BAHAMAS PLANS TO UPGRADE DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 001400

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2014
TAGS: OFDP PREL CU BF
SUBJECT: BAHAMAS PLANS TO UPGRADE DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE IN
HAVANA


Classified By: CHARGE ROBERT M. WITAJEWSKI FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

SUMMARY
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1. (C) On Friday, July 16, 2004, Foreign Minister Fred
Mitchell and Under Secretary for Consular Affairs Carlton
Wright returned from a Caricom meeting in Cuba, and held a
conference during which Foreign Minister Mitchell reiterated
his hope that The Bahamas will
be able to open a consulate/embassy in Havana in the near
future. Mitchell justified
the initiative saying it would provide consular services to
Bahamian students and Bahamians imprisoned in Cuba, as well
foster communication (and business) in agriculture and
maritime issues in particular. Foreign Ministry Permanent
Secretary Patricia Rodgers (number two in

SIPDIS
the Ministry) told Charge July 19 that she expects a Bahamian
diplomatic mission to have been established in Havana by
January or February 2005.
End Summary


BAHAMIAN-CUBAN RELATIONS
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2. (U) Following the Minister's trip to Haiti as part of the
five-person team sent by Caricom to investigate the situation
in Haiti, FM Mitchell and Foreign Ministry Under Secretary
Carlton Wright traveled to Havana for the
previously-scheduled Cuba-Caricom meeting. This meeting was
a follow-up to the December 2002 meeting at which Cuba and
the then "Big 4" of the Caribbean -- Barbados, Trinidad and
Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica -- signed an accord and agreed to
hold biennial meetings.


3. (U) Long-rumored to be "in the works", Foreign Minister
Mitchell reiterated The Bahamas' intention to open a
consulate/embassy in Havana in the near future. Mitchell was
quoted by local media declaring that "as a matter of
practicality, it seems the prudent thing to do would be to
offer consular services at the very least". Cuban Consul
General to The Bahamas, Felix Wilson, has claimed that on
average 20,000 Bahamians travel to Cuba each year for a
variety of reasons: healthcare, medical training, tertiary
education, and vacation.


4. (U) Mitchell proudly announced that The Bahamas is
Caricom's biggest trading partner with Cuba, with traded
goods estimated at a value of USD 22.7 million per year. FM
Mitchell suggested to the Minister of Agriculture that he
look into the possibility of trading fruits and vegetables.


5. (U) During their stay in Cuba, Mitchell and Wright were
taken to several potential building sites by their Cuban
hosts. Mitchell told Bahamian media that funds to establish
a presence in Cuba were budgeted into the 2004/2005 budget.
Under Secretary Wright has plans to return to Havana in two
to three weeks to provide consular services to imprisoned
Bahamians. Minister Mitchell indicated that Mr. Wright is
likely to be the person designated to open the facility.


FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIALS SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE IN FOR
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6. (C) Speaking with Charge July 19, Foreign Ministry
Permanent Secretary Dr. Patricia Rodgers said that she
expected that the Bahamian mission in Cuba would be
functioning "no later than January or February of next year."
As justification, she noted that there were currently at
least one hundred Bahamians studying medicine in Cuba, that
thousands of Bahamians traveled regularly to Cuba for
inexpensive medical treatment, and that there was pressure
from Bahamian business persons to establish a diplomatic
presence as a way of facilitating their business dealings
with the Cubans. Bahamian Mr. Tennyson Wells has been
pressing the Bahamian Foreign Ministry and Ministry of
Agriculture to establish a diplomatic presence so that his
shipping company will have representation in Cuba.


7. (C) Musing on the benefits of a consulate versus an
embassy, Dr. Rodgers said that with the large number of
countries already having ambassadors in Havana, establishing
only a consular presence would leave The Bahamas "ignored and
discriminated against" by Minrex (the Cuban Foreign Ministry).

8. (C) Queried if they knew what conditions would be like in
Cuba, Dr. Rodgers wanely smiled "yes." She had already her
own list of complaints about the prices and services rendered
by Cubalse. Similarly, she "hoped" that the Government would
send a professional diplomat and not a political appointee to
Havana. Aware of security concerns resulting from hiring
Cubans, she said that she hoped that the Foreign Ministry
would also be permitted to send their own staff to work in
critical areas of the embassy. "I suppose that we will have
to train them to talk in code even in restaurants," she
exclaimed. Charge confirmed that Bahamian diplomats should
have no expectation of any privacy either at work, in public,
or in their homes.


COMMENT
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9. (C) It is likely that Minister Mitchell hopes to
facilitate repatriation of illegal Cuban migrants interdicted
in Bahamian waters with this gesture and that this is the
quid pro quo expected of the Cuban Government. Currently,
the Government of Cuba only accepts its nationals back a few
at a time, causing The Bahamas to hold Cuban nationals in
detention for months until repatriation -- a very costly
venture for the Bahamian government.


10. (C) It is difficult to imagine any concrete benefits to
The Bahamas from establishing a closer relationship to Cuba.
The small size of the Bahamian population precludes major
commercial sales to/purchases from Cuba, but Bahamians
currently trading do make significant profits. Medi-tourism
is growing as fiscally prudent Bahamians seek a high-quality,
lower-cost alternative to Miami for medical treatment.
Ideologically, FM Mitchell and others in the Bahamian cabinet
will also get psychological gratification from proving that
they can conduct an independent foreign policy at odds with
superpower neighbor.
WITAJEWSKI