BARBADOS PM TELLS AG HOLDER RAUL CASTRO WANTS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000315

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2019
TAGS: OVIP PREL CU XL
SUBJECT: BARBADOS PM TELLS AG HOLDER RAUL CASTRO WANTS TO
WORK WITH THE U.S.

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. D. Brent Hardt, reasons 1.4 (b,d
)

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Summary
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1. (C) Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson, who met with
Raul Castro one on one for two hours in mid-May, told
Attorney General Holder that he was "impressed by the degree
to which Raul Castro is interested in working with the United
States." Given Barbados' long-standing good relations with
Cuba, Thompson said that Barbados would be willing to "make
itself available" to do whatever it could bilaterally or
through CARICOM to facilitate discussions between the United
States and Cuba. Attorney General Holder reaffirmed the U.S.
interest in reaching out to Cuba, but said the U.S. needs to
see some sign that Cuba is serious about wanting to change
its relationship. End Summary.

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Raul Wants to Work With Us
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2. (C) In a pull aside meeting prior to broader bilateral
meetings with the Barbados government (septel),Prime
Minister Thompson told visiting Attorney General Eric Holder
that during his recent three-day visit to Cuba (May 11-14) he
found a genuine expectation at all levels that a change in
relations with the U.S. was imminent. "Cubans are optimistic
that something will change," Thompson noted, though he said
everyone expects there will be stumbling blocks along the
way. Thompson held a two-hour one-on-one meeting with Raul
Castro at the end of the visit, and told the Attorney General
that he was "impressed by the degree to which Raul is
interested in working with the United States." He said Cuba
was "pleased" with the dialogue that is now taking place with
the U.S. and would like to expand that into other areas.


3. (C) The Attorney General affirmed to Thompson that the
U.S. would like to reach out to Cuba. He pointed out that
the President has already taken important steps in loosening
restrictions on travel and remittances, and has taken heat
within the U.S. for these steps. He added, however, that
change could not be unilateral: the U.S. needed to see some
indication from Cuba that they truly wanted change. While it
appeared there were indications that Raul Castro wanted
change, it was not clear how much leeway he had to pursue it
with Fidel looking over his shoulder, the Attorney General
observed.

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Thompson Favors Big Gesture
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4. (C) While recognizing the political difficulties
surrounding the Cuban issue, PM Thompson counseled against a
"horse trading" approach with Cuba. "Right now, there is
sparring going on, parrying on both sides over small,
discreet things," Thompson explained. "But you can't do one
for one. Horse trading won't lead to change." The problem,
he elaborated, was that for Cuba the historical scars were
too deep from years of Spanish colonialism, U.S. domination,
and the embargo for Cuba to be able to pursue a one-for-one
approach. "Cuba's position is always going to be that it
suffers from the embargo." By contrast, Thompson argued, if
the embargo goes, there are automatically a series of things
that Cuba would have to do to accommodate the economic and
commercial changes. Their whole idea of how they trade and
engage with the rest of the world would have to change, he
maintained.

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Barbados and CARICOM Willing to Support Dialogue
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5. (C) Given the President's recent opening on remittances
and travel, PM Thompson conveyed to the Attorney General
Barbados' willingness to "do whatever we can do as Barbados
or with CARICOM" to facilitate dialogue between the U.S. and
Cuba. The Attorney General thanked Thompson for the offer,
and noted there were things the region could do to encourage
Cuba to respect the same sort of rights that countries
elsewhere in the Caribbean guarantee their citizens. The
Charge noted that the best way to avoid the appearance of the
"one-for-one" horse trading between the U.S. and Cuba would

be for CARICOM countries themselves to take on the role of
advocates for democracy, a free press, and release of
political prisoners. He urged the PM to use his influence on
behalf of the political prisoners, whose continued detention
was such an anomaly within the Caribbean region. The
Attorney General concluded that how we navigate this process
of change would be complicated, but he welcomed the active
engagement of the countries in the region to help guide Cuba
toward a more open and democratic future.

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Comment
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6. (C) Despite Thompson's clear impression that Raul Castro
desires to change the relationship with the U.S., he was
skeptical that Fidel shared this enthusiasm. Asked whether
he believed Fidel genuinely wanted to end the embargo,
Thompson smiled and acknowledged that Fidel was so locked
into hostility to the U.S. and dependent upon the embargo
that he may well wish to see it continue. That was another
reason he believed a grand gesture on the part of the U.S.
was essential, as Fidel could continue to create stumbling
blocks and control the process if we pursued a step-by-step
approach. Thompson's offer to support a dialogue between the
U.S. and Cuba reflects a long-standing CARICOM aspiration to
play a role in bringing the U.S. and Cuba together. The
problem with this aspiration, however, is that to date, no
country within CARICOM has been willing to speak frankly with
Cuba about democracy and human rights and to use their
supposed influence to support the democratic aspirations of
the Cuban people.


HARDT