CLOCK TICKING (LOUDLY) ON CARIBBEAN IMMIGRATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000910 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR S/ES DEPARTMENT PASS TO USUN DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR MICHAEL FORTIN DEPARTMENT PASS TO DHS FOR CHARLES STALLWORTH, BYLLE PATTERSON, MICHAEL LOONEY CARACAS FOR DAO KINGSTON FOR JOHN MORGAN, MARK POWELL PORT OF SPAIN FOR JOE CHAMBERLAIN GEORGETOWN FOR SANDRA INGRAM E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2016 TAGS: ASEC CPAS PINR PREL PTER UNSC XL SUBJECT: CLOCK TICKING (LOUDLY) ON CARIBBEAN IMMIGRATION PROJECT DECISION REF: A. (A) KINGSTON 10007 ¶B. (B) STATE 80801 ¶C. (C) BRIDGETOWN 744 ¶D. (D) BRIDGETOWN 675 ¶E. (E) BRIDGETOWN 505 Classified By: Ambassador Kramer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. This is an action request. Please see paragraph 10. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: Following the second ad hoc CARICOM Attorneys General meeting in Jamaica (Reftel A),Barbados Deputy Prime Minister Mottley requested a meeting with Ambassador Kramer to discuss the urgency of getting USG commitment for the DHS entry-exit immigration swipe card project. As an aside, Mottley commented on the current state of affairs with the upcoming UN Security Council vote between Venezuela and Guatemala and suggested the U.S. find an alternate candidate. She requested further information on Third Border Initiative assistance for the region. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (U) Participants: Barbados Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kerrie Symmonds, (Note: There is no exact USG counterpart for this cabinet-level position, although Deputy Secretary would be the rough equivalent. End Note.),Barbados Permanent Secretary for Special Assignments related to Cricket World Cup Juanita Thorington-Powlett, and former Barbados Senator Phillip Goddard, now serving as Science and Technology Advisor to the Prime Minister. U.S. Participants: Ambassador Mary Kramer, Deputy Chief of Mission Mary Ellen Gilroy, and Narcotics Affairs Director Patricia Aguilera (notetaker). -------------- HEAVEN OR HELL? -------------- ¶4. (C) During a May 23 meeting, Barbados Deputy Prime Minister Mottley met with Ambassador Kramer to discuss next steps for the Government of Barbados (GOB) regarding CARICOM's request for U.S. funding and implementation of the regional immigration entry-exit system. Mottley commented that she had expended considerable political capital on this project and needed to know soonest if the USG planned on assisting the region. Further USG delay, followed by a decision not to assist the region, would leave CARICOM little time to find an alternate solution. "We need to know if we are going to heaven or to hell," Mottley said, "but we need to know now." The heterogeneous population of neighboring countries is of continuing concern. As an example, Mottley cited the recent deportation to Trinidad of two Muslim men in connection with their involvement in the bombing of Hindu temples in Canada. The two men had been held in a Canadian prison and had managed to convert 40 percent of the prison's population to Islam. -------------- UNSC VOTE -------------- ¶5. (C) Turning to the upcoming UN Security Council (UNSC) vote, Mottley volunteered that she knew the U.S. was concerned about the outcome. Offering that it was best for the U.S. to avoid mentioning the topic at all in the Caribbean, she suggested finding an alternate candidate agreeable to both the U.S. and CARICOM. She added that CARICOM is troubled over the general trends in Venezuela; Trinidad, in particular, is "petrified" and is watching Venezuela with great interest. Hugo Chavez's decisions to purchase Russian aircraft, increase maritime assets, and give small arms to the general population so it could respond as a militia, have not been lost on the Caribbean countries. Trinidad fears that some of the small arms Chavez has distributed in Venezuela are making their way into its general population. Nonetheless, CARICOM cannot overlook Guatemala's lack of willingness to cooperate with the Government of Belize on resolving their border dispute. Absent an alternate candidate CARICOM is between a rock and a hard place. Mottley, a regionally respected attorney (with the rank of Queen,s Counsel),made a professional observation about the dilemma facing Belize. If the Government of Belize ignores the Guatemalan squatters, reputed to be retired senior rank officers who are heavily armed, on its territory, then under common law, the squatters (and by extension, the government of Guatemala) become the legal possessors of the land. If the Government of Belize moves to evict the Guatemalan squatters, it risks starting a shooting war. -------------- THIRD BORDER INITIATIVE ASSISTANCE -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Mottley asked if the Embassy could clarify which countries would benefit from the Third Border Initiative (TBI) funding that was mentioned at the meeting in Jamaica (Reftels A and B) and whether such funding was linked to Article 98. DCM Gilroy replied that certain funding did have restrictions. The Department had given the TBI funds to OAS-CICTE so that it could provide training and equipment to specific countries. Embassy Bridgetown did not have a list of those countries that would receive DHS Customs and Border Protection training and equipment through OAS-CICTE, but would request this information and let her know. -------------- A TOYOTA NOT A ROLLS -------------- ¶7. (C) Mottley concluded the meeting by expressing her willingness, and that of Prime Minister Owen Arthur, to speak or meet with anyone in the USG who might expedite a favorable decision on funding a pilot Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative for CARICOM before Cricket World Cup. When Ambassador Kramer commented that the Department of Homeland Security was still unsure about the total cost of the project, Mottley replied, "A Toyota will get us to the same place as a Rolls Royce, so why not go with the Toyota?" Ambassador Kramer agreed and asked if she felt that the scope of the project was adequately defined. Mottley replied that the scope of the project had been defined and she would be meeting with the telecommunications company, Cable and Wireless, to discuss the cost of circuit upgrades. The only outstanding issue, she said, was whether DHS would fund the project or not. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) COMMENT: Before the meeting started, Senator Goddard warned Ambassador Kramer that Mottley was perturbed over the mention of TBI funds being linked to Article 98. Mottley did not, however, make it an issue during the meeting and simply asked that when the Embassy had more details, we inform her office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the specifics. Mottley's restraint, and the amicable tenor of the meeting overall, was probably attributable to her personal fondness for Ambassador Kramer. ¶9. (SBU) Although expectations have been managed to the extent possible, CARICOM is anxious for the regional entry-exit project to move forward. The two leading Barbados newspapers, the Advocate and the Nation, gave prominent coverage to Barbados Attorney General Dale Marshall's introduction of the "ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Bill," which would include providing visitors with a "swipe card" to facilitate their travel during CWC. Neither paper, however, mentioned possible USG assistance. END COMMENT ¶10. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Post requests that the Department facilitate a phone call between Secretary Rice and Minister Kerrie Symmonds. Secretary Rice should expect Symmonds to request that she confirm her commitment to the venture and agree to reach out to Secretary Chertoff on behalf of the GOB. Although DHS funding is still an open question, the call would enable Secretary Rice to restate personally her promise, made during the March 2006 CARIFORM meeting in Nassau, to assist the region in preparation for CWC. Please advise. KRAMER