Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06GEORGETOWN63
2006-01-19 12:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Georgetown
Cable title:  

CARICOM SYG DISCUSSES MINISTERIAL MEETING AGENDA

Tags:  PREL XL CARICOM 
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191226Z Jan 06
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000063 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL XL CARICOM
SUBJECT: CARICOM SYG DISCUSSES MINISTERIAL MEETING AGENDA

REF: A. GEORGETOWN 21


B. 05 NASSAU 2165

Action Request for WHA: See para 12

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000063

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL XL CARICOM
SUBJECT: CARICOM SYG DISCUSSES MINISTERIAL MEETING AGENDA

REF: A. GEORGETOWN 21


B. 05 NASSAU 2165

Action Request for WHA: See para 12


1. (U) SUMMARY. Ambassador met with CARICOM SYG Carrington
January 17 to discuss proposed ministerial between Secretary
and CARICOM FonMins. Carrington suggested postponing the
meeting until the week of March 27. CARICOM is in general
agreement with the five broad agenda topics, but requested
further clarification on three of them. END SUMMARY.

Ambassador Meets with CARICOM SYG Carrington
--------------

2. (U) Ambassador, DCM, and PolOff met with CARICOM SYG
Ambassador Edwin Carrington, A/SYG for Foreign and Community
Relations Ambassador Colin Granderson, and CARICOM official
Charmaine Atkinson-Jordan on January 17 to discuss
preparations for the proposed ministerial with the Secretary.
After January 4 meeting (ref A),Granderson had promised to
provide CARICOM FonMins' feedback on the agenda.

CARICOM Requests Greater Detail on Agenda Topics
-------------- ---

3. (U) Carrington did not spring any surprises regarding the
proposed agenda. However, he did ask for more detail on
three of the topics and hinted at the difficulty of
preventing the deportees issue from surfacing.


4. (SBU) Democratic Governance. Carrington noted the
"deficit" in democratic governance in the Hemisphere and
asked for Washington's thoughts on how the Secretary would
like to focus this point of the agenda. Carrington suggested
helping Haiti consolidate democratic governance after the
election as a worthy objective.


5. (SBU) Trade/Economic Competitiveness. CARICOM asked for
more information on the trade competitiveness initiative and
for a USG point of contact in Washington on this topic for
meeting preparation. Carrington noted that CARICOM states
would need both technical assistance and opening of trade
restrictions on the U.S. side. He described a pessimistic
scenario from CARICOM's standpoint where the Caribbean Single
Market Economy (CSME) achieves its aims of removing economic
barriers and increasing the region's competitiveness only to
"hit a brick wall" of U.S. market inaccessibility.


6. (SBU) Related to the trade/economic issue, CARICOM is
creating a Regional Development Fund (RDF) and Regional
Development Agency (RDA) designed to help the region's less

developed and disadvantaged states (OECS, Belize, and Guyana)
as well as specific sectors (i.e., Jamaican bananas). The
RDF and RDA are meant to fundamentally redesign the Caribbean
economy along the European model, not just provide aid. The
RDA would house a small team to deliver technical assistance
quickly in target areas. Carrington wants to explain this
strategy to the Secretary in more detail at the meeting so
that the USG will be better positioned to make decisions when
CARICOM seeks contributions for the RDF from the donor
community. He said that a "modest" RDF would be USD120
million, and an "adequate" one USD250 million.


7. (SBU) Disaster Preparedness. CARICOM foreign ministers
broadly support this agenda topic. Granderson said that
disaster preparedness is of great importance to them because
of its impact on economic development. Specifically, CARICOM
mentioned: a) the widespread difficulty of obtaining risk
insurance in the region because private insurers are
reluctant to write policies in the wake of recent disasters;
b) the need for equipment, training, and public education in
order to properly institute a tsunami-warning system; and c)
the need for enhanced communications capability during
disasters.


8. (SBU) Law Enforcement/Security Partnerships. Ambassador
said that many regional entities and countries are working
independently on the security issue, especially in
preparation for World Cup Cricket in 2007. He suggested that
centralizing these efforts would maximize the efficacy of
security cooperation and the resources that USG can bring to
bear on this initiative. Carrington agreed in principle with
this approach and will raise the issue with the CARICOM Crime
and Security "czar", former Jamaican police commissioner
Francis Forbes.


9. (SBU) Ambassador reiterated his advice that raising the
deportees issue with the Secretary under the security rubric
would be self-defeating. Nevertheless, Carrington's response
indicated how fixated Caribbean leaders remain with this
issue. He suggested that the USG might want to change how it
assists countries receiving deportees. He said the region
perceives the U.S. response to complaints about deportees as
"almost brutal". He also mentioned that the U.S. is
suffering an image problem on account of the marked increase
in light arms now flowing into the region.

10. (U) Energy Policy/Conservation. CARICOM asked whether
this energy rubric proposed by USG is the same as the energy
initiative discussed at the Summit of the Americas.

New Proposed Meeting Date: Week of March 27
--------------

11. (SBU) CARICOM FonMins need more time to prepare for the
meeting. They proposed postponing it to the week of March

27. Like the original date of February 23 or 25, this would
presumably enable the Secretary to attend the meeting on the
way to or from the inaugural of a new Haitian government.
The CARICOM FonMins would also like to know the duration of
the meeting, for planning purposes.


12. (SBU) Action Request: Post requests that WHA provide
further clarification on how the Secretary intends to address
the democratic governance, trade competitiveness, and energy
policy agenda topics. Post requests a Department point of
contact to work with CARICOM on the trade/economic
competitiveness topic in advance of the meeting. Lastly,
Post requests feedback on the new proposed meeting date and
the duration of the meeting.
BULLEN