1 Killed, 6 Injured in Rioting in Jamaica

Gunfire, looting and flaming roadblocks paralyzed Jamaica’s capital on Tuesday as protesters defied police firing tear gas and warning shots. One woman was killed and six other people wounded, police said.

The Police Information Center said the woman, who was not identified, was shot dead by a private security guard during rioting in Kingston, the capital.

Demonstrators were protesting a government decision Thursday to increase gasoline prices from $1.55 a gallon to $2. They also opposed a 30% hike in the cost of licensing vehicles.

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson hinted at a compromise in a TV broadcast Tuesday night, promising to appoint a special team to look into a “mechanism to cushion the gas price increase” and reexamine the onerous national budget announced Thursday.

The new taxes are to help pay off the Caribbean nation’s mounting debt and a bailout of failing banks.

“Down with the government,” people at roadblocks in Kingston yelled.

Throughout the day the Jamaica Defense Force deployed troops and armored personnel carriers to confront marchers. The military ordered all National Reservists to report to barracks.

Protesters hurled stones at cars, and drivers complained when they were turned away from fiery roadblocks of old tires and vehicles doused in gasoline.

“We’re fighting for a cause. You must support us,” they told motorists at one road that was blocked by a thick wire cable.

Hundreds of commuters were forced to abandon their vehicles and walk miles to get home. Taxis and buses stayed off the road. Schools sent students home.

The vast majority of businesses remained closed in Kingston. Radio stations broadcast messages from factories, banks and shops saying they were not opening because they feared for the safety of their staff.

One police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said six protesters were shot in confrontations with police. But the chief police spokesman, Deputy Supt. James Forbes, denied reports that police fired into crowds.

“Tear [gas] has been fired to assist police in the clearing of the roads and dispersing of angry crowds, there has been some looting and some shots fired, and police also have fired warning shots, but as to firing into crowds--no,” Forbes said.

On Monday, police reported shootouts in Kingston and Montego Bay, the northwestern resort where protesters also looted and set a sugar cane plantation aflame Monday.

The main opposition Jamaica Labor Party has called for a big protest march today and a caravan of cars Sunday.