AMBASSADOR RAAS TRIP EYE OPENING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAGUA 000105 SIPDIS DEPT FOR KRAAIMOORE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM NU SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAAS TRIP EYE OPENING REF: A. 08 MANAGUA 1514 ¶B. 08 MANAGUA 1149 Classified By: Ambassador Robert J. Callahan for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On January 15 and 16, Ambassador Robert J. Callahan traveled with Defense Attache (DAO) and EmbOff to Nicaragua's South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) to meet with political, military, religious and community leaders. The ambassador visited Corn Island, Bluefields and El Bluff during the two day trip. Regional government leaders expressed their growing frustration with the central government's overt control of their budgets, while Rama-Creole government leaders told the ambassador about their ongoing struggles to receive title over their ancestral lands. The eye-opening trip provided the ambassador with a deeper understanding of the key people and issues that drive this dynamic and complex region. END SUMMARY -------------- ON CORN ISLAND -------------- ¶2. (C) On January 15, Ambassador Callahan flew to Corn Island, his first trip to the tropical island since his arrival to Nicaragua. (NOTE: Corn Island is strategically located off the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in the main pathway of most Atlantic narco-traffic routes between Columbia and Mexico. END NOTE) While on the island, he visited the Nicaraguan Navy's new barracks, built with USG funds. He also traveled to the Corn Island Nicaraguan National Police (NNP) station for brief facility tour. Then he called on Mr. George Morgan, the president of Pasenic seafood, one of the largest employers on the island. Mr. Morgan, who was born on Corn Island, fled Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution and rebuilt his fishing business in Hawaii before returning to his native island following the return of democracy to Nicaragua. ¶3. (C) The ambassador traveled to the Corn Island City Hall to meet with outgoing Mayor Alex Dixon (see Reftel A). Mayor Dixon reviewed many of the challenges that the municipal government faces, including limited resources from the central government, and gave his frank assessment of incoming Sandinista mayor Cleveland Webster. Mayor Dixon told the ambassador that he intended to run in March 2010 for a seat in the RAAS Regional Council. The ambassador than hosted a lunch with representatives from the Nicaraguan Navy and NNP at the Casa Canada hotel. He ended his brief four-hour visit to Corn Island with a press interview at the airport. -------------- BLUEFIELDS REGIONAL GOVERNMENT PINCHED -------------- ¶4. (C) The ambassador arrived in Bluefields that afternoon to hold meetings with the Nicaraguan Navy, local politicians, community leaders and members of the clergy. He first toured the Nicaraguan Navy headquarters in Bluefields, including the new pier and boat repair facilities financed through USG funds. His first political meeting was with the popular outgoing mayor, Luis Gutierrez. Next the ambassador met with President Lourdes Gibbs and members of the executive board of the RAAS Regional Council, which is responsible for establishing development projects and controlling the natural resources of the RAAS. Gibbs expressed her frustration with the central government,s unfair control of their budget by pointing out that the RAAS has more territory and almost 50 percent more people than the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN),but because it is an area controlled by Liberals, it receives only about one-third of the RAAN's budget (see Reftel A). ¶5. (C) The ambassador met with RAAS Regional Governor Yadira Flores, who described the budgetary pressures she was under to execute a development agenda without adequate resources. Flores explained that central government funds barely meet the operational costs of the regional government and that most of the funds she had for development projects came directly from the Danish Embassy. The ambassador told Flores that the Embassy was reviewing all of its assistance to Nicaragua, and would explore ways that it could direct aid specifically to democratic local governments, such as the RAAS Regional Council. -------------- RAMA-CREOLE GOVERNMENT AGAINST GREAT ODDS -------------- ¶6. (C) The ambassador traveled to the Rama-Creole Territorial Government headquarters to meet with President Santiago Thomas and representatives from Rama Cay and Monkey Point. After showing the ambassador maps of the vast Rama-Creole territory and the increasing numbers of Pacific Coast imigrants who are illegally occupying Rama lands, Thomas explained that the central government refused to move forward on its obligations according to Law 445 to demarcate and title ancestral lands to the Rama-Creole people (see Reftel B). The GON was forcing a settlement with the Rama-Creole government to give away the rights to millions of acres of western land in exchange for a promise to eventually complete the demarcation process. Monkey Point Community President Pearl Watson told the ambassador that the Rama-Creole people were not asking squatters to leave their lands or pay for illegally occupying them. Instead the Rama-Creole people would give title to squatters with the condition that they could not sell the land, only pass it down to their heirs. The ambassador remarked that situation reminded him of the 19th century treatment of Native Americans in the United States. -------------- ECUMENICAL DINNER -------------- ¶7. (C) That evening the ambassador hosted an ecumenical dinner with church leaders Bishop Oliver Hodgson (Moravian), Father Flavio Murillo (Catholic),and Reverend George Porter (Anglican),who told him about the religious environment of the RAAS and the respective histories of their congregations. Each leader shared his perspective on the problems facing the RAAS, especially his concerns about rising unemployment, neglect by the central government, and drug trafficking. -------------- -------------- LAST DAY - PRESS CONFERENCE, NAVY & HOSPITAL TOURS -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) On January 16, the ambassador held a morning press conference with local members of the press. After, he traveled to El Bluff with members of the Nicaraguan Navy to tour their naval base and review the new, reinforced Navy warehouse roof financed through USG funds. Following this, he visited a successful USAID project at the RAAS Regional Hospital in Bluefields that has dramatically reduced infant mortality rates. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) The two-day, whirlwind trip to the RAAS provided the ambassador with a close-up look at many of the key players and issues of the region. In conversations with political and community leaders, the ambassador stressed the ongoing commitment of the United States to help in the region. CALLAHAN