GRENADA'S SCRAMBLE FOR ASSISTANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000125 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017 TAGS: EAID PREL PINR PHUM CASC GJ CH CU VE XL SUBJECT: GRENADA'S SCRAMBLE FOR ASSISTANCE Classified By: CDA Mary Ellen T. Gilroy for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Among local media predictions for the new year is one of increased People's Republic of China (PRC) efforts to gain influence on the United States' back doorstep, in the Caribbean, and specifically within CARICOM. Several local commentators have called for Grenada and CARICOM to use relations with the PRC as leverage against U.S. influence in the region as well as to get additional economic benefits from the United States, as in the Cold War. Grenada's desperation for assistance makes it an easy target for the PRC, Venezuela, and Cuba, as the money these countries provide appears to come without immediate strings. This assistance, including scholarships, housing, a new stadium, free eye surgery, adult literacy programs, etc., does, however, come with obligations. When pressed, GOG officials deny they are pressured by the Chinese, Venezuelans, and Cubans, but do admit to feeling that they cannot let their new friends down. Votes at the United Nations, in the OAS, and in other international organizations can hinge on what the GOG feels it must do--or what it can get away with. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) According to the IMF in March 2006, Grenada's public debt was 130% of GDP. Unemployment is around 20% (significantly higher among youth, particularly young men). The GOG is desperate to get additional development funds, scholarships, and other support that will enable it to provide services without increasing the deficit. Government officials do keep one eye on the United States, but as long as Grenadian officials do not perceive any negative reactions from us, they continue to pursue assistance from wherever they can find it. PRC's Multifaceted Courtship -------------- ¶3. (C) The PRC is building the new cricket stadium--with Chinese labor--and plans are in the works to build around 2000 new homes, once the GOG gives them the land (the PRC refused to rebuild existing homes). There are also plans for Chinese laborers to build four agricultural stations. One hundred Grenadians received scholarships in the fall of 2006 to study in Chinese universities, the second crop of local youngsters to do so. An additional ten scholarships for Grenadian journalists to attend courses and seminars on the media (no further information provided) in China were announced on January 11, 2007. The irony of a country with controlled media training journalists from a country with free media appears to be lost on the locals. The supervisor of the Grenada Information Service said the GIS wants China to "help boost its (Grenada's) resources and capacity to keep abreast of the challenges provided by rapid information flow and the desire to keep the public informed." While the PRC might seem to us a strange bedfellow for a relatively open, democratic society, China continues to offer incentives clearly intended to pull Grenada into its orbit. The Chinese Ambassador told Charge several months ago that the GOG has many specific assistance requests for the PRC. Venezuela Assists with Post-Ivan Reconstruction -------------- -- ¶4. (C) The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (BRV) is currently building several hundred new homes, we believe with Venezuelan soldiers, though not in uniform. As with the PRC, the GOG provided the land and will have to provide electricity, sewerage, and other services to the new communities. The BRV is less openly active here than the PRC or Cuba. The Venezuelan Ambassador, Edna Figuera Cedeno, is now dean of the diplomatic corps. Although she has been in St. George's eight years, she is still uncomfortable conversing in English. Other diplomats in Grenada have complained to Charge that the diplomatic corps is less active under her direction than it was under previous deans. Cuba Maintains Close Ties -------------- ¶5. (C) Cuban aid is more broadly integrated into Grenadian society than either Venezuelan or Chinese assistance, and the GOC continues to expand its reach in Grenada, we assume with Venezuelan funds. The two countries signed an agreement in November 2006 for Cuba to provide nurses training to 25 Grenadians in Cuba. There are already a number of Grenadians studying in Cuba in a variety of disciplines. The GOG and GOC in late December 2006 announced plans to provide teachers for adult education classes in Grenada; on January 11, 2007, this program was expanded to include 26 prisoners at Grenada's main prison facility on Richmond Hill. The Minister of Health declined to tell Charge how many Cuban doctors work in Grenada, though we understand they are scattered around Grenada's islands. Grenada's epidemiology office is run by a Cuban as is their pathology lab. The lab is apparently not capable of doing forensic autopsies, as post learned when an American citizen died in Carriacou, the second largest island of Grenada, and local authorities had to call in a pathologist from Trinidad & Tobago as, according to the funeral home director, no one in Grenada was qualified. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) The fact that China, Venezuela, and Cuba are all major donors to Grenada, either with cash, large-scale building projects, or medical and educational programs, adds to internal ideological confusion in Grenada between the ruling New National Party (NNP) and the more leftist opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). Members of the NNP can sound decidedly Marxist praising new benefactors' good works and decidedly grumpy complaining that the United States has not matched them. Most U.S. assistance to Grenada post-Hurricane Ivan is training and the occasional excess defense article, none of which is readily visible to the general population. Therefore, there is no apparent political downside to the GOG for not cooperating more than they now do with the USG in international fora. GILROY