Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BRIDGETOWN2083
2006-11-28 11:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bridgetown
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR OURISMAN'S INTRODUCTORY VISIT TO

Tags:  AC ECON EFIN ETRD PGOV PINR PREL XL EINV CASC 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHWN #2083/01 3321107
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 281107Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3794
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1567
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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 002083 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USTR
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2016
TAGS: AC ECON EFIN ETRD PGOV PINR PREL XL EINV CASC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR OURISMAN'S INTRODUCTORY VISIT TO
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

REF: BRIDGETOWN 1811

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARY OURISMAN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 002083

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USTR
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2016
TAGS: AC ECON EFIN ETRD PGOV PINR PREL XL EINV CASC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR OURISMAN'S INTRODUCTORY VISIT TO
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

REF: BRIDGETOWN 1811

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARY OURISMAN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (U) See action request para 11.


2. (C) Summary: On November 16-17, 2006, Ambassador
Ourisman visited Antigua and Barbuda to present her
credentials. She conducted an initial round of meetings with
Antiguan officials, including the Prime Minister and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, both of whom
identified settlement of the Internet gambling dispute,
trade, Cricket World Cup, and deportations as priority
issues. In a meeting with the Attorney General, Ambassador
Ourisman discussed the Half Moon Bay property dispute. In
addition, Ambassador Ourisman paid a courtesy call on the
dean of the diplomatic corps, the Ambassador of Venezuela
Jose Laurencio-Silva Mendez, met with Peace Corps volunteers
and the U.S. consular agent, and visited the U.S. Air
Station. End Summary.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Gambling, Cricket, and WHTI
-------------- --------------


3. (U) On November 16, 2006, Ambassador Ourisman presented
her credentials to Sir James Carlisle, the Governor General
of Antigua and Barbuda. In a meeting with Ambassador Colin
Murdoch, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ambassador Ourisman received assurances of Antigua's
strong desire for continued close cooperation with the United
States. Murdoch noted that "the United States is our main
ally," but the bilateral relationship was not without its
issues. Foremost among them, at least given Murdoch's focus,
was the Internet gambling dispute. According to Murdoch, the
Internet Gambling and Prohibition Enforcement Act took

Antigua by surprise, as it was passed only a few days after
Antigua's Minister of Finance and Economy Errol Court had
visited Washington seeking a compromise. He expressed a hope
that the legislation was not the final word on this matter
and that the United States would be willing to restart a
dialogue with Antigua and work toward a compromise. Murdoch
urged the United States to consider regulation rather than
prohibition as the way to address its concerns. According to
Murdoch, "we're even ready to consider co-regulation where
our law enforcement authorities could work with those of the
United States." Ambassador Ourisman responded by promising
to convey Antigua's interest in a dialogue on this issue to
Washington agencies. She also stressed that our
interpretation of the WTO ruling differed and that the
Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act was not a
pre-election gimmick, as Murdoch had suggested, but reflected
a broad consensus in the United States.


4. (SBU) Murdoch thanked Ambassador Ourisman for U.S.
assistance, especially in the area of security for the 2007
Cricket World Cup (CWC) and trade. Murdoch considered the
visit of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael
Chertoff, and the signing of the Advance Passenger
Information System (APIS) Memorandum of Understanding as key
steps forward in the region's preparation for CWC. He
acknowledged that the region will continue to benefit from
these and other security advances even after CWC. According
to Murdoch, the Antiguan government is grappling with other
CWC-related challenges, like accommodations. He admitted
that Antigua presently has only 3,000 hotel rooms, despite
the government's incentives package, which was passed last
year to stimulate construction of additional hotel space. He
thought that private accommodations and cruise ships could be
used to handle any visitor overflow during CWC, but was
uncertain on how advanced the government's planning was in
these areas. Murdoch also thanked the United States for the
USAID Trade Assistance Program, which he said is progressing
well. Murdoch has also been in touch with Dominican
officials, who have told him that they are also satisfied
with the project.


5. (U) Reflecting the concerns voiced throughout the
Eastern Caribbean concerning the Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative (WHTI),Murdoch worried that the passport
requirement would discourage Americans from traveling to the
Eastern Caribbean and urged the United States to extend the
deadline for airline travelers as was done for cruise ship

passengers. Ambassador Ourisman countered his concerns by
noting that most Americans traveling to the Caribbean already
do so with passports and that the U.S. State Department is
conducting a far-reaching public outreach effort to inform
the American public of the new requirement. Murdoch admitted
that he understood the need for the passport requirement,
given Antigua's "unfortunate connection" to "Washington
Sniper" John Allen Muhammad, who had spent some time in
Antigua assisting illegal immigrants to enter the United
States with forged U.S. documents.

Prime Minister: Gambling, Cricket, and Deportations
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Ambassador Ourisman's discussion with W. Baldwin
Spencer, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs,
was very much a continuation of her discussion with Murdoch.
Prime Minister Spencer turned almost immediately to the
dispute over Internet gambling and argued that if both sides
returned to the table, a "mutually beneficial solution" could
be found. He acknowledged that the United State and Antigua
interpreted the WTO ruling differently, but thought that for
that very reason, the two sides should seek common ground and
a "modicum of balance." Ambassador Ourisman told the Prime
Minister that she would consult with Washington agencies and
respond to his proposal at a later date. Prime Minister
Spencer added that the region was also very interested in the
continuation of trade preferences under the Caribbean Basin
Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and expressed a hope that
Paraguay would drop its opposition to the WTO waiver soon.


7. (SBU) Like Murdoch, Prime Minister Spencer was very
appreciative of U.S. assistance with CWC preparations,
especially APIS. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Spencer urged
the United States "to go beyond that and put in place
additional measures" to assist the region. Ambassador
Ourisman recounted the numerous ways the United States is
already helping the region. Rather than provide details of
what more was needed, the Prime Minister only added that "the
United States and the United Kingdom should work with us to
ensure that the region is properly secured."


8. (SBU) Prime Minister Spencer was equally vague on the
issue of deportations. While he readily recognized the right
of any sovereign country to deport non-citizens, he urged the
United States to find some "alternative approaches" because
Antigua and the other Eastern Caribbean islands were too
"small and vulnerable" to deal with their returned nationals,
who no longer have any ties to their home countries. Prime
Minister Spencer also implied that Eastern Caribbean
nationals were being singled out and were being deported by
the United States for the smallest offenses. Ambassador
Ourisman countered that the United States was doing nothing
but applying its laws and that no country or a group of
countries was being singled out. The United States has
worked hard with local authorities to give them advance
notice of any deportee arrivals and to assist the islands in
a number of ways, whether it be with security or with
community projects targeting youth. Prime Minister Spencer
admitted that the United States has indeed been a good friend
to the Eastern Caribbean.

Attorney General Simon: Half Moon Bay
--------------


9. (C) Ambassador Ourisman's meeting with Attorney General
Justin Simon focused exclusively on the Half Moon Bay dispute
between the Antiguan government and Mrs. Natalia Querard, a
U.S. citizen. Simon began the meeting by informing
Ambassador Ourisman that the momentum generated in late
September and early October through the engagement of William
Rogers, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, as Mrs.
Querard's attorney and representative could have been
jeopardized because of Mrs. Querard's latest move. Simon
said that he recently found out that Mrs. Querard hired a new
attorney, Dr. Joseph Samuel Archibald, who has a practice in
Tortola (reftel). According to Simon, Mrs. Querard's
decision caused some confusion because Rogers was unaware
that Mrs. Querard hired a new attorney, and Archibald was
unaware that Mrs. Querard already had an attorney.


10. (C) Despite this latest wrinkle in the long-running

dispute, Simon assured Ambassador Ourisman that the Antiguan
government remains committed to reaching a settlement at the
earliest possible date. At present, the government was
awaiting a response from Dr. Archibald on the latest
settlement proposal. According to Simon, the proposal
includes a number of conditions that Mrs. Querard will have
to satisfy because the government will not give Mrs. Querard
a "carte blanche" in light of the value of the property and
past history surrounding this case. The conditions include a
requirement that Mrs. Querard provide a guarantee of
financing, commence work on the property within a certain
period of time following the signing of the agreement, and
discontinue the appeal before the Privy Council of the United
Kingdom. Although the government was not making the
severance payment for former Half Moon Bay employees a
condition in the settlement agreement, Simon said that the
government would expect Mrs. Querard to make the severance
payment eventually. Conversations with Rogers and Archibald
led Simon to believe that they considered the
government-proposed conditions to be reasonable. Simon hoped
that the government would receive Mrs. Querard's response in
the next four weeks.

Action Request and Comment
--------------


11. (U) Action Request: The Embassy would appreciate
guidance from Washington agencies on how to respond to
Antigua's request for a bilateral dialogue on Internet
gambling.


12. (C) Comment: Both Prime Minister Spencer and MFA
Permanent Secretary Murdoch made it clear that Antigua is
very keen on restarting a dialogue with the United States on
Internet gambling. Undoubtedly, the Internet Gambling
Prohibition and Enforcement Act is at least partially
responsible for this increase in interest and energy level.
Antigua's other requests for assistance on CWC and
deportations are not new, and we have addressed them
previously. Antiguans also continue to hope that one day the
U.S. Embassy, which was closed during the early 1990s, will
reopen. The issue was raised by both the Governor General
and the Prime Minister. While Ambassador Ourisman told the
Antiguans that the United States has no plans to return to
Antigua, we will continue our effort to maintain a visible
presence on the island through our consular agent and
frequent visits. The presence of our Peace Corps volunteers
is also an important part of this effort, and they have
generated much good will through their work on the two
islands.
OURISMAN