Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTOFSPAIN1344
2006-11-22 17:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Of Spain
Cable title:  

MANNING AND CHERTOFF: CLOSER COLLABORATION

Tags:  PREL PTER EAID XL TD 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSP #1344/01 3261758
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221758Z NOV 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7606
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 001344 

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DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, INL/LP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER EAID XL TD
SUBJECT: MANNING AND CHERTOFF: CLOSER COLLABORATION
BENEFITS US ALL

Classified By: Classified by: DCM, Eugene P. Sweeney for reasons 1.4 (
b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 001344

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, INL/LP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER EAID XL TD
SUBJECT: MANNING AND CHERTOFF: CLOSER COLLABORATION
BENEFITS US ALL

Classified By: Classified by: DCM, Eugene P. Sweeney for reasons 1.4 (
b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: T&T Prime Minister Manning hosted DHS
Secretary Chertoff for a bilateral meeting on October 26,

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prior to a multilateral meeting with CARICOM representatives
(reported septel). In the meeting, Manning assured Secretary
Chertoff on Cricket World Cup security preparations,
including an update on visa issuance. He also focused on the
need for more counter narcotics attention to T&T and to the
region and on the improving partnership between the
countries. Secretary Chertoff highlighted existing Coast
Guard programs to the region, and to carry Manning,s
concerns back to Washington for discussion with appropriate
agencies. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) In a congenial hour-long meeting, Secretary of
Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Prime Minister Patrick
Manning discussed a broad range of issues, highlighting areas
of potential cooperation and assistance to Trinidad and
Tobago. Manning focused on improving T&T,s capacity not
only to secure its own borders against trafficking in
narcotics and weapons, but also on assisting other CARICOM
countries, specifically the Eastern Caribbean, with
patrolling their waters. Commenting on Cricket World Cup
(CWC) security preparations, Manning assured Secretary
Chertoff that plans are on track, and revealed that the CWC
visa will be required for Pakistan and a number of
additional, unspecified countries. Secretary Chertoff
committed to continuing the existing good relationship and
promised to examine some of Manning,s requests in
conjunction with the appropriate agencies in Washington.
Attendees were:

USG:
- Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security
- Cynthia Bergman, Acting Assistant Secretary for Public
Affairs, DHS
- Patrick Duddy, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of
State
- Dr. Roy Austin, Ambassador
- Jay Ahern, Assistant Commissioner for Field Operations, CBP
- Adam Isles, Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security
- Joe Chamberlain, Political Officer (Notetaker)


GOTT:
- The Honorable Patrick Manning, Prime Minister
- Senator the Honorable Martin Joseph, Minister of National
Security
- Joan Massiah, Chief Executive Officer, National Security
Council, Office of the Prime Minister
- Margaret King-Rousseau, Head of the Americas Division, MFA
- Keith Kerwood, Foreign Service Officer, Office of the Prime
Minister

-------------- --------------
WE CAN PATROL OUR OWN WATERS, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OECS?
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Prime Minister Manning addressed the issue of
patrolling territorial waters to help interdict narcotics and
other illicit goods. In the budget speech for this year,
Manning announced that T&T intended to purchase three
offshore patrol vessels that would serve as mini-command
posts with go-fast boats and helicopter landing capabilities.
While these three vessels will patrol T&T territorial
waters, Manning is pursuing international assistance to
purchase additional vessels that would then be used to patrol
the waters of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
(OECS),small countries without the resources to patrol their
own waters. Manning noted that while U.S. efforts at
narcotics interdiction in the Caribbean are good, they are
focused in the north. Many of the drug runners operating in
the north originate in the southern Caribbean, and, as
efforts to the north and west increase, trafficking will
track farther east before going to the U.S. Further, it
would be &more palatable8 for OECS countries to have their
waters patrolled by a CARICOM member rather than a third
party. Manning also indicated that T&T would open its Coast
Guard to nationals from the OECS to facilitate patrols and,
ultimately, build capacity.


4. (C) Secretary Chertoff acknowledged the regional approach
to patrolling waters, and noted that multilateral efforts
were needed, including signing shiprider agreements to allow
U.S. officers to participate in these operations. Further,
Secretary Chertoff noted that the U.S. Coast Guard had a

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number of training programs in the region that served to
increase local capacity and reduce the flow of narcotics to


the U.S.

-------------- --------------
THREATS OF INSTABILITY: DISASTERS AND NARCO TRAFFICKING
-------------- --------------


5. (C) PM Manning continued to sound a note of concern over
the smaller economies in the region, and what he termed the
diversion of U.S. attention from narcotics trafficking
towards terrorism farther afield. His argument was that as
the smaller island economies lose their traditional
agricultural basis due to WTO rulings on subsidies, they must
transition. Many are turning to tourism, but all are in a
sort of existential crisis in which they ask what future they
have. Manning noted that seven of the ten most highly
indebted countries (according to The Economist) are in
CARICOM. Those economies then are especially vulnerable to
instability, from narcotics traffickers or others wielding
money and influence who would like to set up shop.


6. (C) Manning also discussed the possibility that natural
disasters could lead to &uninvited guests8 showing up and
not leaving, further destabilizing Caribbean countries. By
way of example, Manning pointed out that in the 1970s, when
T&T was in the throes of civil unrest, Venezuela sent boats
through T&T waters as a signal that they could do so at any
time. More recently, Grenada invited T&T to assist with the
aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, and T&T had troops on the ground
there in 24 hours. He averred that Venezuela could have
troops in T&T, uninvited, within two hours of a major event,
such as a severe earthquake.


7. (C) Secretary Chertoff noted that, in light of recent
events, the United States has developed a robust, effective
domestic disaster response mechanism and also that the USG is
on the forefront of international disaster response. Without
committing to any specific needs or plans, he ventured that a
natural disaster in the Caribbean would not pose any special
difficulties. He further noted the need for continued
discussion and contingency planning to take place, as that
will ensure that the response to any disaster is appropriate
and has been coordinated in advance.


8. (C) The Secretary also remarked that there has not
actually been a reduction in counter narcotics attention to
the region, but that it has taken the form of increased
training and partnership programs, rather than direct
funding.

-------------- ---
COOPERATION, INFORMATION SHARING AND AN AIRSHOW
-------------- ---


9. (C) PM Manning noted that T&T &deserves special
consideration8 from the United States as a major contributor
to U.S. energy security. &You don,t have to strike the
U.S. to strike the U.S.8 as a terrorist, he quipped. Still,
Manning thanked the Secretary for the recent relaxing of
restrictions on IMET funds as a sign of closer cooperation.
Also, since 2003, when T&T announced that it wanted to be a
beacon of integrity in the Caribbean, the Department of
Justice has been a good partner in criminal cases, including
recent developments in the Piarco Airport fraud case. Still,
two key witnesses had charges pending in T&T that would need
to be dropped for extradition to the United States. Manning
pointed out that it would be politically difficult, but that
the T&T side is working on the issue.


10. (C) Secretary Chertoff noted that intelligence sharing
was important to secure the region, including the United
States. He suggested that, once the Cricket World Cup visa
comes online, the U.S. could help screen visa applicants to
further keep undesirables from entering the region. He also
noted the good cooperation on criminal matters, and further
emphasized ongoing Coast Guard training programs.


11. (C) At the end of the meeting, Manning announced that
T&T is planning an air show, and invited U.S. participation.
He disclosed that it would take place around August 2007, but
that the date had not yet been fixed. He suggested that the
U.S. could send an Air Force acrobatic plane group as a
centerpiece for the show, which would also include Russian,
Venezuelan, UK and U.S. aircraft. The Secretary said that he
would pass it to Southcom for their decision.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------



12. (C) PM Manning has moderated his rhetoric from previous
criticism of the level of U.S. engagement in the region but
still insists that the global war on terror, while important,
is distracting vital attention from the Caribbean. In this
meeting, he further refined the argument by explicitly
stating that the smaller CARICOM economies were at risk of
becoming narco-states that could then support terrorists or
other transnational criminals. Even so, Manning clearly
relished the fact that he hosted the DHS Secretary on the
behalf of CARICOM. END COMMENT.


13. (U) DHS has cleared this cable.
AUSTIN