Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04NASSAU1855
2004-10-05 21:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nassau
Cable title:  

PM CHRISTIE: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN U.S.

Tags:  PGOV PREL ECON BF CARICOM 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 001855 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BF CARICOM
SUBJECT: PM CHRISTIE: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN U.S.
RELATIONS WITH CARIBBEAN

Classified By: CDA Robert M. Witajewski For Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
- - - -

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 001855

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BF CARICOM
SUBJECT: PM CHRISTIE: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN U.S.
RELATIONS WITH CARIBBEAN

Classified By: CDA Robert M. Witajewski For Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
- - - -


1. (U) Prime Minister Perry Christie told an international
audience in Miami on October 1 that while U.S. good
intentions toward the English-speaking Caribbean are not in
doubt, there is room for improvement in the overall
relationship. Christie believed that the U.S. was not
sufficiently sensitive to Caribbean concerns on issues
including free trade, and hoped that generous international
assistance would be forthcoming to help Caribbean countries
recover from a devastating hurricane season which has already
damaged them beyond their means. Christie acknowledged U.S.
humanitarian assistance and its support for democracy,
efforts which only underscored the importance of the U.S. and
the wider Caribbean working together to find a permanent
solution to the problems in Haiti. The Bahamian Prime
Minister was a featured speaker at the Miami Herald's annual
"Americas Conference."
End summary.


2. (U) Prime Minister Perry Christie addressed the Miami
Herald's "Conference of the Americas" on October 1, 2004,
delivering remarks on the theme "Friend or Foe? Can The
Caribbean and the U.S. Repair Their Damaged Relations?".
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell and Carl Smith, coordinator of
The Bahamas' "National Emergency Management Agency" (NEMA),
accompanied the Prime Minister to Miami.


REASSESS IMPACT OF FREE TRADE ON SMALLER NATIONS
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3. (U) PM Christie, taking a more positive tone than the
agenda theme would indicate, announced that he disagreed with
the assertion that U.S.- Caricom relations are "damaged,"
declaring that he preferred instead to characterize the
situation as leaving room for "improvement". He suggested
that many of the areas of tension existing between the U.S.
and Caricom nations could be resolved with increased regular
dialogue.

"I would be less than candid if I did not say that there is a
view in some quarters that there is not sufficiently deep
understanding in the United States of the issues and concerns

which face our region," Prime Minister Christie said.
"Concerns for example about emerging free-trade arrangements
seem sometimes to fall on deaf ears or are treated
dismissively, without realizing that the entire economies of
poor, struggling nations, especially in the Eastern
Caribbean, hang in the balance. Simply cutting a check or
making a sympathetic speech does not address these issues at
a fundamental level. If sustainable development and economic
viability are to remain within the grasp of these smaller and
more vulnerable states, there simply has to be a
re-assessment of the direction in which free trade
arrangements are headed."


PM CALLS FOR GREATER ROLE IN HAITI?
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4. (U) Christie told his listeners that the main source of
tension in the region currently stems from the February 29th
departure of former Haitian President Jean Bertrande
Aristide, and more specifically because the U.S. government
did not better communicate with Caricom heads of state about
events surrounding Aristide's resignation at the time.
Christie encouraged the region to come together to help Haiti
in its time of need.

"..It is so important for the United States and the wider
Caribbean region to jointly promote democracy, peace,
stability and growth in our sister nation of Haiti. The
destruction that was wrought there by Tropical Storm Jeanne
is of monumental and tragic proportions. We continue to
watch, helplessly at times, as that beleaguered national
still struggles to find its way. Make no mistake about it,
all our collective talk about neighborly cooperation and
democratization will be judged a fraud by history if we do
not -- and by "we" I mean all the countries of the region --
pool our resources and bring the full weight of our resolve
to bear on a permanent solution to the problems of Haiti."

In response to a question from the press, Christie cited
issues surrounding official recognition of the
interim-government of Haiti and Caricom's relationship with
Cuba as being the major differences in regional policy.

HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS
- - - - - - - - - - - - -


5. (U) PM Christie told the conference that while The
Bahamas escaped the worst of the destruction brought by this
season's series of hurricanes, parts of his country are still
reeling. He stated that The Bahamas would need "all the help
in the world that we can get." Christie offered to host a
regional conference on to discuss how the United States and
the Caribbean region can respond to natural disasters on a
regional scale.


6. (U) Making a plea for further U.S. assistance to the
region following Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, Christie
announced that a consensus had been reached at the Caricom
Heads of State meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in September
2004 that the scale of disaster relief was beyond the
resources of the Caribbean. While acknowledging the need for
U.S. help for Grand Bahama and Abaco, Christie did admit that
Grenada and Haiti "desperately need help from the
international community and to the most generous extent
possible."


COMMENT
- - - -


7. (C) The Bahamian Prime Minister envisions himself as a
regional leader, and he used his speech at the conference to
address hurricane relief issues and the concern over the
implications of free trade agreements for the small,
developing nations of the Caribbean. While making a clear
pitch for the United States to give more humanitarian
assistance to sister countries, Grenada and Haiti, the Prime
Minister also referred to the "symbiotic relationship" the
U.S. shares with The Bahamas repeated his oft-cited statistic
that "eight cents out of every dollar earned in The Bahamas
is spent in the U.S." as a lightly veiled attempt to
demonstrate that Bahamian contributions to the economy in
Florida should not go unnoticed while deciding how to
distribute hurricane relief aid to the region.


8. (C) Indirectly via confidants and directly, Ambassador
and DCM had previously urged that Christie not take his
assigned theme literally but adopt a more positive stance in
his remarks. He appears to have done so -- either heeding
the suggestions or simply because he is by nature invariably
upbeat and optimistic...and a former Tourism Minister in The
Bahamas intimately familiar from whence the bulk of his
country's tourist dollars come. Talking about the Prime
Minister's remarks after he had returned from Miami, Foreign
Minister Fred Mitchell told DCM that the Prime Minister had
indeed deviated from his prepared text several times in the
course of his remarks.


9. (C) Christie is anxious to play regional statesman and is
undoubtedly pleased that his address got major coverage in
the Bahamian and Miami media. Not only is Christie happy
with his reception in Miami, he is equally pleased that
Alberto Ibarguen, Miami Herald publisher, has invited him
back to Miami to meet with the newspaper's editorial board --
an invitation that promises to generate further positive
regional publicity for him. Christie brought Carl Smith, his
disaster relief coordinator, with him on his Miami trip.
During his trip, Christie did receive additional relief
contributions from prominent Miami residents. But while he
was basking on a regional stage with fellow national leaders,
back home in The Bahamas local media featured growing
criticism of his government's handling of the relief and
reconstruction efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Frances and
Jeanne.

WITAJEWSKI