Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09NASSAU251
2009-04-21 20:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Nassau
Cable title:
SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: PM ASSERTS BAHAMAS WILL
how-toVZCZCXRO7398 OO RUEHGR DE RUEHBH #0251 1112053 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 212053Z APR 09 ZDS FM AMEMBASSY NASSAU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6311 INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS NASSAU 000251
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY - PARA. 2 MARKINGS CORRECTED
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN KPAO PGOV PREL BF
SUBJECT: SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: PM ASSERTS BAHAMAS WILL
NOT BE NAMED IN STOP TAX HAVEN LAW
REF: NASSAU 247
UNCLAS NASSAU 000251
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY - PARA. 2 MARKINGS CORRECTED
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN KPAO PGOV PREL BF
SUBJECT: SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: PM ASSERTS BAHAMAS WILL
NOT BE NAMED IN STOP TAX HAVEN LAW
REF: NASSAU 247
1. (U) A banner headline April 20 captured the Bahamian
media's coverage of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's
attendance at the Summit of the Americas (SOA): "PM Lobbies
U.S. on Tax Bill". All media prominently reported the PM's
statement that The Bahamas did not deserve to be named as a
secrecy jurisdiction in the "Stop Tax Haven Abuse Bill"
pending before the U.S. Congress. The GCOB's strategy is to
target Congress -- to wit: Ingraham said he had written
Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of the House Ways and
Means Committee, on behalf of CARICOM in advance of the SOA
on this key issue for the GCOB. Ingraham has also reached
out to Congressman Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Sub-Committee on the Western Hemisphere, who also
attended the SOA. PM Ingraham, who is also Minister of
Finance, headed a GCOB delegation to the SOA that included
Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest and Minister of
State for Finance Zhivargo Laing.
2. (SBU) Commenting on CARICOM leaders meeting with a
congressional delegation led by Chairman Rangel at the SOA,
PM Ingraham said "The U.S. congressmen were not able to
provide justification" for The Bahamas being named in the
bill. He reiterated that the GCOB has a Tax Information
Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the U.S., a point he also made
to a visiting congressional delegation in Nassau April 9
(reftel). Concerns about off-shore finance overshadowed all
other outcomes of the SOA in Bahamian media, including the
political cartoons.
3. (U) A Nassau Guardian print editorial April 18, however,
titled "Ball's now in Cuba's court", focused on the recent
history of U.S.-Cuba relations and concluded: "It is now
time for Cuba to do something tangible to show that it
appreciates the good gestures made by President Obama, and it
can start by changing some of the policies that deny Cubans
freedoms enjoyed by citizens in democratic countries around
the world." The Tribune daily published President Obama's
op-ed "Choosing a better future in the Americas" April 18.
ZUNIGA-BROWN
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY - PARA. 2 MARKINGS CORRECTED
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN KPAO PGOV PREL BF
SUBJECT: SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: PM ASSERTS BAHAMAS WILL
NOT BE NAMED IN STOP TAX HAVEN LAW
REF: NASSAU 247
1. (U) A banner headline April 20 captured the Bahamian
media's coverage of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's
attendance at the Summit of the Americas (SOA): "PM Lobbies
U.S. on Tax Bill". All media prominently reported the PM's
statement that The Bahamas did not deserve to be named as a
secrecy jurisdiction in the "Stop Tax Haven Abuse Bill"
pending before the U.S. Congress. The GCOB's strategy is to
target Congress -- to wit: Ingraham said he had written
Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of the House Ways and
Means Committee, on behalf of CARICOM in advance of the SOA
on this key issue for the GCOB. Ingraham has also reached
out to Congressman Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Sub-Committee on the Western Hemisphere, who also
attended the SOA. PM Ingraham, who is also Minister of
Finance, headed a GCOB delegation to the SOA that included
Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest and Minister of
State for Finance Zhivargo Laing.
2. (SBU) Commenting on CARICOM leaders meeting with a
congressional delegation led by Chairman Rangel at the SOA,
PM Ingraham said "The U.S. congressmen were not able to
provide justification" for The Bahamas being named in the
bill. He reiterated that the GCOB has a Tax Information
Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the U.S., a point he also made
to a visiting congressional delegation in Nassau April 9
(reftel). Concerns about off-shore finance overshadowed all
other outcomes of the SOA in Bahamian media, including the
political cartoons.
3. (U) A Nassau Guardian print editorial April 18, however,
titled "Ball's now in Cuba's court", focused on the recent
history of U.S.-Cuba relations and concluded: "It is now
time for Cuba to do something tangible to show that it
appreciates the good gestures made by President Obama, and it
can start by changing some of the policies that deny Cubans
freedoms enjoyed by citizens in democratic countries around
the world." The Tribune daily published President Obama's
op-ed "Choosing a better future in the Americas" April 18.
ZUNIGA-BROWN