CARICOM CHAIR GIVES FREE PASS TO CUBA, AGAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000943 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/CAR SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD INR/IAA FOR ROBERT CARHART ADDIS ABABA FOR ANTHONY FISHER E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2017 TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL PINR PGOV CU BB XL SUBJECT: CARICOM CHAIR GIVES FREE PASS TO CUBA, AGAIN REF: BRIDGETOWN 774 Classified By: DCM Mary Ellen T. Gilroy for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) In a joint press conference with Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper on July 19, Barbados Prime Minister and CARICOM Chair, Owen Arthur, told journalists that CARICOM has never approved and will never support unilateral sanctions against Cuba. While Barbados support for Cuba is not unusual, Arthur's pro-Cuba remarks--on the heels of the Caribbean Conference in Washington--indicate that Barbados and other CARICOM members will exempt Cuba from their June 20 pledge to foster democracy and human rights in the hemisphere. Arthur's Cuban Pipe-dream -------------- ¶2. (U) At the July 19 joint press conference with Canada PM Stephen Harper, Barbados PM and Chair of CARICOM, Owen Arthur, boasted of a healthy thirty year-old relationship between Barbados and Cuba; "based on the very best priniciples and values of international relations; respect for people's sovereignty; and the right for people to pursue alternative paths to development." Echoing his statement at the Summit of Americas in Chile, Arthur told the press that "the hemisphere is diminished when member countries do not recognize Cuba." Arthur asserted that Cuba should be fully engaged in all of the affairs of the hemisphere, not just with the Caribbean or bilaterally. Arthur also claimed that ideological differences of some countries have not prevented commercial transactions with Cuba and, as a result, have improved the lives of all Cubans. CARICOM Also Behind Big Brother -------------- ¶3. (C) In May 2007, CARICOM praised Cuba at the Organization for Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Summit in Grenada and Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-Cuba Summit, held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (ref A). Eastern Caribbean governments unanimously condemned the USG's "unilateral and extra-territorial imposition of coercive laws and measures contrary to United Nations Charter" and recognized Cuba's right to "freely determine its own political institutions and conditions of peace, stability and justice." While CARICOM publicly chided the United States for its trade embargo, it expressed gratitude toward the Cuban government for its friendship and agreed to examine "practical responses" to Cuban generosity. Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) Support for and friendship with Cuba is nothing new in the Eastern Caribbean. Arthur's public criticism of USG policy to bring democracy to Cuba, however, was a disappointing departure from the June 20 joint U.S.-CARICOM Joint Statement, which pledged to foster democratic norms and values and respect for human rights. Arthur's remarks once again demonstrate that the region pays considerable lip service to democratic principles and human rights, but that such rhetoric rarely motivates policy toward Cuba. The USG should not expect CARICOM's Joint Statement pledge to yield any tangible results while it continues to give Cuba a free pass on democracy and human rights accountability. OURISMAN