Kristen Bricker has written an excellent article about Jamaica's security situation and how we should understand the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI). Bricker shows what the experiences of similar military-led interventions like Mexico's Mérida Initiative and Plan Colombia mean for the CBSI and Jamaica.

An excerpt of the article is below:

"The US government claims that “Developing [the CBSI] became a priority as the Merida Initiative began yielding positive results in Mexico and Central America, making the Caribbean an increasingly attractive transit zone for transnational organized criminals, terrorists and illicit traffickers.” Nonetheless, the US government’s own International Narcotics Control Strategy Report appears to contradict this claim: Mexico’s drug production has increased over the course of Mexico’s military-led drug war, while drug seizures and eradication are down. The percentage of US-bound cocaine that passes through Mexico has remained constant at 90 percent."

To read the entire article, click here: