You are on page 1of 3

Canada: A Late but Eager Partner in Policing the Caribbean Kevin Edmonds February 2nd, 2012 Since 2006,

Canadian Forces have been participating in numerous counter-narcotics missions in the Caribbean basin called Operation Caribbe, as part of the wider US Joint Interagency Task Force - South. Arguably the most visible, and perhaps the only example that the Canadian people have had about their armed forces patrolling international waters in the Caribbean occurred with the recent disclosure on January 16th that between October and November 2010, the HMCS St. Johns intercepted a self- propelled semi-submersible submarine filled with 6,700 kg of cocaine, with a street value of US$180 million (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2012/01/14/19244481.html). This announcement might come as a surprise to many Canadians, but the Canadian Naval Review revealed that in October 2010, US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments began operating on Canadian warships, with an authorization of specialized boarding, search and seizure capabilities and a legal mandate to participate in and enforce US counter narcotics laws in the open ocean (http://naval.review.cfps.dal.ca/archive/public/vol7num2art2.pdf). The same review went on to state that these operations enhance Canadas efforts to promote stability in Latin America and the Caribbean a region increasingly important to Canadian trade and security (http://naval.review.cfps.dal.ca/archive/public/vol7num2art2.pdf). Upon the return of the fleet which included the HMCS St. John's, Athabaskan, Algonquin, the submarine Corner Brook, several CH-124 Sea King helicopters and CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft Minister of National Defence Peter Mackay proudly remarked that During the past three months, our Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force crews have continued to provide crucial support to the law enforcement interdiction and counter-drug surveillance missions alongside our US and multinational allies on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts... Their commitment to the ongoing efforts to suppress the illegal trafficking of drugs by sea is of great importance to our citizens in communities across North America" (http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/cms/4/4-a_eng.asp?id=880). Such Canadian collaboration with the US in the War on Drugs raises important concerns about both the growing presence and militarization of Canadian forces in the Caribbean. In June last year, the Canadian government announced the opening of a military base in Jamaica (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110605/lead/lead8.html), with the justification that the base would provide a much needed, and strategic staging point from which they can assist Caribbean nations in a speedy manner (http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/10/25/pol-cpjamaica-forces-base.html?cmp=rss) in the unfortunate occurrence of a natural disaster such as the devastating earthquake which hit Haiti in 2010. Historically speaking, Canadian-Jamaican military ties are not new. Canada has maintained an active role in providing training and equipment to the Jamaican Defence Forces for over 40 years (http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2292/). More recently, special security teams from Guyana and Trinidad (http://www.forces.gc.ca/admpol/mtcp-annual-report-eng.html) have been trained in methods to maintain security and stability (http://blackbook.foreignpolicy.ca/) at new military facilities located in Moneague, Jamaica.

These facilities are the new home of the Caribbean Junior Command and Staff College, which was financed in part by the Canadian government (http://www.jdfmil.org/info/releases/2009/jan1.php), and provides a home for elite training which focuses on the development of Caribbean-centric tactical operations, including Jungle Warfare, Air Operations, Urban Warfare and Internal Security Operations. Furthermore, the Canadian Military Training and Cooperation Program has also revealed the creation of a Counter Terrorism Capacity Building Project in Jamaica, with the goal that it will eventually become a regional Special Operations Force centre of excellence for training their Caribbean allies (http://www.forces.gc.ca/admpol/mtcp%20annual%20report-eng.html#americas). The real questions which emerge out of this discussion is how closely are these humanitarian/security operations in the Caribbean related? As a student of international intervention in the Caribbean, it would be naive to assume the opening of a Canadian military base in Jamaica is simply for potential humanitarian purposes and is not connected to anti-narcotics operations or to maintain the wider Canadian economic interests in the Caribbean (ie. Alcan in Jamaica). A closer examination of history reveals that during the 1970s, the Canadian military presence and training operations in Jamaica were for that exact purpose. Learning from the experience of having Alcan properties nationalized in Guyana by the Burnham government in 1974(http://www.jstor.org/pss/2616932), the operation, code-named NIMROD CAPER, stated that the objective of the operation revolved around securing and protecting the Alcan facilities [in Jamaica] from mob unrest and outright seizure or sabotage( http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2292/). Looking at the training operations undertaken by the Jamaican Defence Forces, it is relatively safe to assume that counter-terrorism, internal security operations and urban warfare training is very closely related to the increasing influence the drug trade has had on Jamaica and the Caribbean as a whole. The violent saga to apprehrend Christoper Dudus Coke (http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/815584--jamaica-s-assertive-gangssymptom-of-deeper-crisis) in the summer of 2010, revealed how entrenched the drugs and gangs are not just in the streets, but also in the highest political offices. Wikileaks has also revealed that the US government has deep fears that Jamaica may be on the verge of falling into the category of a failed state (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110606/lead/lead2.html). It is of vital importance to remember that Canadas actions in Jamaica are not an anomaly, as Canadian foreign policy in Latin America and the Caribbean has been increasingly focused on security with an overall militarization of its relationship with the region. The Canadian governments recent funding of controversial Latin America and Caribbean security forces also follows a pattern of increasing security where the economic interests of Canadian firms are very high. Most recently in November 2011, the Canadian government announced the distribution of CAN$7.1 million to strengthen the law and security (ie. police and military) establishment in Guatemala (http://www.international.gc.ca/media/state-etat/newscommuniques/2011/177.aspx?view=d). Canadian mining corporations such as INCO, HudBay

Minerals and Goldcorp all have major interests in Guatemala, and have previously employed police and military to intimidate and physically attack indigenous communities who are against the projects (http://www.chocversushudbay.com/history-of-the-mine). Secondly, Haiti stands out as the most prominent example of this new change towards militarized objectives and tactics, as the Canadian military directly participated in the 2004 coup of Jean Bertrand Aristide who proposed policies which would be directly at odds with the interests of many Canadian corporations(http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/very-canadian-coup). After the coup, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police helped to train the Haitian National Police(http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/po-mp/missions-curr-cour-eng.htm#minustah), which was systematically purged of Aristide supporters. Recent analysis has revealed that a concentrated effort was made to staff the new police force with right wing paramilitaries and former Ton Ton Macoutes (http://www.normangirvan.info/sprague-paramilitaries-haiti/). Since the 2010 earthquake, the Canadian government has stated that its priority in Haiti is the funding of security, primarily the training and equipping of police and prisons (http://canadahaitiaction.ca/content/aid-facts-haiti-june-2011). With the growing influence of the drug trade, will this lead to more visible forms of intervention in the Caribbean? What impact will this have on Caribbean sovereignty? As it stands, only time will tell what direction the Canada will take towards Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. What has become more clear however, is that the declining influence of the United States in the region has coincided with the increasingly militarization of Canadian-Caribbean relations. Whether this shift is on purpose, or coincidental remains to be seen, but based upon the history of foreign powers intervening in the region, it is something to keep an eye on as the presence of foreign troops in the Caribbean has hardly ever been for the protection of people, but rather profits.

You might also like