WikiLeaks, Hillary Clinton , Dudus Coke and the Jamaica PMs wife

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/239791
<snip>
1. (C) Lorna Golding, the wife of Prime Minister (PM) Bruce Golding, told Post's Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Patricia Attkisson that she believes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is under the "pernicious influence" of U.S. Representative Charles Rangel regarding the contentious U.S. extradition request for Christopher "Dudus" Coke. In an often surreal and disjointed conversation, Mrs. Golding alleged that Congressman Rangel is a "sympathizer" of the opposition People's National Party (PNP) who is "manipulated" by PNP elements in the Jamaican diaspora in the U.S. and is "whispering in Secretary Clinton's ear" in order to "downgrade" the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Government of Jamaica (GOJ). Mrs. Golding also blamed this cabal for the White House's delay in naming a new ambassador and the GOJ's difficulties in finalizing a Standby Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Although it appears unlikely that Mrs. Golding was delivering a message on behalf of the PM, Mrs. Golding's rambling comments and penchant for sharing conspiracy theories with a key member of the U.S. Embassy community is consistent with a growing sense among many of indecisiveness and a lack of direction on the part of the PM and the JLP. End Summary and Analysis.



People are screaming with laughter here in Kingston. This is the only topic in town today.
She makes Palin look like Einstein in the worst of times. :rofl:

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[shireen]

1. for those of us unfamiliar with Jamaican politics,

could you give us some background?

[malaise]

4. It's all linked to the Dudus Coke extradition

which was the major political story this year. Coke is the son of Lester Lloyd Coke aka Jim Brown, the former head of the notorious Showers Posse. Coke was the leading drug don under Seaga and the Member of Parliament for the West Kingston constituency is now the current Prime Minister. Bruce Golding (Lorna Golding's husband)
The USG and GOJ have treaties which facilitate extradition of suspected criminals.
A request came in for Coke and GOJ did everything to prevent the extradition including linking up with Manatt Phelps and Phillips (a prominent law firm in the US).
When this was exposed by an opposition MP in Parliament, the PM denied that GOJ had hired the firm to lobby the USG to prevent the extradition.
Meanwhile in the Western Kingston constituency citizens blocked all entrances to prevent the police and soldiers from entering to find Coke. They burned down a police station and a State of Emergency was declared. Nearly 100 people were killed in the madness. Of course Coke had long left the area and wasn't found for some time.

He is now awaiting trial in New York.

The cables are more proof that the government was doing everything to prevent the extradition.


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[jwirr]

2. Interesting.

[truedelphi]

3. Like Shireen (poster above) states,

most of us would love to be clued in a bit so we too can relate to this.

I doubt if any of us understand the political setup in Jamaica. (Other than very loosely - as in the oppression that has existed on the Islands since after Columbus arrived and the thing about white people being superior to anyone of darker skin.)

But I know I'd love a lil more background, so please feel free to explain.

[malaise]

5. Some more links

http://www.jamaicanjournal.com/index.php/2009/10/25/extradition_request_for_christopher_dudu


http://rjrnewsonline.com/topics/extradition-christopher-dudus-coke

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/24/christopher-dudus-coke-us-extradition-jamaica

Note in the cable that a comment was made about the JLPs links to the Republicans - they did back Kissenger interfering here and Bush, Snr., Reagan et al gave us our version of the Shock Doctrine in the late 70s and 80s. The morons who came to power in 2007 believed they would find the same arrangements in place.

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