The late Mark Guerra, also known as "Laventille Don," who was associated with the Jamaat al Muslimeen, was in charge of the State's Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) at one time. In fact, the Muslimeen, under the former PNM administration, took charge of the programme. This was the testimony yesterday of head of the Morvant/Laventille Improvement Organisation (MLIO), Lennox Smith, at the commission of enquiry into the attempted overthrow of the Government by Muslimeen rebels in 1990. Smith's evidence was in complete opposition to that of Jamaat senior member Kalla Akii-Bua on Tuesday, who denied that the Muslimeen was in charge of the URP.
Akii-Bua said no Muslimeen was ever a manager. Smith broke down and became emotional as he told how "so-called community leaders" were the recipients of state largesse, while genuine community organisations like MLIO received nothing. He said everywhere you went during the last administration, you heard somebody with a Muslim name in charge of the programme or was a project manager or a foreman. He said there were also known Muslims without Muslim names, like Mark Guerra, who were in charge of the URP. Smith also mentioned the name of Sean Francis, who was also associated with the Jamaat. Both Guerra and Francis were gunned down. Guerra was, reportedly, a highly-paid URP supervisor, earning at least $150,000 a month.
Attorney Dana Seetahal, in a May 2009 article, said Guerra controlled a major drug block in Brooklyn, New York, until 1993 when he clashed with a feared Jamaican gang. Believed to have been involved in several killings in T&T, he owned a number of properties here, including a million-dollar BMW and a $250,000 SUV. Seetahal said Guerra reportedly campaigned in the marginal seats for former PNM prime minister Patrick Manning in the 2002 general election. Newspaper photos show him in the company of the former PM on the campaign trail, she said. Guerra was one of the "community leaders" who met with Manning at Crowne Plaza in 2002.
Francis, another "community leader" who was part of the Crowne Plaza meeting, was viewed by the police as a nefarious gang leader and was heavily involved in drug trafficking. He was also reportedly heavily involved in the URP. Further, the notorious King brothers, allegedly associated with the cocaine trade in Central, were also associated with the Muslimeen. Smith said the Kings lived in opulence in a mansion painted in the Rastarfarian colours perched on a hill in Laventille. "All around (the house) there was poverty and from there they were able to demonstrate wealth and power," Smith said. He said around the mid-80s, the Jamaat infiltrated Laventille and captured the attention of youths, who did not attend secondary school, with militant Islamic doctrine and promised to feed and clothe them.
He said Muslim leaders, Bilal Abdullah, Jamaal Shabazz and Salim Muwakil were Laventille residents. Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr and Muwakil were feared and revered in Laventille and were able to capture the attention of the young men, he told the commission. Smith said after the 1990 uprising, and the freeing of the Muslimeen by the Privy Council, crime in Laventille escalated. The Privy Council judgment had a psychological effect on the youth who became emboldened, he said. He said Muslimeen membership in the area grew and on Fridays afternoons, all roads led to the Jamaat's Mucurapo mosque or others in the area for Juma prayers.
Insisting that there was a direct link between the Muslimeen's influence in Laventille and the escalation of crime there, Smith said it began when the youth became disillusioned. He said the youth, encouraged by the proliferation of guns, felt they were not getting an equal piece of the pie from criminal activities and broke out on their own. Smith said his organisation has been struggling to save the youth of Laventille and present a better alternative to them.
