Jamaica
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In Jamaica, transgender teen killed by mob
By DAVID McFADDEN | Associated Press
Sun, Aug 11, 2013
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) — Dwayne Jones was relentlessly teased in high school for being effeminate until he dropped out. His father not only kicked him out of the house at the age of 14 but also helped jeering neighbors push the youngster from the rough Jamaican slum where he grew up.
By age 16, the teenager was dead — beaten, stabbed, shot and run over by a car when he showed up at a street party dressed as a woman. His mistake: confiding to a friend that he was attending a "straight" party as a girl for the first time in his life.
"When I saw Dwayne's body, I started shaking and crying," said Khloe, one of three transgender friends who shared a derelict house with the teenager in the hills above the north coast city of Montego Bay. Like many transgender and gay people in Jamaica, Khloe wouldn't give a full name out of fear.
"It was horrible. It was so, so painful to see him like that."
International advocacy groups often portray this Caribbean island as the most hostile country in the Western Hemisphere for gay and transgender people. After two prominent gay rights activists were murdered, a researcher with the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch in 2006 called the environment in Jamaica for such groups "the worst any of us has ever seen."
Local activists have since disputed that label, but still say homophobia is pervasive. Dwayne's horrific July 22 murder has made headlines in newspapers on the island and stirred calls in some quarters for doing more to protect Jamaica's gay community, especially those who live on the streets and resort to sex work.
Advocates say much of the homophobia is fueled by a nearly 150-year-old anti-sodomy law that bans anal sex as well as by dancehall reggae performers who flaunt anti-gay themes. The island's main gay rights group estimated that two homosexual men were killed for their sexual orientation last year, and 36 were the victims of mob violence.
For years, Jamaica's gay community has lived so far underground that their parties and church services were held in secret locations. Many gays have stuck to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy of keeping their sexual orientation hidden to avoid scrutiny or protect loved ones.
"Judging by comments made on social media, most Jamaicans think Dwayne Jones brought his death on himself for wearing a dress and dancing in a society that has made it abundantly clear that homosexuals are neither to be seen nor heard," said Annie Paul, a blogger and publications officer at Jamaica's campus of the University of the West Indies.
Some say the hostility partly stems from the legacy of slavery when black men were sometimes sodomized as punishment or humiliation. Some historians believe that practice carried over into a general dread of homosexuality.
But in recent years, emboldened young people such as Dwayne have helped bring the island's gay and transgender community out of the shadows. A small group of gay runaways now rowdily congregates on the streets of Kingston's financial district.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's government has also vowed to put the anti-sodomy law to a "conscience vote" in Parliament, and she said during her 2011 campaign that only merit would decide who got a Cabinet position in her government. By contrast, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding said in 2008 that he would never allow homosexuals in his Cabinet.
Dane Lewis, executive director of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals & Gays, said there were increasing "pockets of tolerance" on the island.
"We can say that we are becoming more tolerant. And thankfully that's because of people like Dwayne who have helped push the envelope," said Lewis, one of the few Jamaican gays who will publicly disclose his full name.
Yet rights groups still complain of the slow pace of the investigation into Jones' murder, despite the justice minister calling for a full probe.
Police spokesman Steve Brown said detectives working the case are struggling to overcome a chronic problem: a strong anti-informant culture that makes eyewitnesses to murders and other crimes too afraid or simply unwilling to come forward.
Even though some 300 people were at the dance party in the small riverside community of Irwin, police have yet to make a single arrest in Dwayne's murder. Police say witnesses have said they couldn't see the attackers' faces.
Dwayne was the center of attraction shortly after arriving in a taxi at 2 a.m. with his two 23-year-old housemates, Khloe and Keke. Dwayne's expert dance moves, long legs and high cheekbones quickly made him the one that the guys were trying to get next to.
Like many Jamaican homosexuals, Dwayne was careful about confiding in others about his sexual orientation. But when he saw a girl he had known from church, he told her he was attending the party in drag.
Minutes later, according to Khloe and Keke, the girl's male friends gathered around Dwayne in the dimly-lit street asking: "Are you a woman or a man?" One man waved a lighter's flame near Dwayne's sneakers, asking whether a girl could have such big feet.
Then, his friends said, another man grabbed a lantern from an outdoor bar and walked over to Dwayne, shining the bright light over him from head to toe. "It's a man," he concluded, while the others hissed "batty boy" and other anti-gay epithets.
Khloe says she tried to steer him away from the crowd, whispering in Dwayne's ear: "Walk with me, walk with me." But Dwayne pulled away, loudly insisting to partygoers that he was a girl. When someone behind him snapped his bra strap, the teen panicked and raced down the street.
But he couldn't run fast enough to escape the mob.
The teenager was viciously assaulted and apparently half-conscious for some two hours before another sustained attack finished him off, according to Khloe, who was also beaten and nearly raped. She hid in a nearby church and then the surrounding woods, unable to call for help because she didn't have her cellphone.
Dwayne's father in the Montego Bay slum of North Gully didn't want to talk about his son's life or death. The teen's family wouldn't even claim the body, according to Dwayne's friends.
They remembered him as a spirited boy with a contagious laugh who dreamt of becoming a performer like Lady Gaga. He was also a street-smart hustler who resorted to sleeping in the bushes or on beaches when he became homeless. He won a local dancing competition during his time on the streets and was affectionately nicknamed "Gully Queen."
"He was the youngest of us but he was a diva," Khloe said. "He was always very feisty and joking around."
Inside their squatter house, Khloe and Keke said, they still talk to their dead friend.
"I'll be cooking in the kitchen and I'll say, 'Dwayne, you hungry?' or something like that," said Keke while sitting on the old mattress in her bedroom, flinching as neighborhood dogs barked outside. "We just miss him all the time. Sometimes I think I see him."
But down the hall, Dwayne's room is empty except for pink window curtains decorated with roses, his favorite flower.
http://news.yahoo.com/jamaica-transgender-teen-killed-mob-194756097.html
By DAVID McFADDEN | Associated Press
Sun, Aug 11, 2013
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) — Dwayne Jones was relentlessly teased in high school for being effeminate until he dropped out. His father not only kicked him out of the house at the age of 14 but also helped jeering neighbors push the youngster from the rough Jamaican slum where he grew up.
By age 16, the teenager was dead — beaten, stabbed, shot and run over by a car when he showed up at a street party dressed as a woman. His mistake: confiding to a friend that he was attending a "straight" party as a girl for the first time in his life.
"When I saw Dwayne's body, I started shaking and crying," said Khloe, one of three transgender friends who shared a derelict house with the teenager in the hills above the north coast city of Montego Bay. Like many transgender and gay people in Jamaica, Khloe wouldn't give a full name out of fear.
"It was horrible. It was so, so painful to see him like that."
International advocacy groups often portray this Caribbean island as the most hostile country in the Western Hemisphere for gay and transgender people. After two prominent gay rights activists were murdered, a researcher with the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch in 2006 called the environment in Jamaica for such groups "the worst any of us has ever seen."
Local activists have since disputed that label, but still say homophobia is pervasive. Dwayne's horrific July 22 murder has made headlines in newspapers on the island and stirred calls in some quarters for doing more to protect Jamaica's gay community, especially those who live on the streets and resort to sex work.
Advocates say much of the homophobia is fueled by a nearly 150-year-old anti-sodomy law that bans anal sex as well as by dancehall reggae performers who flaunt anti-gay themes. The island's main gay rights group estimated that two homosexual men were killed for their sexual orientation last year, and 36 were the victims of mob violence.
For years, Jamaica's gay community has lived so far underground that their parties and church services were held in secret locations. Many gays have stuck to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy of keeping their sexual orientation hidden to avoid scrutiny or protect loved ones.
"Judging by comments made on social media, most Jamaicans think Dwayne Jones brought his death on himself for wearing a dress and dancing in a society that has made it abundantly clear that homosexuals are neither to be seen nor heard," said Annie Paul, a blogger and publications officer at Jamaica's campus of the University of the West Indies.
Some say the hostility partly stems from the legacy of slavery when black men were sometimes sodomized as punishment or humiliation. Some historians believe that practice carried over into a general dread of homosexuality.
But in recent years, emboldened young people such as Dwayne have helped bring the island's gay and transgender community out of the shadows. A small group of gay runaways now rowdily congregates on the streets of Kingston's financial district.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's government has also vowed to put the anti-sodomy law to a "conscience vote" in Parliament, and she said during her 2011 campaign that only merit would decide who got a Cabinet position in her government. By contrast, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding said in 2008 that he would never allow homosexuals in his Cabinet.
Dane Lewis, executive director of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals & Gays, said there were increasing "pockets of tolerance" on the island.
"We can say that we are becoming more tolerant. And thankfully that's because of people like Dwayne who have helped push the envelope," said Lewis, one of the few Jamaican gays who will publicly disclose his full name.
Yet rights groups still complain of the slow pace of the investigation into Jones' murder, despite the justice minister calling for a full probe.
Police spokesman Steve Brown said detectives working the case are struggling to overcome a chronic problem: a strong anti-informant culture that makes eyewitnesses to murders and other crimes too afraid or simply unwilling to come forward.
Even though some 300 people were at the dance party in the small riverside community of Irwin, police have yet to make a single arrest in Dwayne's murder. Police say witnesses have said they couldn't see the attackers' faces.
Dwayne was the center of attraction shortly after arriving in a taxi at 2 a.m. with his two 23-year-old housemates, Khloe and Keke. Dwayne's expert dance moves, long legs and high cheekbones quickly made him the one that the guys were trying to get next to.
Like many Jamaican homosexuals, Dwayne was careful about confiding in others about his sexual orientation. But when he saw a girl he had known from church, he told her he was attending the party in drag.
Minutes later, according to Khloe and Keke, the girl's male friends gathered around Dwayne in the dimly-lit street asking: "Are you a woman or a man?" One man waved a lighter's flame near Dwayne's sneakers, asking whether a girl could have such big feet.
Then, his friends said, another man grabbed a lantern from an outdoor bar and walked over to Dwayne, shining the bright light over him from head to toe. "It's a man," he concluded, while the others hissed "batty boy" and other anti-gay epithets.
Khloe says she tried to steer him away from the crowd, whispering in Dwayne's ear: "Walk with me, walk with me." But Dwayne pulled away, loudly insisting to partygoers that he was a girl. When someone behind him snapped his bra strap, the teen panicked and raced down the street.
But he couldn't run fast enough to escape the mob.
The teenager was viciously assaulted and apparently half-conscious for some two hours before another sustained attack finished him off, according to Khloe, who was also beaten and nearly raped. She hid in a nearby church and then the surrounding woods, unable to call for help because she didn't have her cellphone.
Dwayne's father in the Montego Bay slum of North Gully didn't want to talk about his son's life or death. The teen's family wouldn't even claim the body, according to Dwayne's friends.
They remembered him as a spirited boy with a contagious laugh who dreamt of becoming a performer like Lady Gaga. He was also a street-smart hustler who resorted to sleeping in the bushes or on beaches when he became homeless. He won a local dancing competition during his time on the streets and was affectionately nicknamed "Gully Queen."
"He was the youngest of us but he was a diva," Khloe said. "He was always very feisty and joking around."
Inside their squatter house, Khloe and Keke said, they still talk to their dead friend.
"I'll be cooking in the kitchen and I'll say, 'Dwayne, you hungry?' or something like that," said Keke while sitting on the old mattress in her bedroom, flinching as neighborhood dogs barked outside. "We just miss him all the time. Sometimes I think I see him."
But down the hall, Dwayne's room is empty except for pink window curtains decorated with roses, his favorite flower.
http://news.yahoo.com/jamaica-transgender-teen-killed-mob-194756097.html
Rastas talk reparations at Jamaica gathering
Rastas talk reparations at Jamaica gathering
Rastafarians gather at Jamaica conference to hash over slavery reparations, other core beliefs
By David Mcfadden, Associated Press | Associated Press
3 hrs ago
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Dozens of Rastafarians gathered in Jamaica on Wednesday to brainstorm ways of pressuring European countries to pay reparations for slavery and talk about other core beliefs of the homegrown faith.
Mostly dreadlocked and colorfully attired followers assembled in lecture halls amid a weeklong conference at the University of the West Indies campus in Jamaica, the tropical island where reggae icons like Bob Marley and Burning Spear brought Rastafari's message to the world in the 1970s.
Rastafarians have long called for slavery reparations, a key tenet of their faith along with repatriation to Africa. A melding of Old Testament teachings and Pan-Africanism, it emerged in colonial-era Jamaica in the 1930s out of anger over the oppression of blacks and evolved into a spiritual movement.
Members have petitioned Queen Elizabeth II for compensation over the years. But the claims were rejected, and the monarchy said the British government could not be held accountable for wrongs in past centuries since slavery wasn't a crime when it was condoned.
About a decade ago, a coalition of Rastafarian groups estimated European countries formerly involved in the slave trade, especially Britain, needed to pay 72.5 billion British pounds ($110 billion) to resettle 500,000 Rastafarians in Africa.
Now, the Caribbean Community bloc of more than a dozen nations is launching an effort to seek compensation for what they say is the lingering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade across the region. Caricom, as the organization is called, has enlisted the help of a prominent British human rights law firm and is creating a Reparations Commission to press the issue.
The bloc is focusing on Britain on behalf of the English-speaking Caribbean, France for the slavery in Haiti and the Netherlands for Suriname, a former Dutch colony on the northeastern edge of South America.
Some Jamaican Rastas, like Lion Claw, a bearded member of the movement's Nyabinghi branch, disdain all government initiatives and are skeptical of Caricom's efforts.
"What is going on now is just the same slavers trying to benefit. Tell me, who do the governments of Caricom represent? The slaves or the slavers?" he said outside a lecture hall.
But other Rastas are more hopeful that the governments' initiative can bolster their longstanding efforts.
"It's a good thing that Caricom is seeking reparations now. We need to free up Rastafari," said Bongo Ernest, also a member of Nyabinghi, whose members worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and believe returning to Africa would heal humanity and complete a cycle broken by slavery.
Ras Patrick Beckford, a member of the Rasta branch Twelve Tribes of Israel, believes persistence in pushing for reparations will eventually pay off.
"There are those of our detractors who would want us to believe that Britain would never pay reparations. I don't believe that. We have to be positive," he told attendees. "We are going to use one country first as a stepping stone to garner what belongs to us."
http://news.yahoo.com/rastas-talk-reparations-jamaica-gathering-143620047.html
Rastas talk reparations at Jamaica gathering
Rastafarians gather at Jamaica conference to hash over slavery reparations, other core beliefs
By David Mcfadden, Associated Press | Associated Press
3 hrs ago
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Dozens of Rastafarians gathered in Jamaica on Wednesday to brainstorm ways of pressuring European countries to pay reparations for slavery and talk about other core beliefs of the homegrown faith.
Mostly dreadlocked and colorfully attired followers assembled in lecture halls amid a weeklong conference at the University of the West Indies campus in Jamaica, the tropical island where reggae icons like Bob Marley and Burning Spear brought Rastafari's message to the world in the 1970s.
Rastafarians have long called for slavery reparations, a key tenet of their faith along with repatriation to Africa. A melding of Old Testament teachings and Pan-Africanism, it emerged in colonial-era Jamaica in the 1930s out of anger over the oppression of blacks and evolved into a spiritual movement.
Members have petitioned Queen Elizabeth II for compensation over the years. But the claims were rejected, and the monarchy said the British government could not be held accountable for wrongs in past centuries since slavery wasn't a crime when it was condoned.
About a decade ago, a coalition of Rastafarian groups estimated European countries formerly involved in the slave trade, especially Britain, needed to pay 72.5 billion British pounds ($110 billion) to resettle 500,000 Rastafarians in Africa.
Now, the Caribbean Community bloc of more than a dozen nations is launching an effort to seek compensation for what they say is the lingering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade across the region. Caricom, as the organization is called, has enlisted the help of a prominent British human rights law firm and is creating a Reparations Commission to press the issue.
The bloc is focusing on Britain on behalf of the English-speaking Caribbean, France for the slavery in Haiti and the Netherlands for Suriname, a former Dutch colony on the northeastern edge of South America.
Some Jamaican Rastas, like Lion Claw, a bearded member of the movement's Nyabinghi branch, disdain all government initiatives and are skeptical of Caricom's efforts.
"What is going on now is just the same slavers trying to benefit. Tell me, who do the governments of Caricom represent? The slaves or the slavers?" he said outside a lecture hall.
But other Rastas are more hopeful that the governments' initiative can bolster their longstanding efforts.
"It's a good thing that Caricom is seeking reparations now. We need to free up Rastafari," said Bongo Ernest, also a member of Nyabinghi, whose members worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and believe returning to Africa would heal humanity and complete a cycle broken by slavery.
Ras Patrick Beckford, a member of the Rasta branch Twelve Tribes of Israel, believes persistence in pushing for reparations will eventually pay off.
"There are those of our detractors who would want us to believe that Britain would never pay reparations. I don't believe that. We have to be positive," he told attendees. "We are going to use one country first as a stepping stone to garner what belongs to us."
http://news.yahoo.com/rastas-talk-reparations-jamaica-gathering-143620047.html
Caribbean nations agree to seek slavery reparations from Europe
Caribbean nations agree to seek slavery reparations from Europe
By Aileen Torres-Bennett | Reuters
Tue, Mar 11, 2014
KINGSTON (Reuters) - Caribbean leaders are moving forward with a plan to seek reparations from the former slave-owning states of Europe, according to a lawyer for the island nations.
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) approved a 10-point plan for reparations at a two-day meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines that was due to wrap up on Tuesday, said Martyn Day, a U.K.-based lawyer at Leigh Day, who is working on the case.
The Caribbean countries said that European governments in addition to being responsible for conducting slavery and genocide, also imposed 100 years of racial apartheid and suffering on freed slaves and the survivors of genocide.
The former slave-owning states of Europe "have refused to acknowledge such crimes or to compensate victims and their descendants," according to a statement by Caricom.
The Caribbean continues to suffer from the effects of slavery today, Caricom said.
Caricom's 10-point plan will pursue a full formal apology for slavery, repatriation to Africa, a development plan for the native Caribbean peoples and funding for cultural institutions. It also seeks to address chronic diseases and psychological rehabilitation for trauma inflicted by slavery, technology transfer to make up for technological and scientific backwardness resulting from the slave era, and support for payment of domestic debt and cancellation of international debt.
The subject of reparations has simmered in the Caribbean for many years and opinions are divided. Some see reparations as delayed justice, while others see it as an empty claim and a distraction from modern social problems in Caribbean societies.
Slavery ended throughout the Caribbean in the 1800s in the wake of slave revolts, and left many of the region's plantation economies in tatters.
A formal complaint will be presented to the European governments by the end of April, said Day.
"The complaint will undoubtedly go to the governments of Britain, France, Netherlands, and very likely Sweden, Norway, and Denmark," Day said in an email. "The final decision on this has not yet been made, though," he added.
Britain's government is aware of the proposed legal action, according to its foreign office.
"Slavery was and is abhorrent. The United Kingdom unreservedly condemns slavery and is committed to eliminating it," a representative said, adding that reparations are not the answer. "Instead, we should concentrate on identifying ways forward with a focus on the shared global challenges that face our countries in the 21st century," the representative added.
Caricom will call for a conference in London during the summer for European and Caribbean nations to discuss the issues. The specific European countries to be invited to this conference have not yet been decided on by Caricom, Day said.
If the complaint is rejected, the Caricom nations will take their individual cases to the International Court of Justice, he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/caribbean-nations-agree-seek-slavery-reparations-europe-223440712.html
Caribbean nations agree to seek slavery reparations from Europe
By Aileen Torres-Bennett | Reuters
Tue, Mar 11, 2014
KINGSTON (Reuters) - Caribbean leaders are moving forward with a plan to seek reparations from the former slave-owning states of Europe, according to a lawyer for the island nations.
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) approved a 10-point plan for reparations at a two-day meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines that was due to wrap up on Tuesday, said Martyn Day, a U.K.-based lawyer at Leigh Day, who is working on the case.
The Caribbean countries said that European governments in addition to being responsible for conducting slavery and genocide, also imposed 100 years of racial apartheid and suffering on freed slaves and the survivors of genocide.
The former slave-owning states of Europe "have refused to acknowledge such crimes or to compensate victims and their descendants," according to a statement by Caricom.
The Caribbean continues to suffer from the effects of slavery today, Caricom said.
Caricom's 10-point plan will pursue a full formal apology for slavery, repatriation to Africa, a development plan for the native Caribbean peoples and funding for cultural institutions. It also seeks to address chronic diseases and psychological rehabilitation for trauma inflicted by slavery, technology transfer to make up for technological and scientific backwardness resulting from the slave era, and support for payment of domestic debt and cancellation of international debt.
The subject of reparations has simmered in the Caribbean for many years and opinions are divided. Some see reparations as delayed justice, while others see it as an empty claim and a distraction from modern social problems in Caribbean societies.
Slavery ended throughout the Caribbean in the 1800s in the wake of slave revolts, and left many of the region's plantation economies in tatters.
A formal complaint will be presented to the European governments by the end of April, said Day.
"The complaint will undoubtedly go to the governments of Britain, France, Netherlands, and very likely Sweden, Norway, and Denmark," Day said in an email. "The final decision on this has not yet been made, though," he added.
Britain's government is aware of the proposed legal action, according to its foreign office.
"Slavery was and is abhorrent. The United Kingdom unreservedly condemns slavery and is committed to eliminating it," a representative said, adding that reparations are not the answer. "Instead, we should concentrate on identifying ways forward with a focus on the shared global challenges that face our countries in the 21st century," the representative added.
Caricom will call for a conference in London during the summer for European and Caribbean nations to discuss the issues. The specific European countries to be invited to this conference have not yet been decided on by Caricom, Day said.
If the complaint is rejected, the Caricom nations will take their individual cases to the International Court of Justice, he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/caribbean-nations-agree-seek-slavery-reparations-europe-223440712.html
Brazil abolishes visas for Jamaicans
Brazil abolishes visas for Jamaicans
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
JAMAICANS planning to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the Summer Olympic Games next year will have an easier time getting there as the South American country has abolished the previous visa requirement for citizens of the island.
Brazil's most recent ambassador to Jamaica, Antonio da Costa e Silva, whose tour of duty ended on May 31, and Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Arnold J Nicholson signed the Visa Abolishment Agreement at the Jamaica Pegasus last Wednesday.
The abolition builds on a special visa cooperation between the two countries which was signed in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup last year and extended the validity of visas from short periods to five years.
Jamaica's Ambassador to Brazil Alison Stone Roofe explained that the visa abolition does not mean that inspection at the port of entry will be discontinued. In fact, she said "scrutiny is even stricter where there is a waiver".
Stone Roofe added that the visa waiver does not apply to those who intend to become employed, engage in research, traineeships, studies and social work, undertake technical assistance, or pursue missionary, religious or artistic activities (such as musicians and singers).
Prospective visitors should note, the ambassador added, that they need a yellow fever vaccination certificate and that their passports must be valid for more than six months at the time of entry.
Brazilians didn't previously require visas to visit Jamaica.
"Jamaicans tend to travel to Brazil for targeted, specific reasons, for example, visiting friends and relatives, and cultural reasons due to the influence of reggae music and the affinity with the Afro Brazilian population. The numbers are not steady or constant and are definitely seasonal, eg, World Cup last year saw an increased number of Jamaican visitors, and certainly we anticipate even more for the Olympics next year," Stone Roofe said, adding that the population of Jamaican students in the South American country -- about 200 -- also pulls visitors.
"Both countries are seeking to increase people-to-people contact between our shores, Brazil with a population of 200 million and Jamaica with a population of a mere three million. The visa waiver holds much promise for boosting this objective of both governments," Ambassador Stone Roofe continued.
Among the other bilateral agreements brokered during da Costa e Silva's tenure was the air services agreement, which will see direct flights between Jamaica and the south-east regions of Brazil -- particularly Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador -- and the twinning of the cities of Kingston and Salvador, Brazil.
Brazil abolishes visas for Jamaicans
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
JAMAICANS planning to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the Summer Olympic Games next year will have an easier time getting there as the South American country has abolished the previous visa requirement for citizens of the island.
Brazil's most recent ambassador to Jamaica, Antonio da Costa e Silva, whose tour of duty ended on May 31, and Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Arnold J Nicholson signed the Visa Abolishment Agreement at the Jamaica Pegasus last Wednesday.
The abolition builds on a special visa cooperation between the two countries which was signed in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup last year and extended the validity of visas from short periods to five years.
Jamaica's Ambassador to Brazil Alison Stone Roofe explained that the visa abolition does not mean that inspection at the port of entry will be discontinued. In fact, she said "scrutiny is even stricter where there is a waiver".
Stone Roofe added that the visa waiver does not apply to those who intend to become employed, engage in research, traineeships, studies and social work, undertake technical assistance, or pursue missionary, religious or artistic activities (such as musicians and singers).
Prospective visitors should note, the ambassador added, that they need a yellow fever vaccination certificate and that their passports must be valid for more than six months at the time of entry.
Brazilians didn't previously require visas to visit Jamaica.
"Jamaicans tend to travel to Brazil for targeted, specific reasons, for example, visiting friends and relatives, and cultural reasons due to the influence of reggae music and the affinity with the Afro Brazilian population. The numbers are not steady or constant and are definitely seasonal, eg, World Cup last year saw an increased number of Jamaican visitors, and certainly we anticipate even more for the Olympics next year," Stone Roofe said, adding that the population of Jamaican students in the South American country -- about 200 -- also pulls visitors.
"Both countries are seeking to increase people-to-people contact between our shores, Brazil with a population of 200 million and Jamaica with a population of a mere three million. The visa waiver holds much promise for boosting this objective of both governments," Ambassador Stone Roofe continued.
Among the other bilateral agreements brokered during da Costa e Silva's tenure was the air services agreement, which will see direct flights between Jamaica and the south-east regions of Brazil -- particularly Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador -- and the twinning of the cities of Kingston and Salvador, Brazil.