The IMF’s Role in Caribbean Gang Violence

Organized crime has plagued the Caribbean for decades. Christopher “Dudus” Coke of Jamaica’s “Shower Posse” oversaw a sprawling North American narcotics network during the 1990s and 2000s, which funded concerts and vital charities for the poor on the side, and collapsed after a 2010 police shootout that killed over 73 civilians. In Haiti, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier and his G9 Family and Allies have seized majority-control over the capital city of Port-au-Prince and are now fighting a UN-backed security coalition that includes Jamaican armed forces. These two islands, despite their distinct present circumstances, are linked by a shared history of disastrous Western intervention and subsequent financial devastation.

AmericasBy Josh EmokpaeJuly 21, 2025haiti, jamaica, gangs, gang, crime, economy, capitalism, socialism, cold war, IMF, austerity, PNP, JLP, G9, Dudus

El Salvador in the Age of the “Mega Prison”

El Salvador ultimately arrested 67,203 people, a population roughly equivalent in size to the town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. And as detainment figures continued to stack up to nearly 2 percent of the adult population, Bukele’s personal war against the gangs eventually arrived at the unveiling of the aforementioned mega prison itself in February of this year.

AmericasBy Will FullerMay 27, 2023El Salvador, prison, mega prison, drugs, violence, gangs, war, rule of law, Americas, Latin America