail the incidence of drug-trafficking but, according to The Economist’s article, the fight might prove lengthy.
“Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados are now strengthening their coastguards to choke the influx of drugs and guns - though this may simply force the drug barons to shift their trade elsewhere. On land, where police services are creaky and their staff sometimes corrupt, reform is under way, but will be a long haul. Even when arrests are made, it can be years before the culprits are brought to trial. Removing the glamour of gangland crime for the region's disaffected youth will take even longer.”
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