DOMINICA MAY CEDE BIRD ISLAND TO VENEZUELA

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 001140

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PBTS PHSA PGOV PINR PREL EAID DO VE XL
SUBJECT: DOMINICA MAY CEDE BIRD ISLAND TO VENEZUELA

REF: A. BRIDGETOWN 1127

B. BRIDGETOWN 368

C. 05 BRIDGETOWN 2485


1. (SBU) Summary: Dominica has moved closer to abandoning
its claim on Bird Island, a small piece of rock and sand
located in the center of the Caribbean Sea that is also
claimed by Venezuela. Following a June meeting with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Dominica Prime Minister
Roosevelt Skerrit remarked publicly that Venezuela has an
internationally recognized legal claim to Bird Island that
Dominica can do "nothing" about. The leaders agreed to form
a commission that will examine technical matters related to
their maritime boundary but will not actually be charged with
determining ownership of the disputed territory. Dominica's
previous public defiance of Venezuela's claim to Bird Island
(ref C) appears to have been softened by substantial new aid,
including a US$22 million Venezuelan grant for housing
construction. To economically distressed Dominica, this
should be ample compensation for giving up its already
precarious legal position. End summary.

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Bird Island Belongs to Venezuela
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2. (U) Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit appears to
have all but ceded his nation's claim to Bird Island in June
when he said that the international community recognizes
Venezuela's sovereignty over the disputed territory. "It's a
fact. So there is nothing we can do from a legal standpoint
to reclaim Bird Island," explained the PM during a June 26
press conference at the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana. The
Dominica PM's remarks came several days after he met with
Venezuelan President Chavez in Caracas, where the leaders
agreed to establish a joint commission that will meet in July
to examine the maritime boundary between the two nations.


3. (U) Note: St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister
Ralph Gonsalves visited Caracas at the same time as the
Dominica PM and attended a joint meeting with Skerrit and
Chavez, according to press reports. The Dominica MFA could
not confirm, however, that such a three-way meeting actually
took place. End note.

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We Haven't Ceded it Yet
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4. (SBU) PM Skerrit has not formally given up Dominica's
claim to Bird Island, a high-level official in the Dominica
MFA explained to Poloff. The PM's remarks were not intended
to recognize Venezuela's claim of sovereignty to the disputed
territory, but simply state the current legal situation.
Dominica understands that several countries have previously
recognized Venezuela's right to Bird Island, and that if the
matter goes to arbitration Dominica may very well lose. The
MFA official explained that the planned joint commission
would not determine which nation's claim to Bird Island is
accurate, but simply allow legal experts to examine technical
issues regarding the maritime boundary between Venezuela and
Dominica. (Note: The demarcation of the maritime boundary
will be of great importance if undersea energy deposits are
ever found in the region. A key issue that still needs to be
addressed, and is crucial to Venezuela, is whether Bird
Island is classified as a habitable island that generates an
exclusive economic zone (EEZ). End note.)

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Venezuela Increases Aid
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5. (U) Venezuela will provide Dominica with US$29 million in
new aid for housing construction, the Government of Dominica
announced on June 29, just three days after PM Skerrit made
his remarks regarding Bird Island. This latest Venezuelan
assistance will be given in the form of a US$22 million grant
and US$7 million soft loan, supplementing the estimated US$10
million combination of funding and in-kind assistance
Venezuela currently provides to Dominica's airport expansion
program (ref B). Dominica, along with several other Eastern
Caribbean countries, also moved closer to implementing the
PetroCaribe oil accord in June when it signed a bilateral
agreement with Caracas that could allow it to begin receiving
Venezuelan petroleum products (ref A).

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Comment
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6. (SBU) Venezuela's recent largesse appears to have had the
effect of convincing Dominica to change its tune from 2005,
when the nation's Foreign Minister said his country would not
give up its claim of sovereignty over Bird Island without, at
least, a diplomatic fight (ref C). This was, most likely, an
attempt by the Government of Dominica to place itself in a
position to extract some form of compensation from Venezuela.
As the PM's recent remarks indicate, the Government
understood that it did not have a strong legal case for Bird
Island and simply sought to get something from Venezuela in
return for ultimately acquiescing. The new US$22 million
grant from Venezuela suggests that Dominica was successful.
KRAMER