Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08PORTOFSPAIN560
2008-12-09 18:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Of Spain
Cable title:
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHSP #0560/01 3441801 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 091801Z DEC 08 FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9569 INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0070
C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 000560
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/CAR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2018
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU TD
SUBJECT: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
REF: SECSTATE 126578
Classified By: Charge d'Affairs Leonard Kusnitz, reasons 1.4 (b/d)
(U) This message responds to reftel questions.
C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 000560
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/CAR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2018
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU TD
SUBJECT: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
REF: SECSTATE 126578
Classified By: Charge d'Affairs Leonard Kusnitz, reasons 1.4 (b/d)
(U) This message responds to reftel questions.
1. (C) QUESTION: Has the host country, in Post's opinion,
worked to promote the advancement of democracy and human
rights in Cuba?
ANSWER: Post is not aware of any GOTT initiatives promoting
democracy and human rights in Cuba.
2. (C) QUESTION: Has the host country made public statements
or undertaken other governmental actions, such as resolutions
in the national assemblies condemning human rights abuses in
Cuba; or actions in support of civil society in Cuba through
host country's diplomatic missions or other fora?
ANSWER: The GOTT has made no public statements or undertaken
any governmental action to condemn human rights abuses in
Cuba or support civil society in Cuba.
3. (C) QUESTION: Have there been any high-level diplomatic
visits between Cuba and the host country in the past six
months?
ANSWER: Prime Minister Patrick Manning attended the December
7-8 CARICOM-Cuba summit meeting in Santiago de Cuba. In May
2008 the GOTT dispatched its first ambassador to Cuba, Lester
Efebo Wilkinson, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. Wilkinson, a poet, playwright and stage
director, was previously Director of Culture and Head of
Cultural Affairs at the CARICOM Secretariat.
4. (C) QUESTION: Did the host country offer or deliver
humanitarian or other assistance to the Cuban people in the
wake of the major damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav (August
30) and Ike (September 8)?
ANSWER: The GOTT contributed US$1 million to Cuba in early
September to support hurricane relief efforts.
5. (C) QUESTION: What is the nature of investments (and
names, if known) that host country businesses have in Cuba?
What host country businesses participated in the Havana Trade
Fair (November 3)?
ANSWER: Post is aware of no Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) private
companies or individuals with significant presence or
investments in Cuba; T&T's exports to Cuba consist primarily
of bulk commodities (chemicals, iron and steel, fertilizer)
which do not require producers to establish a presence in
Cuba. GOTT trade agencies and the T&T Manufacturers
Association organized a Trinidad and Tobago booth at the
November 2008 Havana Trade fair; eight T&T companies
participated, including Sacha Cosmetics Ltd, which launched
its product line in the Cuban market during the fair.
Separately, the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and
Commerce organized a November 24-28 energy services trade
mission to Cuba, with support from the GOTT trade
facilitation office in Havana; eight T&T-based energy
services companies participated in meetings with state-owned
and foreign energy companies operating in Cuba.
6. (C) QUESTION: Are there any bilateral trade agreements or
other cooperative agreements between host country and Cuba?
ANSWER: Trinidad & Tobago does not have a bilateral trade
agreement with Cuba, but as a member of CARICOM, T&T has
ratified the trade agreement between CARICOM and Cuba. In
September 2007, T&T established a trade facilitation office
in Havana to serve as a conduit between T&T manufacturers and
Cuban state companies. The GOTT has concluded cooperative
agreements with Cuba relating to the medical and agricultural
exchange programs described in paragraph 7.
7. (C) QUESTION: Are there any exchange programs between host
country and Cuba, including but not limited to: scholarships
for host country nationals to study in Cuba; Cuban-paid
medical travel for host country nationals; and Cuban doctors
working in host country?
ANSWER: Twenty-two Cuban doctors and eighteen Cuban nurses
arrived in Trinidad on May 18, 2007, to begin two-year
contracts with the Ministry of Health, working at public
health facilities. They replaced seventy Cuban medical
personnel whose contracts to serve in T&T expired earlier in
2007. Prime Minister Manning has told us in the past that he
does not want to expand this cooperation. A team of Cuban
agricultural advisors has been working in Trinidad since June
2008 on a 200-acre demonstration farm in Tucker Valley,
Chaguaramas, in a joint venture between the GOTT and Cuba
aimed at introducing Cuban organic farming techniques to T&T.
The project's first harvest is expected to reach the local
market by late December 2008.
8. (C) Post believes it is in the U.S. national interest to
suspend Title III of the Libertad Act for Trinidad and
Tobago, based on its contribution to U.S. energy security as
a reliable supplier of oil and gas and its importance as an
economic, political, and security leader in the eastern
Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago also will host the next
Summit of the Americas, April 17-19, 2009.
KUSNITZ
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/CAR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2018
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU TD
SUBJECT: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
REF: SECSTATE 126578
Classified By: Charge d'Affairs Leonard Kusnitz, reasons 1.4 (b/d)
(U) This message responds to reftel questions.
1. (C) QUESTION: Has the host country, in Post's opinion,
worked to promote the advancement of democracy and human
rights in Cuba?
ANSWER: Post is not aware of any GOTT initiatives promoting
democracy and human rights in Cuba.
2. (C) QUESTION: Has the host country made public statements
or undertaken other governmental actions, such as resolutions
in the national assemblies condemning human rights abuses in
Cuba; or actions in support of civil society in Cuba through
host country's diplomatic missions or other fora?
ANSWER: The GOTT has made no public statements or undertaken
any governmental action to condemn human rights abuses in
Cuba or support civil society in Cuba.
3. (C) QUESTION: Have there been any high-level diplomatic
visits between Cuba and the host country in the past six
months?
ANSWER: Prime Minister Patrick Manning attended the December
7-8 CARICOM-Cuba summit meeting in Santiago de Cuba. In May
2008 the GOTT dispatched its first ambassador to Cuba, Lester
Efebo Wilkinson, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. Wilkinson, a poet, playwright and stage
director, was previously Director of Culture and Head of
Cultural Affairs at the CARICOM Secretariat.
4. (C) QUESTION: Did the host country offer or deliver
humanitarian or other assistance to the Cuban people in the
wake of the major damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav (August
30) and Ike (September 8)?
ANSWER: The GOTT contributed US$1 million to Cuba in early
September to support hurricane relief efforts.
5. (C) QUESTION: What is the nature of investments (and
names, if known) that host country businesses have in Cuba?
What host country businesses participated in the Havana Trade
Fair (November 3)?
ANSWER: Post is aware of no Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) private
companies or individuals with significant presence or
investments in Cuba; T&T's exports to Cuba consist primarily
of bulk commodities (chemicals, iron and steel, fertilizer)
which do not require producers to establish a presence in
Cuba. GOTT trade agencies and the T&T Manufacturers
Association organized a Trinidad and Tobago booth at the
November 2008 Havana Trade fair; eight T&T companies
participated, including Sacha Cosmetics Ltd, which launched
its product line in the Cuban market during the fair.
Separately, the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and
Commerce organized a November 24-28 energy services trade
mission to Cuba, with support from the GOTT trade
facilitation office in Havana; eight T&T-based energy
services companies participated in meetings with state-owned
and foreign energy companies operating in Cuba.
6. (C) QUESTION: Are there any bilateral trade agreements or
other cooperative agreements between host country and Cuba?
ANSWER: Trinidad & Tobago does not have a bilateral trade
agreement with Cuba, but as a member of CARICOM, T&T has
ratified the trade agreement between CARICOM and Cuba. In
September 2007, T&T established a trade facilitation office
in Havana to serve as a conduit between T&T manufacturers and
Cuban state companies. The GOTT has concluded cooperative
agreements with Cuba relating to the medical and agricultural
exchange programs described in paragraph 7.
7. (C) QUESTION: Are there any exchange programs between host
country and Cuba, including but not limited to: scholarships
for host country nationals to study in Cuba; Cuban-paid
medical travel for host country nationals; and Cuban doctors
working in host country?
ANSWER: Twenty-two Cuban doctors and eighteen Cuban nurses
arrived in Trinidad on May 18, 2007, to begin two-year
contracts with the Ministry of Health, working at public
health facilities. They replaced seventy Cuban medical
personnel whose contracts to serve in T&T expired earlier in
2007. Prime Minister Manning has told us in the past that he
does not want to expand this cooperation. A team of Cuban
agricultural advisors has been working in Trinidad since June
2008 on a 200-acre demonstration farm in Tucker Valley,
Chaguaramas, in a joint venture between the GOTT and Cuba
aimed at introducing Cuban organic farming techniques to T&T.
The project's first harvest is expected to reach the local
market by late December 2008.
8. (C) Post believes it is in the U.S. national interest to
suspend Title III of the Libertad Act for Trinidad and
Tobago, based on its contribution to U.S. energy security as
a reliable supplier of oil and gas and its importance as an
economic, political, and security leader in the eastern
Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago also will host the next
Summit of the Americas, April 17-19, 2009.
KUSNITZ