Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05PARAMARIBO737
2005-11-15 12:08:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Paramaribo
Cable title:  

SURINAME'S REACTION TO THE SUMMIT OF AMERICAS

Tags:  ENRG ETRD ECON PREL PGOV NS 
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UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000737 

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, EB/ESC/IEC/ENR, INR
DEPT PASS USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG ETRD ECON PREL PGOV NS
SUBJECT: SURINAME'S REACTION TO THE SUMMIT OF AMERICAS
CONFERENCE, FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS AND PETROCARIBE

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000737

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, EB/ESC/IEC/ENR, INR
DEPT PASS USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG ETRD ECON PREL PGOV NS
SUBJECT: SURINAME'S REACTION TO THE SUMMIT OF AMERICAS
CONFERENCE, FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS AND PETROCARIBE


1. (U) Commenting on the Summit of the Americas (SOA) on
his return from Argentina, Surinamese President Venetiaan
remarked that for the first time, the final declaration
included consideration of the position of small countries
with weak and vulnerable economies, such as those of the
CARICOM member states. He characterized this inclusion,
supported by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, as a victory for
CARICOM. Venetiaan described the atmosphere during the
Summit as tense and controversial, and noted that
Venezuelan President Chavez was out to undermine support
for FTAA. Venetiaan added that he favors resumption of the
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations in
early 2006. He lamented that while the EU continues to
build a much stronger trade block, the Americas are still
fighting over which direction trade integration should
follow. He observed that small economies have less luxury
to engage in debate that delays successful integration than
countries with large domestic markets like Brazil,
Venezuela, and Argentina.


2. (SBU) In a meeting last week with the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Lygia Kraag-Keteldijk, the Ambassador
again heard of Suriname's satisfaction that the final
declaration of the SOA included consideration of smaller
economies. On the topic of PetroCaribe, the Minister
remarked that although Suriname had signed a "framework"
document with Venezuela, it had not yet negotiated a final
bilateral agreement under which specific commitments and
responsibilities were enumerated. Ambassador attempted to
engage the Minister on how the PetroCaribe agreement could
limit the number of suppliers of gasoline available to
Suriname, but the Minister maintained that the agreement
would not limit Suriname's choice of suppliers in any
manner. The Minister recognized that the agreement was
mainly a "financial facility" and with a degree of
reluctance agreed with Ambassador Barnes's assertion that
it would mean greater indebtedness for Suriname.


3. (SBU) Comment: The Minister's remarks suggest that
Suriname harbors a perhaps overly optimistic assessment of
the cost and benefit balance of the PetroCaribe agreement.
But in any case, against a backdrop of apparent active
Surinamese interest in PetroCaribe and Venezuelan overtures
generally, we find President Venetiaan's take on trade
integration trends interesting. His comments in favor of
FTAA, casting the trade interests of small and large Latin
American countries as divergent, would appear to put
Suriname in opposition to the Venezuelan position on the
FTAA/Mercosur divide. End comment.

BARNES


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