dudus.

christopher coke aka dudus, leader of the jamaican labour party aligned shower posse, has probably slipped away after some fierce gun battles in the tivoli gardens slum of kingston, jamaica. the invasion of the shower posse controlled garrison in western downtown kingston was sparked when jamaica's labour party prime minister bruce golding, a political beneficiary and benefactor of dudus, caved to u.s. demands for dudus's extradition. the indictment is pretty fascinating stuff.

kingston, jamaica is home to more than a few internationally connected criminal gangs, or posses, and while the shower posse is aligned with the jamaican labour party, armed gangs and their warlords span the political spectrum. political parties have actively contributed to the creation of garrisons, or gang-run slums, to create pockets of political support. the nexus of gangs and government makes for an all too easy-to-imagine slip into civil war, but despite eruptions of violence in the past, jamaica seems to bounce back. of course i still get nervous when jamaica tests the tipping point.

i just added born fi' dead, a book about the jamaican underworld, to my too-long-to-read reading list.