The ironic CIA agent
When we first learn that there is a CIA agent flying to Jamaica, the impression the reader is given is that the US government wants to keep an eye on the degenerating government as it grows more corrupt. But, Alex, who knows the agent from traveling together, comes to believe that the agent was actually sent to help incite violence against Bob Marley. That's quite a plot twist, especially when we randomly meet the agent in Argentina on a different assignment, without knowing exactly what he accomplished in Jamaica.
The irony of Marley's commitment to Jamaica
Even though Bob Marley literally brings together Sherrif and Papa-Lo (rival gangs, each hired by opposing political parties) the people are still paranoid about Marley, because rumors have started that he is a traitor, working with Sherrif and the PNP. Eventually, he becomes the target of multiple attacks, persecutions, and assassination attempts. Ironically, he never leaves Jamaica; his commitment is to be a pillar of Jamaican culture, and if he must be martyred, so be it.
The irony of gang betrayal
There is a category of irony called coincidence, which is essentially like regular irony but backwards. Basically, the gangs in this story are ironic because they operate on trust, like businesses, but their business is corrupt and heinous and evil, so what's to stop them from turning on each other? Nothing. The gang who persecutes Marley experiences three regime changes in only a few years! To them, that probably seemed unbelievable, but it actually coincides with the nature of the organization. In other words, justice is done ironically in their self-defeat and self-betrayal. Although they seem untouchable, they don't have the ethics or morality to run an organization well.
The irony of the reporter/convert
The character Alex Piece is originally a reporter of Rolling Stone, but after he realizes that his article on Bob Marley is not something he can really accomplish through the assignment, they fire him. Ironically, he ends up being the person who shares the truth of Marley's influence in Jamaica, and ironically, he does it as a kind of religious convert, since he truly believes that Marley's attitude about universal love is authoritative.
The irony of Nina
Nina represents the foil of Marley. As lovers, they are linked intimately, but whereas Marley faces his fate with bravery, even in the height of terror and pain, Nina is constantly blown about by circumstances. If Marley's reward is that everyone knows his name, Nina's punishment for obeying her fear is that no one knows her name, and what's worse, she has to literally change her name to survive, over and over.
