BRIDGETOWN: UN DRIP FOLLOW-UP AND OAS STATE OF PLAY

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 000048 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OAS PGOV PREL XL SUBJECT: BRIDGETOWN: UN DRIP FOLLOW-UP AND OAS STATE OF PLAY REF: STATE 04241 ¶1. (U) In response to reftel, Embassy Bridgetown has also contributed to programs aimed at indigenous populations in the Eastern Caribbean. ¶2. (U) Through the Ambassador's Democracy Fund, Embassy Bridgetown administered a grant to the Carib Territory of Dominica in 2005 for the amount of $15,000 USD ($9,000 has already been paid) for the L'Escalier Tete Chien site. Additionally, through the Cultural Preservation fund, post administered a grant to the St. Vincent National Trust for the American Indian Artifacts and Oral History project for the amount of $5,850. Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are the only two countries in Embassy Bridgetown's accreditation known to have indigenous populations. ¶3. (SBU) While there have been no government or indigenous population reactions to the UN and OAS DRIPS in the local media, government contacts in St. Vincent have expressed the GOSVG's disappointment at the US opposition to the UN DRIP. As the indigenous populations of Dominica and St. Vincent are small and marginalized, the passage of the UN DRIP is not expected to have any effect. OURISMAN