SCENESETTER FOR CODEL ENGEL,S VISIT TO THE EASTERN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000405 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CAR AND H H PLEASE PASS TO CODEL ENGEL FROM AMBASSADOR OURISMAN SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OVIP ECON PREL PGOV PBTS PINR VC GJ XL SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL ENGEL,S VISIT TO THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN ¶1. I look forward to welcoming Chairman Engel and his delegation to the Eastern Caribbean on April 13-16. In anticipation of our meetings with Grenada's Prime Minister Mitchell and Vincentian Prime Minister Gonsalves, I would like to offer the following background on the region and key U.S. policy priorities. ¶2. You arrive at an important moment in our relationship with the small island states of the Eastern Caribbean. Our shared history, geographic proximity, and common commitment to democratic and free market principles provide a solid foundation for expanding and deepening our ties. However, despite this foundation and our shared foreign policy objectives on key issues such as counterterrorism, our relationship has been undermined in recent years by the Eastern Caribbean countries' perception that the United States is no longer engaged in and committed to the region. Many leaders in the region believe that the United States' foreign and security policy has shifted focus to other parts of the globe. The dollar diplomacy of Venezuela, China, and Cuba has also played a role in the fraying of our ties. ¶3. My mission has been to counter these negative influences, rebuild the trust and confidence underlying our relationship, and reenergize our partnership to meet the principal challenges facing the region and the hemisphere, including security, economic development, and democratic transformation. Your visit will help us underscore the U.S. commitment to our partnership with the region. Furthermore, as the region's leaders prepare to participate in the U.S. celebration of the first Caribbean Heritage Month, including the June 19-21 Caribbean 20/20 Conference, it will be important for them to hear what is on the minds of U.S. policymakers. ¶4. When you arrive, you will likely hear much about the ongoing Cricket World Cup (CWC),which the region is hosting for the first time. This third largest sporting competition in the world (after the Olympics and Soccer World Cup) illustrates both the opportunities and the challenges that this region has had to face in recent years. On the plus side, the CWC has served as a catalyst for some overdue regional integration and cooperation in the sphere of security. The United States has been at the forefront of donor efforts to assist the region in its security preparations. We have provided the region with the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) and strengthened its security forces through training. The region has established new security cooperative systems, which we will encourage the Eastern Caribbean countries to redirect after the CWC to the full range of security threats facing them, including drug trafficking and terrorism. This enhanced security infrastructure and cooperation may be among the most important legacies of the CWC and a critical asset in our work with the region to secure the United States' "Third Border." ¶5. Unfortunately, the CWC's negative effects may also prove long-lasting. The tournament is proving to be an economic bust, rather than the boon these small countries were expecting. With stadiums and hotels only partially filled and daily news of large-scale cancellations, these host countries will have very little to show for the heavy expenditures they have made to build up their infrastructure and sporting venues. Their heavily indebted microeconomies were already under pressure, having been buffeted in recent years by globalization, high energy prices, natural disasters, and the vulnerabilities of their tourism and agricultural sectors. These challenges have slowed the region's economic integration efforts to create the Caribbean Community Single Market and Economy (CSME). ¶6. This economic fragility and energy dependence have also made the Eastern Caribbean susceptible to Venezuelan, Chinese, and to a lesser extent, Cuban dollar diplomacy. The two countries you will visit, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, are good examples of this shift in engagement. In Grenada, China has built the national cricket stadium and Venezuela is providing cheap fuel under the PetroCaribe program. Venezuela has also become a highly visible benefactor of St. Vincent, where it is building a new international airport and also supplying cheap fuel. ¶7. Leaders of both countries will likely seek to assure you BRIDGETOWN 00000405 002 OF 002 that their growing cooperation with China and Venezuela is primarily driven by economic expediency. From our past meetings, it is clear that they believe the United States to be preoccupied elsewhere and therefore not in a position to reassert its influence over the region. Nevertheless, you will also likely hear both Prime Minister Mitchell and Prime Minister Gonsalves express their friendship for the United States and their gratitude for U.S. assistance. Prime Minister Mitchell, especially, will thank you for the USD 45 million the United States contributed to Grenada's reconstruction following Hurricane Ivan. ¶8. They will also probably ask you for more assistance. I have consistently argued that our assistance programs will not match Venezuela or China's patronage in terms of focus or in dollar terms. We are helping these countries in building their "human infrastructure" through training and education. We are also assisting the region to close its security gaps and address challenges such as HIV/AIDS. It is a message that resonates within the Eastern Caribbean, because its people recognize that their future in the highly competitive globalized world will be determined by how well prepared they are to meet its challenges. It is also a message that needs to be frequently reinforced because the region's new "partners" threaten to drown it out. ¶9. My dedicated staff and I look forward to briefing you further during your visit to the Eastern Caribbean and to working with you to advance U.S. interests in the region, including greater security and prosperity for its people and the people of the United States. OURISMAN