Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BRIDGETOWN1904
2006-10-27 18:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bridgetown
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR KRAMER'S FAREWELL MEETING WITH PRIME

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR ASEC UNSC ETRD CASC BB XL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWN #1904/01 3001850
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 271850Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3606
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1554
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0097
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEHCV/USDAO CARACAS VE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 001904 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ASEC UNSC ETRD CASC BB XL
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR KRAMER'S FAREWELL MEETING WITH PRIME
MINISTER ARTHUR

REF: STATE 141592

Classified By: Ambassador Mary Kramer for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 001904

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ASEC UNSC ETRD CASC BB XL
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR KRAMER'S FAREWELL MEETING WITH PRIME
MINISTER ARTHUR

REF: STATE 141592

Classified By: Ambassador Mary Kramer for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: During her October 23 farewell meeting with
Barbados' Prime Minister Arthur, Ambassador Kramer took stock
of U.S.-Barbadian relations and discussed areas where greater
collaboration could be useful. Ambassador Kramer urged Prime
Minister Arthur to review Barbados' stance on Venezuela's
candidacy for the UNSC GRULAC seat, but the Prime Minister
made it clear that Barbados is unlikely to break with CARICOM
consensus on this issue. End Summary.

"Wonderful Friendship"
--------------


2. (U) Prime Minister Owen Arthur began by thanking
Ambassador Kramer for the "wonderful friendship" that has
characterized U.S.-Barbadian relations during Ambassador
Kramer's three years in the Eastern Caribbean. He
acknowledged that much progress has been achieved and,
alluding to plans for celebration of Caribbean Heritage Month
in June 2007, suggested that the region was on the cusp of
making its relationship with the United States even more
productive. He extended an invitation to President Bush and
Ambassador Kramer to attend the opening of George Washington
House in January 2007.

"Heavily Nuanced Relationship"
--------------


3. (C) Describing Barbados' and CARICOM's relationship with
Venezuela as "heavily nuanced," Prime Minister Arthur
acknowledged without prompting that the region itself had
many problems with Venezuela, among them the disputes over
the Bird Island and border with Guyana. He also spoke about
Venezuela's negative impact on the hemispheric agenda of
democratization and liberalization, citing as an example
Venezuela's disruptive performance at the 2005 Summit of the
Americas in Argentina. Despite these "nuances," however, the
Prime Minister did not offer anything more substantive on the

issue of the GRULAC UN Security Council seat than to note the
need for a multilateral decision. Ambassador Kramer urged
the Prime Minister to consider the integrity of the Security
Council. While this argument seemed to resonate with Prime
Minister Arthur, he made it clear that Barbados would be
looking for "common ground" rather than bucking CARICOM
consensus.


4. (C) When Prime Minister Arthur expressed disappointment
over the hemisphere's recent leftward drift, Ambassador
Kramer took the opportunity to urge him to be more outspoken
in defense of the values shared by Barbados and the United
States. Ambassador Kramer noted that the public rhetoric of
Caribbean and Western Hemisphere leaders has rarely matched
their sentiments expressed in private. Such dissonance was
difficult to interpret and undermined our partnerships with
countries in the region. Prime Minister Arthur agreed, and
he looked almost sheepish when Ambassador Kramer in turn
expressed disappointment at the quid pro quo foreign policy
exercised by some of his Eastern Caribbean counterparts, who
expressed willingness to trade their votes on the UNSC seat
for infrastructure and other assistance.

Economic Integration, Debt Relief, and Risk Management
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) Speaking at length about the issue on which he has
exercised regional leadership, Prime Minister Arthur urged
the United States "to be associated" with the CARICOM Single
Market Economy (CSME) integration process. Ambassador
Kramer agreed that CSME's goals were well aligned with
President Bush's support for stable democracies built on a
foundation of strong and resilient economies. Prime Minister
Arthur noted that through CSME, the Eastern Caribbean
countries will become better partners for the United States
and expressed his determination to continue pressing the CSME
effort forward. He asked Ambassador Kramer to earmark some
portion of U.S. assistance to the region for a regional
development fund that will seek to counter some of the
economic dislocations expected as a result of the greater
opening and integration of the region's markets.


6. (SBU) Prime Minister Arthur also suggested that some of
the Eastern Caribbean's heavily indebted economies, e.g., St.
Kitts and Nevis, could benefit from a debt relief program
similar to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program
that has benefited so many others. Ambassador Kramer
pointed to the assistance we are already providing through
USAID's work with Antigua and Dominica on their national
strategic plans. While these plans do not provide economic
assistance or debt relief per se, they do give these
countries an opportunity to assess their current economic
situations and work on solutions with all relevant
stakeholders. Ambassador Kramer also urged Prime Minister
Arthur to remain engaged with the region's leaders and
encourage them along the path of economic reform.


7. (SBU) Shoring up the region's economic prospects will
also require more work on disaster preparedness and risk
management, another priority for Prime Minister Arthur. He
hopes to organize a meeting of the region's heads of
government and U.S. state governors from the South and
Eastern seaboard to review the region's state of readiness
and risk management strategies. Ambassador Kramer welcomed
these plans, noting that the meeting could draw on a
significant body of information that could be assembled from
studies of recent natural disasters, to include lessons
learned from the impact of and response to Hurricane Ivan in

2004. She urged the Prime Minister to include the private
sector, especially the regional insurers, and suggested he
work with Barbadian Steve Stoute of the Insurance Association
of the Caribbean, who could assist the Prime Minister's
efforts to engage some of the U.S. states usually affected
by hurricanes.

RSS C-26s
--------------


8. (SBU) PM Arthur raised the proposal Ambassador Kramer put
to him about the possibility of the Regional Security System
(RSS) Air Wing deploying one of its two C-26s to Colombia for
maritime surveillance operations (reftel). He said this was
still in discussion among the RSS Council of Ministers and he
hoped to send a formal reply to the embassy soon.


9. (SBU) Arthur smilingly observed that the RSS might put a
proposition to buy the C-26s from the United States. He
further observed that, if the RSS acquired the planes, they
would seek a maintenance contract with the United States as
they could not fully service the planes on their own.
Ambassador Kramer suggested that the Prime Minister consider
training the current C-26 crew so that they could perform
some of the basic maintenance on the planes and thus conserve
the government's resources spent on repairs. Prime Minister
Arthur agreed to consider this idea.

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


9. (C) Prime Minister Arthur, perhaps more than any other
Eastern Caribbean leader, has a good grasp of the challenges
facing the region and the need for a strong partnership with
the United States. Our shared values and history, as well as
our geographic proximity, should provide a firm foundation
for that partnership. Too often, however, the health of our
partnership seems to depend more on offers of U.S. assistance
than on our shared interests. If our Caribbean counterparts
deem American aid insufficient, the region is willing to look
elsewhere for more generous "partners." Prime Minister Arthur
seems to recognize the long-term corrosive effects that this
outlook could have on the region. His efforts to improve the
region's economic prospects through integration and improved
competitiveness could eventually pull the region from its
current debilitating dependency on handouts from the likes of
Venezuela, Cuba, and China. We should therefore continue to
support the CSME process and any other efforts that could
give the region the independence, confidence, and stronger
voice that the United States needs from its partners.
KRAMER