Caribbean Journey
Why America, Britain, and China Are All Fighting Over Jamaica?
Jamaica is strategically important to the United States, Britain, and China because it sits beside the Windward Passage, the narrow shipping corridor that feeds the Panama Canal and carries a major share of global maritime trade. This documentary explains why three superpowers have competed for influence over Jamaica for more than a century, from a 1940 military bases agreement to a 1970s CIA destabilization campaign to modern Chinese infrastructure loans.
Why is China investing in Jamaica today? China Harbour Engineering Company, a Chinese state owned firm, has built major sections of Jamaica's highway system under China's Belt and Road Initiative, raising questions about debt for infrastructure risk similar to Sri Lanka's 2017 Hambantota Port lease.
Why does this matter to the Caribbean diaspora? Jamaicans, Guyanese, and Trinidadians living in the UK, US, and Canada send remittances and hold professional influence inside the very countries competing for Jamaica's alignment, making this a live diaspora issue, not just history.
This video covers, in order: the 1940 bases for destroyers deal, Jamaica's bauxite role in World War Two aircraft production, the strategic value of the Windward Passage, the Cuban Missile Crisis's effect on Caribbean politics, the CIA's campaign against Michael Manley, the 1980 election, Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative, China's Belt and Road expansion into Jamaica, the Sri Lanka Hambantota precedent, and why the Port of Kingston is considered dual use strategic infrastructure today.
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KEY FACTS COVERED IN THIS VIDEO:
• The Destroyers for Bases Agreement (1940) gave the US 99 year base access to Jamaica and seven other British territories.
• Jamaican bauxite supplied aluminum for Allied aircraft during World War Two.
• The Windward Passage, beside Jamaica, is a primary shipping route toward the Panama Canal.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) made the Caribbean the most closely watched region of the Cold War.
• Declassified CIA records confirm US destabilization efforts against Michael Manley's government in the 1970s.
• The 1980 Jamaican general election was one of the most violent political events in Caribbean history.
• Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative (1983) rewarded Jamaica's political realignment with trade and investment.
• China Harbour Engineering Company has built major Jamaican highways under the Belt and Road Initiative.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
This documentary is built on publicly available historical records, declassified government documents, and reporting from established outlets. Viewers wanting to explore the underlying history further may find these useful starting points:
• U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian records on the 1940 Destroyers for Bases Agreement
• Declassified CIA records and testimony from former case officers (Philip Agee, John Stockwell) regarding covert activity in Jamaica during the 1970s
• Casey Gane McCalla, "Inside the CIA's Secret War in Jamaica" (2016)
• Reporting on the 1976 and 1980 Jamaican general elections and political violence in Kingston
• Reagan Presidential Library records on the Caribbean Basin Initiative (1983)
• Reporting on China Harbour Engineering Company and China Communications Construction Company's infrastructure projects in Jamaica
• Reporting on the Belt and Road Initiative, announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013
• Reporting on Sri Lanka's 2017 Hambantota Port lease agreement
• U.S. Southern Command and Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (2010) public materials
• Panama Canal Authority data on canal expansion (completed 2016) and global shipping volume
We encourage viewers to consult these and other primary sources directly. Where historical events are contested or interpreted differently by different historians, we have aimed to present the most well documented and widely corroborated version of events.
ABOUT CARIBBEAN JOURNEY:
Caribbean Journey is a YouTube channel producing serious, research driven documentaries on Jamaica's and Guyana's economic, infrastructure, and geopolitical stories, built for a diaspora audience across the UK, US, and Canada. Subscribe and join us as we work toward 10,000 subscribers.
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Published Aug 2, 2026