JAMAICA HOSTS PETROCARIBE SUMMIT IN MONTEGO BAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KINGSTON 002083

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT),EB/ESC/IEC
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/7/15
TAGS: EPET ENRG ECON PREL JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA HOSTS PETROCARIBE SUMMIT IN MONTEGO BAY

REF: A. KINGSTON 2082


B. POWELL/BENT 9/7 FAX

C. KINGSTON 02026

D. POWELL/NICHOLS 9/7 E-MAIL

Classified By: CDA Thomas C. Tighe. Reasons 1.5(b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (U) On September 6, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson hosted
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuban President Fidel
Castro, and representatives of CARICOM states, the Dominican
Republic, and Monserrat, to conclude the PetroCaribe Energy
Cooperation Agreement. Domestically, the summit was
overshadowed by the opposition Jamaica Labor Party's (JLP)
island-wide protest against the Patterson Administration in
response to rising food- and utility prices, and bus fares,
an event at least in part calculated to embarrass the Prime
Minister in front of his regional guests. In addressing
Summit attendees, Patterson specifically praised Simon
Bolivar, Chavez and his "Bolivarian vision", and Castro's
"record for humanitarian generosity" despite 50 years of
opposition from the USG. He emphasized that the benefits
offered by PetroCaribe came with no strings attached, and
that they involved concessionary loans rather than sub-market
oil pricing by Venezuela. GOJ contacts began returning to
Kingston from the PetroCaribe Summit on September 7; we are
awaiting replies to our requests for read-outs and will
report further on the substance and dynamics of the event.
End summary.

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PetroCaribe Summit
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2. (U) On September 6, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson hosted
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuban President Fidel
Castro, and representatives of CARICOM states, the Dominican
Republic, and Monserrat. Domestically, the summit was
overshadowed by the opposition Jamaica Labor Party's (JLP)
island-wide "day of protest" against the Patterson
Administration for rising food-, utility- and bus fare
prices, and event at least in part calculated to embarrass
the Prime Minister in front of his regional guests (Ref A).
GOJ contacts began returning to Kingston from the PetroCaribe
Summit on September 7; we are awaiting replies to requests
for read-outs and will report further on the substance and
dynamics of the event.

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Patterson Welcomes His Guests
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3. (U) In his opening address to the visiting delegations
(text of remarks faxed to WHA/CAR, per Ref B),Patterson gave
a verbal nod to Simon Bolivar, whose 190-year old, 1815
"Letter from Jamaica" served nominally as commemorative
backdrop to the PetroCaribe Summit. He described the
countries represented at the Summit as states "...whose
people share a common history of colonial conquest..." The
PM also noted that the PetroCaribe Agreement "will serve to
strengthen our ties with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
and two of our close neighbors in the wider Caribbean Basin,
Cuba and the Dominican Republic." Continuing, Patterson
welcomed Chavez, "...whose own commitment to regionalism
brings added meaning to the Bolivarian vision '...to put into
use all the resources for public prosperity; to improve,
educate and perfect the New World.'" He mentioned rising
global demand for oil led by China and other Asian countries,
and, after noting the recent rise in oil prices beyond the
USD 70 per barrel mark, expressed "profound sympathy" to
those in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who were affected
by Hurricane Katrina. According to Patterson, "The
PetroCaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement which replaces, with
Venezuela, the San Jose Accord and now the Caracas Energy
Agreement of 2001, will further deepen and strengthen the
bonds of friendship and the process of collaboration between
the signatory countries."

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PetroCaribe's Benefits, As Jamaica Sees Them
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4. (U) As he has done on several occasions since Chavez
visited in August to sign a bilateral GOJ/GOV accord under
PetroCaribe (Ref C),Patterson emphasized that Jamaica will
continue to purchase Venezuelan oil at the prevailing world
price, paying only a small amount up front in cash while
"...the rest of the payment is convertible by our Governments
as a concessionary loan at one percent over 25 years."
Patterson described further benefits of the Agreement as:

1) averting a severe reduction of foreign exchange reserves,
thereby easing the pressure for currency devaluation;

2) the accumulation of loan funds at concessionary rates
which cannot be secured either from the International Lending
Agencies or Capital Markets and without any conditionalities
attached; and

3) the ability to repay portions of the loan by way of goods
and services, including sugar, bananas and rice, which have
suffered from adverse rulings of the WTO.

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In Praise of Fidel
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5. (U) Patterson also lauded Castro, saying: "The
(PetroCaribe) program, which will permit Cuba with its
advanced capability in the Health Sector to provide special
treatment to needy patients in Jamaica serves as a
trailblazer. Allow me to commend President Fidel Castro,
whose record for humanitarian generosity has never diminished
despite whatever daunting challenges his government and
people have faced over the past five decades." Concluding
his remarks, Patterson said, "In a globalized world in which
dominant economic and political blocs hold sway we must be
prepared to chart our own course and harness the skills of
our people to strengthen our economies..." (Note: Pol/Econ
Chief is scheduled to meet with the Health Ministry Permanent
Secretary on September 8 and will ask for specifics about the

SIPDIS
Cuban eye care program for indigent Jamaicans. End note.)

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Delegations
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6. (U) The GOJ provided the following, incomplete information
on the Heads of Government/State/Delegation represented in
Montego Bay: Jamaica - PM P.J. Patterson; Venezuela -
President Hugo Chavez; Cuba - President Fidel Castro; Guyana,
PM Samuel Hinds; Grenada - PM Keith Mitchell; Monserratt -
Chief Minister John Osborne; as well as unspecified heads of
delegation from: Barbados, Dominica, Suriname, Trinidad &
Tobago, and the Dominican Republic. According to the media
reports, the Barbadian, Bahamian, and Trinidadian
representatives attended as observers.

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A Touch of Light Comedy
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7. (C) As the Summit was unfolding, an Embassy Kingston
consular officer had a series of inadvertent run-ins with the
Cuban delegation to the PetroCaribe Summit. Conoff arrived
by commercial air at Montego Bay's Sangster International
Airport, where her husband, in Montego Bay on a long-planned
vacation with visiting Amcit friends, met her in their POV.
The two were mistakenly directed by GOJ security personnel
(who apparently misread the diplomatic license plates on
their vehicle) into the official convoy proceeding onto the
tarmac to welcome the aircraft carrying Castro's arriving
delegation. When Cuban and Jamaican officials recognized the
error, conoff and her husband were quickly removed from the
procession and asked to depart the airport. They proceeded
to their resort villa (which they had reserved in May),
whereupon they learned that Castro and his delegation were
occupying the villa next door. Their license plates again
provoked surprised consternation, then baleful looks from
Cuban security officials, whereupon conoff and her party were
quickly moved to a far side of the resort by resort staff who
were clearly acting at the behest of the Cubans. Before they
moved, however, a cell phone from conoff's party went missing
for a few hours, and a request to the hotel desk to fix a
non-functioning computer in their original villa quickly
brought seven "technicians" to the suite who examined the
computer intently but were unable to restore internet service.

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Comment
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8. (C) Patterson, never shy about publicly reiterating his
commitment to maintaining Jamaica's "principled stance"
against U.S. policy in Iraq, Haiti, and at the UN, felt no
need to stand on principle or to say or do anything to make
his two prominent, democratically-challenged guests
uncomfortable. Drawing on Department guidance prior to the
Summit, Charge and Pol/Econ Chief raised (with senior
officials at the MFA and Commerce Ministry, and with a close
personal friend and unofficial advisor to Patterson) USG
concerns about Chavez's behavior regionally and at home, and
the unlikely notion that the GOV would offer such seemingly
favorable terms with no strings attached. The message
clearly reached the Prime Minister, who subsequently and
publicly rebutted the notion of hidden "conditionalities" on
at least three occasions. We will report further on the
substance of the Summit once we are able to discuss the
proceedings with official contacts streaming back to the
capital from Montego Bay.
TIGHE