ST. VINCENT: A DEMOCRACY UNDER STRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000754 SIPDIS SIPDIS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SOCI KDEM CU VC XL SUBJECT: ST. VINCENT: A DEMOCRACY UNDER STRESS REF: A. BRIDGETOWN 530 ¶B. 05 BRIDGETOWN 1420 Classified By: CDA Mary Ellen T. Gilroy for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Democracy is under threat in St. Vincent and the Grenadines from Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, according to an increasing number of Vincentians who warn that the PM's fondness for the leaders of Cuba and Venezuela is indicative of his autocratic nature. Gonsalves's detractors argue that the PM's harsh retaliation against those he perceives to be his opponents has cast a chill over public debate in their small country. The critics believe the PM's repressive streak has been on the rise since the ruling party's December 2005 re-election and worry about the impact of five more years of Gonsalves. They point ominously to proposals for wiretap legislation, the regulation of NGOs, and legal standards for the media. While it does not appear that the establishment of an authoritarian government is imminent in St. Vincent, Gonsalves's methods suggest that he seeks power for power's sake and, if the conditions were right, could happily be a dictator on his little island. End summary. -------------- Democracy Under Siege by Gonsalves -------------- ¶2. (C) Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is threatening democracy in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in the opinion of a growing number of the country's political observers. The PM has constrained public debate and criticism of his Government over the course of his five years in power by retaliating against his opponents through a variety of means. Gonsalves and members of his Government have taken to criticizing the press as irresponsible and threatened to legislate media standards. The Government has also proposed legislation that would regulate NGOs and allow it to tap telephones. These proposals concern critics of the PM, who fear he will be provided legal mechanisms through which to punish opponents. ¶3. (C) Such warnings about Gonsalves's intentions have come for the last few years from the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP),which claims that the PM's friendships with the leaders of Cuba and Venezuela demonstrate that he is an unreconstructed communist who harbors authoritarian ambitions. Others have now joined the opposition in voicing similar concerns about the deteriorating health of their nation's democratic culture. During recent visits to St. Vincent, Poloff listened to the views of leaders of the country's small civil society and journalists who had previously been supporters of the PM. -------------- Victimization -------------- ¶4. (C) Gonsalves's favored means to silence opponents has been to dominate public life in St. Vincent, which a forceful personality can easily do in a small island-state of only 110,000 people. Through his substantial charisma, Gonsalves uses his Prime Ministerial soapbox to control public debate and silence critics, according to observers. Those he cannot silence may face "victimization" through which they or their family members lose Government jobs. The NDP has complained for the past five years that Gonsalves has been emptying the Government of civil servants, including lowly night watchman and charladies, who are believed to support the opposition. The St. Vincent Bar Association recently added its voice to the NDP's, criticizing the Government for failing to renew the contract of the President of the Family Court, Sharon Morris-Cummings, because of her family's political views. Her husband, Daniel Cummings, is an opposition Senator in Parliament who had served as manager of the national water authority until the Government terminated his contract in ¶2004. -------------- Small Civil Society -------------- ¶5. (C) The small size of civil society in St. Vincent allows the PM to dominate public discourse and limits the ability of individuals to challenge the Government, several observers explained to Poloff. Government is omnipresent in nearly all aspects of daily life, making it difficult to have a role in society that is not in some way politicized. People feel that this brings, at times, unwarranted intrusion into their lives. Poloff was told how a group of rural citizens who met recently to discuss a Government plan to turn their land over to a hotel developer discovered that a plainclothes member of the police force's Special Branch had monitored their gathering. ¶6. (C) Civil society is also limited by the small number of NGOs that operate on the island, while those NGOS that do exist have limited memberships, often relying on a few committed people to maintain some semblance of an operative civil society. For example, a single attorney, Nicole Sylvester, serves as President of both St. Vincent's Bar Association and Human Rights Association (HRA) while also trying to run her family law firm. Despite Sylvester's frequent criticism of the Government in her role with the HRA, several observers credit her with maintaining political impartiality. Because, however, Sylvester's father was once a prominent member of the opposition, the lawyer has come in for regular criticism from the Government, which, according to several sources, successfully pressured a radio station to cancel a call-in program she hosted. -------------- Restrictive Legislation Feared -------------- ¶7. (C) Legislation recently proposed by the Government would increase Gonsalves's power to silence his critics, warn several Vincentians including the HRA's Nicole Sylvester and journalist Kenton Chance, who writes for the "Vincentian" newspaper and the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). (Note: Chance, who describes himself as having been a supporter of the PM until the last election, is currently attempting to start a media workers association in order to protect freedom of the press in St. Vincent. End note.) They pointed to plans to introduce legislation that would allow the Government to regulate NGOs, set standards for the media, and monitor telephone calls. ¶8. (C) Gonsalves's detractors argue that while the wiretap legislation currently being considered is intended to help the police fight crime, the Government has already proven that it lacks the restraint and good judgment to use such authority properly. They point to the Government's abuse of an obscure law in 2005 to prosecute a popular media figure and regular critic of the PM for statements made during an opposition party meeting (ref B). -------------- Comrade Ralph, Still a Comrade -------------- ¶9. (C) A growing number of observers believe that Gonsalves, a former Marxist academic who still goes by the moniker "Comrade Ralph," harbors a strong belief in communism and would like to impose the system, or at least its autocratic side, on St. Vincent if he had the opportunity. They point to Gonsalves's relationships with the Presidents of Cuba and Venezuela as evidence of his real political beliefs. Upon returning from one of his many trips to Cuba, for example, Gonsalves conveyed to a British diplomat his admiration for Cuban President Fidel Castro's ability to bypass bureaucracy and "get things done." The diplomat explained to Poloff that he took this opportunity to remind Gonsalves that the dictator's ability to do so came at a steep price for the Cuban people. -------------- Cubans, Youth Cadres and Long Term Papa -------------- ¶10. (C) Gonsalves has adopted methods used in Cuba to guarantee support for that country's communist regime, argues newspaper editor Shelley Clarke. Cubans will soon join Vincentian youth in visiting every home on St. Vincent to deliver low energy lightbulbs supplied by the Cuban Government (ref A),a disturbing invasion of privacy in the editor's opinion. The Vincentian teenagers are part of the Youth Empowerment Service (YES),a program begun by the current Government that Clarke and others believe is used to indoctrinate the nation's youth into the dogma of the ruling Unity Labor Party (ULP) and what some fear is a growing Gonsalves cult of personality. As proof of the personality cult, Poloff was directed to observe the new ULP headquarters building that is topped with large photos of Gonsalves and the words "Long Term Papa." -------------- Should the U.S. Get Involved? -------------- ¶11. (C) The USG should have funded the opposition party in the last election argues Clarke, editor of St. Vincent's largest circulation newspaper, the "News." St. Vincent's December 2005 election was the NDP's chance to stop Gonsalves, as evidenced by the closeness of the race. Clarke explained to Poloff his transformation from enthusiastic supporter of Gonsalves when he first came to office in 2001, to disappointed supporter when the PM failed to come through with campaign promises, to being so worried about the direction Gonsalves is taking the country that Clarke now believes the USG should secretly be involved in the nation's internal affairs. The editor, who used to speak regularly with the PM, shared the substance of his last phone conversation with Gonsalves, describing the PM's attempt to convince Clarke that his newspaper should endorse the ruling party in the 2005 election. When the editor declined to do so, Gonsalves made what Clarke took to be a threat before hanging up the phone. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) St. Vincent is not on the verge of an autocratic takeover by Ralph Gonsalves, despite the warnings of his critics. Nor is the PM moving the country toward socialism, which would scare off the investors who are building the tourist facilities upon which the country is basing its economic future. Instead, the megalomaniacal Gonsalves appears to be restricting public debate in order to limit criticism of what he believes is the right formula for ruling St. Vincent. This does not mean, however, that vigilance should not be paid to this leader whose past behavior and proposed legislation has a real air of delusions of grandeur. Despite his democratic credentials, Comrade Ralph truly seems to admire the authentic Long Term Papa in Cuba who is enjoying 47 years of dictatorial rule. GILROY