Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KINGSTON248
2009-03-30 15:14:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kingston
Cable title:  

JAMAICA: PROMINENT FIGURES ADVOCATE CARIBBEAN AGENDA FOR

Tags:  ECON EFIN ENRG ETRD PGOV PREL IBRD IDB CDB TRSY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7459
INFO RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN 5188
RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0555
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0561
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 2360
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000248 

SIPDIS, SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR - ANDRE CADIEUX
WHA/EPSC - DAVID SILVERMAN, ROBERT SCHWARTZ

TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN ENRG ETRD PGOV PREL IBRD IDB CDB TRSY
KSUM, JM, XL
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: PROMINENT FIGURES ADVOCATE CARIBBEAN AGENDA FOR
UPCOMING FIFTH SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS (SOA)

REF: (A) KINGSTON 167 (041610Z MAR 09)
(B) KINGSTON 837 (222015Z SEP 09)

Summary
-------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000248

SIPDIS, SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR - ANDRE CADIEUX
WHA/EPSC - DAVID SILVERMAN, ROBERT SCHWARTZ

TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN ENRG ETRD PGOV PREL IBRD IDB CDB TRSY
KSUM, JM, XL
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: PROMINENT FIGURES ADVOCATE CARIBBEAN AGENDA FOR
UPCOMING FIFTH SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS (SOA)

REF: (A) KINGSTON 167 (041610Z MAR 09)
(B) KINGSTON 837 (222015Z SEP 09)

Summary
--------------

1.(U) At the launch of the newly established Roxborough Institute,
prominent figures urge Caribbean leaders to speak with one regional
voice and to seek immediate liquidity support to weather the global
economic storm at the upcoming Fifth Summit of the Americas (SOA).
End Summary.

"Caribbean Agenda for the SOA"
--------------

2.(U) The respected Member-of-Parliament (MP) for East Central St.
Andrews and former Minister of National Security in the previous
People's National Party (PNP) government, Dr. Peter Phillips,
launched his newly established Roxborough Institute in a
well-attended public forum on "The Caribbean Agenda for the Summit
of the Americas" on the evening of March 25. Featured speakers
included:

-- former CARICOM Secretary General and economist Sir Alister
McIntyre;

-- Professor Don Robotham of New York City University;

-- financial analyst and editorialist Keith Collister;

-- Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) President and
editorialist Dr. John Rapley.

(Note: former Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur also had been
scheduled to participate, but was unable to be present.)

Roxborough Institute: a "non-sectarian, non-partisan
grouping...against the background of a severe crisis"
-------------- --------------

3.(U) In welcoming remarks, Phillips underscored his intention that
the newly-formed Roxborough Institute should be a "non-sectarian,
non-partisan grouping which wishes to stimulate a dialogue around

Jamaica's (and the Caribbean's) development options in all its
facets. We seek through seminars, discussion groups, lectures and
publications to engage the widest possible participation of persons
interested in creating a more equitable, secure, peaceful, and
culturally expressive society...Roxborough Institute is being formed
with a view to stimulating a public debate about the future of
Jamaican nationhood. This desire comes against the background of a
severe crisis which in some quarters is seen as threatening the very
survival of the Jamaican State."

SOA: "an opportunity for Caribbean views to be taken into account"
-------------- --------------

4.(U) Phillips then noted that the Fifth SOA would be the first such
meeting in the Caribbean, coming on the heels of the G-20 meetings
in London and preceding the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting
in Port-of-Spain, and called it "an opportunity for Caribbean views
to be taken into account." He outlined three "sets of issues" that
should be addressed at the SOA:

-- seeking solutions to the economic crisis which will protect
social gains;

-- Caribbean interest in a long-term integrated financial
architecture;

-- and social issues such as education, training, crime, drugs, and
migration.

Political Implications of Economic Crisis "Extraordinarily Serious"
--------------

5.(U) Robotham painted an ominous picture of the impact of the
global economic crisis on the Caribbean, recalling that the global
crash of 1929 eventually had led to large-scale riots in Jamaica in

1938. He decried the "passivity of the developing world" as

KINGSTON 00000248 002 OF 002


wealthier nations set the global agenda, and warned of the dangers
of the current high level of unemployment, particularly among youth:
"it would be foolhardy to think that an economic and financial
crisis of this depth and duration could only have economic
consequences...the political implications are extraordinarily
serious." He predicted that Jamaica soon would be forced to seek
assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),and called
for expansion and extension of the IMF's "Vulnerability Fund" to
heavily indebted middle-income countries (HIMICs)."

"Muddling Through" Not An Option This Time
--------------

6.(U) Collister noted that for decades Jamaica had managed to
"muddle through" various financial, economic, political, and social
crises, but then warned pointedly that, this time, an attempt simply
to "muddle through" would lead to disaster. Over four decades, the
country had failed to diversify its economy, grow the productive
sector, and become self-reliant. An additional social safety net
now would be necessary to replace dwindling remittances from abroad.
He called for a "gateway strategy" to integrate large-scale
investment from the Far East aimed at North and South America, and
the formation of new industries, such as hospitals to provide
high-quality, low-cost health care to Americans.

SOA: an opportunity for Caribbean to speak "with a coordinated
regional voice"
-------------- --------------

7.(U) Rapley maintained that the Caribbean had fallen off the agenda
of first world countries like the USA and UK, leaving Canada as the
only large country showing increased interest in the region. He
viewed the SOA as an opportunity for Caribbean leaders to speak
"with a coordinated regional voice." He expected "no
breakthroughs," but saw the SOA as a chance for the Caribbean to
"send coordinated signals" and "articulate a regional message." He
said Caribbean leaders needed to approach the U.S. Congress with a
clear plan on the issues on which it wants cooperation and support.


SOA: "Deliberative Meeting" Rather Than "Negotiation"
-------------- --------------

8.(U) Finally, McIntyre reminded the audience that the SOA was not a
"negotiation," but rather a "deliberative meeting." He said the IMF
and World Bank had "neglected" the middle-income countries (MICs),
and that Jamaica would need further liquidity support to finance its
upcoming budget. He called for international monetary reform,
defense of the Caribbean's offshore financial sector, a "new
dialogue on migration," and closer cooperation with the USA on
environmental matters.

9.(SBU) When asked how the Roxborough Institute would convey its
views and advice to the Government of Jamaica (GoJ) in advance of
the SOA, Phillips assured the audience that the evening's forum
would be well documented and publicized, and its recommendations
conveyed to the GoJ - but did not specify how. ((Comment: Despite
having lost a challenge for the presidency of the PNP to the
charismatic Leader of the Opposition Portia Simpson Miller
(PSM)(reftel B),Phillips commands considerable respect among the
ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government and across the
political spectrum. The extent to which his Roxborough Institute
may directly influence the GoJ's positions at the SOA is unclear,
but the views expressed at the forum were generally in consonance
with those of Prime Minister Bruce Golding and SOA Coordinator Amb.
Paul Robothom (reftel A). Whether, in Jamaica's intensely tribal,
partisan, and occasionally violent political culture, the new
Institute can long endure as a "non-sectarian, non-partisan
grouping" remains to be seen. End Comment.))

HEG