Politicians in other English-speaking liberal democracies understand that once they toss their hats into the ring, all aspects of their past and present lives will be put under a microscope.

In most cases, the problem is not that governments are weak; it is that they are complicit, deliberately supporting criminal groups for the sake of both power and enrichment. In Bangladesh, Jamaica, and Nigeria, for example, political parties hire criminal gangs to herd their voters to the polls during elections and scare away the opposition, then protect the gangs between campaigns. — www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/review-essay/2019-04-16/real-killer

Dear Sirs  
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls.  Who steals my purse steals trash...  But he that filches from me my good name , Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed.

When I came back to Jamaica from school in Canada in 1989, the $JA:US rate was 5.75. By 1994 it was over 33, a 583% increase in 5 years. It is now 141, meaning a 2,452% increase over 30 years. Given this historical context, the five to ten percent fluctuations of recent years are hardly worth panicking about.

"The greatest party in sports' -- as the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) bills itself -- really is the greatest party in sports. As anyone who has been there can attest, there is no 'vibesier' experience than a Jamaica Tallawahs match at Sabina Park. It's a simply wonderful combination of music, laughter, conversation, and cricket lovely cricket."

To many, the 1976 election was socialism defeating capitalism, and a new Jamaica dawning. Minister of National Mobilisation Donald Keith ‘DK’ Duncan vowed to “de-legitimise old values, change socio-economic mindsets, and inculcate compatible perspectives.”

Caricom is the planet’s largest grouping of mature democracies outside the European Union. For over 40 years, every member country (except Haiti and Suriname) has maintained a free press and independent judiciary, and regularly held free and fair elections.

In 2016 Jamaica had the world’s highest violent death rate for females, and the sixth highest in total. www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/U-Reports/SAS-Report-GVD2017.pdf Our paradise island ranked overall below Syria, Venezuela, El Salvador, Honduras, Afghanistan, and above Iraq, Libya, Somalia. But we were easily number one for slaughtering women, and remain so.