FOREIGN MINISTER MUSES ABOUT CUBA ATTENDING THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 000565 SIPDIS SAN SALVADOR FOR USOAS AMBASSADOR MORALES E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON CU TD SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER MUSES ABOUT CUBA ATTENDING THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS Classified By: Classified by CDA Len Kusnitz; Reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (U) Foreign Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon, in a December 9 press interview (done by phone from Barbados),related that the just-concluded Cuba-CARICOM summit held in Havana had agreed the USG should lift its "trade embargo" on Cuba. She added, without specificity, that this "general consensus" would be conveyed to the incoming Administration. She also noted that Trinidad and Tobago had agreed to host the next Cuba-CARICOM event in 2011. ¶2. (U) The FM then speculated about a possible dialogue between the USG and CUBA after January 20, one that might lead to Raul Castro attending the April Summit of the Americas (SOA) meeting. According to the press report, the FM stated that CUBA is "a member of the OAS but they have never attended any of the conferences and I am sure the new (U.S.) administration would be more open. I think if there is a change, they would be attending the Summit." ¶3. (C) Comment: GOTT officials occasionally have privately floated the notion of CUBA attending the SOA, but also have made clear that no invitation would be forthcoming absent USG agreement. The FM may be reflecting discussions in Havana about the upcoming Summit, but her remarks (suggesting the "change" that would allow Cuban attendance would have to come from the U.S.) are also consistent with this past enunciated stance. KUSNITZ