Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PARAMARIBO289
2007-06-08 19:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Paramaribo
Cable title:  

DOWNPLAYING THE CONFERENCE ON THE CARIBBEAN--AND

Tags:  PREL PGOV NS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPO #0289/01 1591909
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 081909Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9415
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0124
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1616
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

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