DOWNPLAYING THE CONFERENCE ON THE CARIBBEAN--AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARAMARIBO 000289 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS WHA/CAR FOR BRIAN NICHOLS, KAREN WILLIAMS, AND LAURA LUFTIG E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV NS SUBJECT: DOWNPLAYING THE CONFERENCE ON THE CARIBBEAN--AND THE U.S.--IN SURINAME REF: A. 2006 PARAMARIBO 802 ¶B. 2007 PARAMARIBO 165 ¶C. 2006 PARAMARIBO 758 ¶D. 2006 PARAMARIBO 661 ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Government of Suriname (GOS) seems uninspired by the Conference on the Caribbean, and is downplaying its importance. Inexplicably, President Venetiaan will not attend. His substitute, Vice President Ramdien Sardjoe, told the press he is going to Washington for a CARICOM Heads of State meeting. Minister of Trade and Industry Clifford Marica said publicly that the Conference,s main focus will be trade, but will not attend. While the eagerness on trade is welcome, downplaying the Conference fits a GOS pattern of distancing from the United States. Continued engagement from the ground up will be necessary to change this pattern. END SUMMARY -------------- Today it,s My Birthday: No Venetiaan -------------- ¶2. (U) Currently, President of Suriname Ronald Venetiaan will be the only CARICOM Head of State not attending the Conference on the Caribbean. On June 6, Vice President Ramdien Sardjoe answered press inquiries to the reason why by using the Dutch term "verhindering," a not easily translated word which, however, has the sense of "I can't make it, and I don't really want to say why." However, privately Sardjoe explained to Post that Venetiaan would like to attend his own birthday celebration--Venetiaan will be 71 on June 18th. Post notes that while so-called "bigi-jaris" (every tenth birthday) are considered important in Suriname, 71 is not. -------------- Conference: Just Happening By -------------- ¶3. (SBU) During bilateral meetings in preparation for the Conference and in telephone calls endlessly soliciting additional information about Suriname,s delegation and its interests, Post noted the GOS,s lack of advance planning, extremely slow response time, and chaotic, almost cavalier attitude toward determining attendees. While this is not unusual for Suriname,s often uncoordinated Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ref A) and Surinamese government culture in general, the sloppiness took on another tone when Vice President Sardjoe told the press that he was going to Washington for a CARICOM Heads of State meeting. None of the 
four newspaper articles on Sardjoe,s discussion of his trip mentioned the Conference on the Caribbean. When further questioned about the meetings he would attend, Sardjoe said they involved "regular affairs." On the other hand, he did mention that he would probably be meeting with President Bush while in Washington. Sardjoe gave considerably more attention to his "courtesy call" to China, from whence he will travel via the Netherlands to Washington. For the courtesy call, Sardjoe is taking along an eleven member delegation (nearly twice as many as to Washington) including the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Social Affairs and Housing. He said he is taking the Ministers "in case something comes up." (For Suriname's relations with China, see ref B) -------------- Trade Focus Desired, Trade Minister Absent -------------- ¶4. (SBU) While Minister of Trade and Industry Clifford Marica will not attend the Conference on the Caribbean in Washington, he highlighted the Conference as, in his view, trade focused. On June 1, Marica spoke about the Conference on the Caribbean at the USA Trade Show 2007 (septel),saying "I can tell you that... there will be discussions on a possible free trade agreement between the United States and the Caribbean region. Realization of the goals shall increase trade with the United States since we shall seek to remove all trade barriers." Suriname,s interest in expanded trade with the United States is no secret; during Ambassador Schreiber Hughes,s courtesy call in the fall of 2006, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lygia Kraag-Keteldijk led off her list of concerns with the desire for an increase in trade. However, the Surinamers seem to sense that trade will not get the attention they desire for it at the Conference on the Caribbean. At a planning meeting in April 2007, Suriname,s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ewald Limon, said, "we see trade as a central issue. I don,t see it here. Won,t it be central? ...We want to talk to the Trade Representative. We,re looking for a replacement for the Caribbean Basin Initiative, or a new trade agreement." -------------- Distancing -------------- ¶5. (C) Suriname's pattern of distancing itself from the United States is well established. From the cancellation of U.S. participation in an important parade in 2006 (ref C),to the sniffing disdain of Minister Kraag-Keteldijk when sought out for consultation, to its presumed votes for Venezuela during the UN General Assembly sessions of 2006 (ref D),the GOS,s pattern of frequent indifference to U.S. interests continues to accumulate examples. Terence Craig, MFA Head of the America's Division and a member of Suriname,s delegation to the upcoming Conference on the Caribbean, explained his realpolitik philosophy to Post in a frank discussion over dinner: in the end the only thing that matters is sovereign state interests, and while there is give and take in the international realm, Craig said his policy advocacy has no room for those who "talk and talk" but cannot frame their desires in state (self) interests. While Craig was talking in general terms, the message was also clear: while Suriname will make nice on the surface, it is keenly focused on its own narrow interests, often hiding behind the cloak of CARICOM "consensus." ¶6. (C) COMMENT: Suriname,s clarity about its desire to improve trade is appreciated. Its seeming inability to take the Conference on the Caribbean seriously and its insincere lip service to U.S. interests is not. President Venetiaan and some like-minded members of his cabinet, notably Foreign Minister Kraag-Keteldijk, appear to feel that they have little to lose from keeping the United States at arms' length. Post has observed that the GOS seems to calculate that sticks in the eyes of "developed" countries such as Holland and the United States are unlikely to bring retaliation, but may stir admiration--an increasingly elusive quantity for the unpopular coalition--in citizens whose small-country-pride is both fragile and easily roused. Continuous top-down and bottom-up attention will be necessary to change this pattern, and is the focal point of Post,s top Mission Strategic Plan (MSP) objective. The positive relationships the U.S. continues to have with the GOS,s Ministries of Defense and of Justice and Police are based on long-standing relationships--and substantial financial support. Getting ordinary Surinamers to think of the United States as more than a potential bully on the one hand or milk-cow on the other will also require positive engagement, and will take time. For the present, in the small-country political dynamics of Suriname, the United States plays the role of bogey-man, not ally. END COMMENT SCHREIBER HUGHES