The Jamaica United Front was a political party in Jamaica.

It was a right wing small party and was first noticed when in 1980 it proposed a national unity government of the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party.[1]

They were involved in an attempted coup on 23 June 1980.[2] The leader, Charles Johnson, had been a member of the United States Army, serving in Vietnam and was running a security company in Kingston.[3] The coup was seen by the left as a plot by the CIA. Meanwhile the Jamaican Labour Party (which had not been involved) saw it as an excuse to bring in troops from Cuba prior to elections.[4] Johnson was acquitted in 1981 when a witness was judged to be unreliable.[5]

It contested one seat in the 1983 Jamaican general election. The elections that year saw a mass boycott (turnout was just 2.7%)[6] as the People's National Party protested against the government. The JUF received only 144 votes and failed to win a seat.[6] It did not contest any further elections.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Jamaica's Military and Police Meet to Discuss 'Conspiracy'
  2. ↑ The quest for security in the Caribbean, p136
  3. ↑ Jamaica's Military and Police Meet to Discuss 'Conspiracy'
  4. ↑ Jamaica Releases Failed Coup Plot Details
  5. ↑ Political Parties of the Caribbean, 1980s to 1990s
  6. 1 2 3 Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p432–435 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6


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