| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Jamaat al-Muslimeen launches kidnapping spree in Trinidad | |
| 2005-01-11 | |
For as long as pastel rum drinks and hedonistic pre-Lenten celebrations have been in fashion, fun-seekers have flocked to this tropical duet of lush islands to sunbathe, sway to calypso and savor the exotic flavors of the multicultural cuisine. But an ugly social ill threatens the perpetual party atmosphere: kidnapping, a crime so epidemic that Trinidad ranks second in the world behind Colombia for its rate of abductions.
Abductions targeting the prosperous and politically influential have evoked comparison to the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, whose kidnappings in the Philippines and Malaysia have chilled business at island resorts in those Pacific countries. They have also instilled fear in this country, which has the Caribbean's most dynamic economy, that visitors and foreign investors could begin to look elsewhere. The relatively small and obscure Jamaat al Muslimeen sparked the kidnapping wave that flared up about two years ago, but authorities see an even more troubling copycat phenomenon. Amateur crooks and street children are getting into the act, inspired by the ransom paid by relatives who may fear the police as much as the abductors. Kidnapping has been on the rise throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, but it has soared in Trinidad. In 2001, this country of 1.2 million people had fewer than 10 kidnappings. In 2002, the number was 29. In the last couple of years, the figure has been about 150. Police say most kidnappings are instances of gangland score-settling or drug dealings gone wrong, an explanation that serves to defuse public anger and convince honest citizens that they run little risk of becoming targets. The victims are primarily East Indians, who make up 40 percent of the population and tend to be more affluent than blacks, who compose a similar proportion. They contend that the kidnappings are being fueled by police corruption, government complicity, racism and an attitude that most victims had it coming. | |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |