Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04NASSAU1904
2004-10-14 10:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nassau
Cable title:  

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER EXTOLS OPBAT, U.S.

Tags:  PGOV PREL BF OPBAT 
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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 001904 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL BF OPBAT
SUBJECT: DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER EXTOLS OPBAT, U.S.
RELATIONSHIP


Classified By: DCM 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 001904

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL BF OPBAT
SUBJECT: DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER EXTOLS OPBAT, U.S.
RELATIONSHIP


Classified By: DCM Robert M. Witajewski for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) In his courtesy call on Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia
Pratt, Ambassador stressed the importance of Bahamian
officials acknowledging OPBAT's importance to Bahamian
national security. The Deputy Prime Minister extolled the
bilateral relationship and acknowledged that OPBAT was
critical to Bahamian national security since the country's
could not assure the security of its own borders with only
its own resources. She also admitted that Bahamian failure
to address the issue illegal Haitian migrants in the country
was a long-term time bomb.
End Summary.


The High Cost of Government in The Bahamas
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador's October 8, twice-delayed, courtesy call
on the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for National
Security, Cynthia Pratt, turned into a lengthy substantive
discussion of OPBAT's past, present, and future. Ambassador,
accompanied by Deputy Chief of Mission, began the meeting by
reviewing events since his presentation of credentials,
including the arrival of two devastating hurricanes in The
Bahamas. The DPM, who was assisted by the Ministry's Under
Secretary for Security Matters, Peter Deveaux-Isaacs,

SIPDIS
expressed appreciation for the DCM's efforts as Charge over
the last 14 months and then immediately launched into a
spirited review of the bilateral relationship and OPBAT's
importance to The Bahamas.


3. (C) Minister Pratt noted the historical closeness of
U.S.- Bahamian ties and observed that even as friends we can
disagree on issues, but that The Bahamas knew that it could
not protect its borders and maintain its national security
without USG material and financial assistance. She also
reiterated the appreciation of the people of The Bahamas for
all of the assistance that the United States had rendered in
the aftermath of the recent hurricanes, as well as in
rescuing survivors and victims of the mailboat collision in

2002.

4. (C) The Deputy Prime Minister called OPBAT "vital" and
declared that The Bahamas would clearly suffer if the assets
committed to it were to be diminished. She noted that the

archipeleagic nature of the country required that many
essential services (including police, schools, health
clinics, airports, and roads) be duplicated or triplicated.
This, combined with its small (350,000 inhabitants)
population, made it extremely costly for the government to
provide the necessary infrastructure, let alone adequate
patrolling of its 100,000 square miles of ocean. Even the
country's efforts to expand its economy was costly, the
Minister observed, commenting that the opening of a new Four
Seasons international resort on idyllic, remote,
previously-underpopulated Great Exuma island required that a
500 percent increase in the local police force from 16
officers to 86.


Ambassador: OPBAT Needs Your Support
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador responded to what was clearly a prepared
presentation by the DPM by saying that he welcomed the
Government's expression of support for OPBAT. He noted that
his in consultations in Washington prior to arriving at Post
that he had detected "red flags" about the ability and
willingness of some USG agencies to maintain current levels
of support in the face of competing demands. As examples,
the Ambassador cited a review by INL that could result in
substantial cuts to the NAS budget in Nassau, the demands for
helicopters and their crews used by OPBAT in Iraq and other
crisis locations, and the rapidly deteriorating situation in
Haiti that could require a large new commitment of U.S.
assets.


6. (C) Ambassador invited the Deputy Prime Minister or
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell to accompany him on a trip to
Washington to explain OPBAT's mission and importance to The
Bahamas and to the United States to members of Congress
interested in the Caribbean, key committee members, and
Executive Branch officials. Ambassador reiterated that it
was important that key officials know that the resources that
they were committing to OPBAT were being properly utilized
and having the maximum return in the face of many competing
demands. He noted that he had begun a program of sending
Embassy press releases to members of Florida's congressional
delegation to help keep them abreast of events here.


7. (C) Minister Pratt responded that it was Florida that
would suffer the most if OPBAT's operations and effectiveness
were to be reduced. She noted that while The Bahamas was the
first line of defense for the southeastern United States,
there was no way that her country could properly secure its
borders with its own resources. The Ministry's national
security deputy, Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs, added that any reduction
in the resources committed to OPBAT would send the wrong
message to drug traffickers and migrant smugglers. He
recalled that when the U.S. decided to close down its
aerostat sites several years ago that there was an upsurge in
drug trafficking as drug dealers immediately moved to exploit
what was perceived to be a diversion of interdiction assets
from the region. He said that he hoped that history would
not repeat itself.


Impact of Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne
--------------


8. (SBU) Turning to the impact of recent hurricanes on The
Bahamas, Ambassador observed that it was particularly
important to provide relief assistance to the poor Haitian
community, particularly those living in settlements in Marsh
Harbor, Abaco, called "The Mud" and "Pidgeon Pea." Minister
Pratt responded by acknowledging that the issue of illegal
Haitians in The Bahamas was a problem that had been
"postponed twenty years too long." She claimed that the U.S.
needed to recognize that the goal of Haitian migrants was not
to live in The Bahamas, but rather to eventually enter the
United States. Characterizing the Haitian problem in The
Bahamas as "a cancer," she recalled that during her election
campaign that she was shocked to discover that some
neighborhoods in her own parliamentary district were almost
"85 percent Haitian." Unless The Bahamas came to terms with
this issue, the Deputy Prime Minister continued, the country
faced the prospect that someday Haitians could "outnumber
Bahamians" in their own country.


9. (SBU) Discussing relief and reconstruction efforts,
Ambassador explained to the DPM that the Embassy was working
closely with the local representative of the Inter-American
Development Bank, as well as with the British embassy (as the
local presence of the EU) to avoid any duplication of effort.
Ambassador also noted that he was lobbying hard in
Washington to assure that The Bahamas received its fair share
of funds from the Administration's supplemental appropriation.

10.(U) Ambassador also briefly reviewed other areas of U.S.
assistance to The Bahamas, including working on revitalizing
the sister city program, expanding training opportunities for
Bahamian law enforcement officers with the FBI. The Deputy
Prime Minister then reiterated her long-standing concern
about the importation of guns from the United States into The
Bahamas and the impact that this had on the level of violence
associated with criminal acts in the country.

Comment
--------------


11. (C) The Deputy Prime Minister's presentation of OPBAT's
importance to Bahamian national security -- and contribution
to U.S. national security -- was clearly rehearsed.
Ambassador has stressed to Bahamian officials the importance
of them making clear their appreciation for what OPBAT does
for them and their country and the danger that taking it for
granted could present in an era of zero-sum budgets and the
demands for OPBAT resources in other crisis spots around the
world.
ROOD