VZCZCXRO3017
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHKG #0972/01 3221906
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171906Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6960
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0529
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 2342
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

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 
 
KINGSTON 00000972  002 OF 002 
 
 
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