Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05NASSAU1191
2005-06-27 18:24:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nassau
Cable title:  

BAHAMAS: ENERGY MINISTER TO ATTEND MEETING WITH

Tags:  ENRG PREL KDEM BF VZ 
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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 001191 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR WBENT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2009
TAGS: ENRG PREL KDEM BF VZ
SUBJECT: BAHAMAS: ENERGY MINISTER TO ATTEND MEETING WITH
CHAVEZ

REF: A. STATE 117564


B. NASSAU 754

Classified By: DCM Robert Witajewski, Reasons 1.4 b and d

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 001191

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR WBENT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2009
TAGS: ENRG PREL KDEM BF VZ
SUBJECT: BAHAMAS: ENERGY MINISTER TO ATTEND MEETING WITH
CHAVEZ

REF: A. STATE 117564


B. NASSAU 754

Classified By: DCM Robert Witajewski, Reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (U) Ambassador raised CARICOM's upcoming meeting with
Venezuelan President Chavez in general terms with Foreign
Minister Mitchell on June 23. Minister Mitchell indicated
that The Bahamas would be represented by the Ministry of
Trade of Industry, which has oversight over the country's
energy matters. Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller
has attended the previous discussions of PetroCaribe.


2. (C) DCM conveyed Ref A talking points on June 27 to Dr.
Patricia Rodgers, MFA Permanent Secretary (the #2 position at
the Ministry) and Ms. Helen Ebong, Permanent Secretary at the
Ministry of Trade and Industry. Dr. Rodgers privately
expressed concern that a "loose cannon" like Minister Miller
would be representing The Bahamas and that rather than
request him to speak out it might be better for both
countries if he stayed in the background, but offered no
other substantive comment. PS Ebong, a long-time skeptic of
PetroCaribe whom Minister Miller no longer consults on the
subject, believed the summit-like nature of the event might
prompt the Prime Minister to expand the Bahamian delegation
beyond Minister Miller. She promised to forward the talking
points to both Minister Miller and the Prime Minister's
office.


Minister Miller Responds
--------------


3. (C) Shortly after receiving a copy of the demarche from
his Permanent Secretary, Trade and Industry Minister Miller
called DCM to discuss his trip. He promised to take the
points made in the demarche up with his CARICOM colleagues at
a meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 28, in Caracas
that he is chairing. Responding to DCM's urging that the
best long-term solution to the energy situation would be a
market-based solution within the context of a stable,
democratic political system, Minister Miller said that in
petroleum, economics and politics always mixed. He called on
the United States to itself construct new oil refineries in
the U.S. to relieve supply shortages. Miller then went on to
describe himself as a "nationalist" saying that he understood
why the "dirt poor people in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina"
were upset with oil companies. When DCM cautioned about
concluding an agreement with an unstable government whose
president had a penchant for tearing up and re-writing
contracts, Miller responded by declaring that paying
royalties from extracted natural resources of "one percent"
was "ridiculous and unfair." Miller went on to comment that
unless oil companies shared their profits more equitably, it
was understandable that governments would seek to abrogate
existing contracts and re-write them to retain more of the
proceeds. This, he argued, was the only way to create a
stable middle class. He pointed out that he had negotiated a
contract with a company currently exploring for oil in The
Bahamas that called for 12-25 percent of the profits to be
paid to the government. DCM responded that investment
required stability, transparency, and predictability and that
all of these were in short supply in President Chavez'
Venezuela at the moment.


4. (C) Miller promised DCM to provide a full debrief of the
meeting upon his return.


COMMENT
--------------


5. (C) Recent headlines in Bahamian newspapers are
trumpeting the possibility of $4 (or more) a gallon gasoline
in The Bahamas. Minister Miller has been promoting
PetroCaribe as a politically easy way to lower local gasoline
prices without reducing the government's per gallon tax or
distributors margins. He also dreams of creating of a
National Energy Corporation under his control to administer
the program (Ref B). Prime Minister Christie has remained
silent on the issue but has shown no inclination to embark on
the type of sweeping project that Minister Miller envisions.
On the other hand, Christie has also shown no inclination to
silence a minister whose more outrageous comments regularly
make for embarrassing headlines. Minister Miller is an
erratic figure within the Christie cabinet and his frequent
dramatic pronouncements on issues ranging from PetroCaribe to
hurricane relief funding to liquefied natural gas projects
are taken with a large grain of salt. His recent comments on
high gasoline prices have focused less on Venezuela and more
on decreasing the fixed markups that local gasoline importers
and retailers are permitted to charge.


6. (C) The Bahamas is sufficiently interested in possibly
lowering its energy bill to keep sending Minister Miller to
PetroCaribe meetings, but it has little in common politically
with President Chavez. The one possible exception is Cuba,
with which The Bahamas shares a pragmatic working
relationship based on migrant issues and other
people-to-people matters such as tourism and medical training
and treatment.

ROOD