Looks like the Jamaican Government was attempting to

[malaise]

deceive the US government
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/world/americas/26jamaica.html
<snip>
Mr. Coke, 41, is accused of running a major cocaine and marijuana trafficking operation from one of the most rugged neighborhoods in Kingston, Jamaica, according to American law enforcement officials and a federal indictment unsealed last year. Proceeds from drug sales in New York and other major American cities have been used to funnel guns and cash from the United States back to a wharf that Mr. Coke controls adjacent to Tivoli Gardens, his stronghold on the west side of the Jamaican capital, the authorities say.

No run-of-the-mill wanted man, Mr. Coke is also a powerful player in Jamaican politics, so much so that the State Department’s attempt to extradite him has rattled relations between the United States and Jamaica. Mr. Coke is so influential that intermediaries managed to seek a resolution of his legal predicament directly with top aides to President Obama.

Jamaica has extradited many criminal suspects to the United States, 15 of them last year alone. But the United States’ effort to extradite Mr. Coke in August created a dilemma for the governing Jamaica Labour Party and particularly the prime minister, Bruce Golding, who represents Tivoli Gardens in Parliament.
---------------
The shit has hit the fan here this evening
http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=18831
<snip>
After much pressure from local and international interests, the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has finally admitted that it had some involvement in an alleged deal with US law firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips through local attorney Harold Brady.

In a statement this afternoon, the JLP general secretary Karl Samuda said members from the party approached Mr. Brady in September of last year to assist in facilitating discussions between the US authorities and the Jamaican Government to resolve what had become a treaty dispute between the two countries.

The statement by Mr. Samuda did not indicate the source of the treaty dispute.

According to him, it was expected that Mr. Brady, having served as a former Secretary-General of the International Democrat Union, an organisation of worldwide centre-right parties of which the JLP is an associate member, would use his vast experience in international law and politics to assist in this regard.

Mr. Samuda says he’s aware that Mr. Brady’s firm retained the services of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips on or about October 2009, to pursue discussions with relevant officials of the government.

He says he’s further advised that all payment arrangements to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips were transacted between the two firms.
----------
So where did the money come from to pay Manatt?
Why did they lie to Manatt to lobby on behalf of Coke?
This will hit the US media tomorrow

[MikeE]

1. Given that Jamaica is possibly the most homophobic place on earth

I'd love to see the US cut off all travel, money transfers, and aid to the place.