US embassy cable - 04NASSAU1400

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 001400 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2014 
TAGS: OFDP, PREL, CU, BF, Cuba 
SUBJECT: BAHAMAS PLANS TO UPGRADE DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE IN 
HAVANA 
 
 
Classified By: CHARGE ROBERT M. WITAJEWSKI FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
SUMMARY 
- - - - 
 
1.  (C) On Friday, July 16, 2004, Foreign Minister Fred 
Mitchell and Under Secretary for Consular Affairs Carlton 
Wright returned from a Caricom meeting in Cuba, and held a 
conference during which Foreign Minister Mitchell reiterated 
his hope that The Bahamas will 
be able to open a consulate/embassy in Havana in the near 
future.  Mitchell justified 
the initiative saying it would provide consular services to 
Bahamian students and Bahamians imprisoned in Cuba, as well 
foster communication (and business) in agriculture and 
maritime issues in particular.  Foreign Ministry Permanent 
Secretary Patricia Rodgers (number two in 
 
SIPDIS 
the Ministry) told Charge July 19 that she expects a Bahamian 
diplomatic mission to have been established in Havana by 
January or February 2005. 
End Summary 
 
 
BAHAMIAN-CUBAN RELATIONS 
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2.  (U) Following the Minister's trip to Haiti as part of the 
five-person team sent by Caricom to investigate the situation 
in Haiti, FM Mitchell and Foreign Ministry Under Secretary 
Carlton Wright traveled to Havana for the 
previously-scheduled Cuba-Caricom meeting.  This meeting was 
a follow-up to the December 2002 meeting at which Cuba and 
the then "Big 4" of the Caribbean -- Barbados, Trinidad and 
Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica -- signed an accord and agreed to 
hold biennial meetings. 
 
3.  (U) Long-rumored to be "in the works", Foreign Minister 
Mitchell reiterated The Bahamas' intention to open a 
consulate/embassy in Havana in the near future.  Mitchell was 
quoted by local media declaring that "as a matter of 
practicality, it seems the prudent thing to do would be to 
offer consular services at the very least".  Cuban Consul 
General to The Bahamas, Felix Wilson, has claimed that on 
average 20,000 Bahamians travel to Cuba each year for a 
variety of reasons: healthcare, medical training, tertiary 
education, and vacation. 
 
4.  (U) Mitchell proudly announced that The Bahamas is 
Caricom's biggest trading partner with Cuba, with traded 
goods estimated at a value of USD 22.7 million per year.  FM 
Mitchell suggested to the Minister of Agriculture that he 
look into the possibility of trading fruits and vegetables. 
 
5.  (U) During their stay in Cuba, Mitchell and Wright were 
taken to several potential building sites by their Cuban 
hosts.  Mitchell told Bahamian media that funds to establish 
a presence in Cuba were budgeted into the 2004/2005 budget. 
Under Secretary Wright has plans to return to Havana in two 
to three weeks to provide consular services to imprisoned 
Bahamians.  Minister Mitchell indicated that Mr. Wright is 
likely to be the person designated to open the facility. 
 
 
FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIALS SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE IN FOR 
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6.  (C) Speaking with Charge July 19, Foreign Ministry 
Permanent Secretary Dr. Patricia Rodgers said that she 
expected that the Bahamian mission in Cuba would be 
functioning "no later than January or February of next year." 
 As justification, she noted that there were currently at 
least one hundred Bahamians studying medicine in Cuba, that 
thousands of Bahamians traveled regularly to Cuba for 
inexpensive medical treatment, and that there was pressure 
from Bahamian business persons to establish a diplomatic 
presence as a way of facilitating their business dealings 
with the Cubans.  Bahamian Mr. Tennyson Wells has been 
pressing the Bahamian Foreign Ministry and Ministry of 
Agriculture to establish a diplomatic presence so that his 
shipping company will have representation in Cuba. 
 
7.  (C) Musing on the benefits of a consulate versus an 
embassy, Dr. Rodgers said that with the large number of 
countries already having ambassadors in Havana, establishing 
only a consular presence would leave The Bahamas "ignored and 
discriminated against" by Minrex (the Cuban Foreign Ministry). 
8.  (C) Queried if they knew what conditions would be like in 
Cuba, Dr. Rodgers wanely smiled "yes."  She had already her 
own list of complaints about the prices and services rendered 
by Cubalse.  Similarly, she "hoped" that the Government would 
send a professional diplomat and not a political appointee to 
Havana.  Aware of security concerns resulting from hiring 
Cubans, she said that she hoped that the Foreign Ministry 
would also be permitted to send their own staff to work in 
critical areas of the embassy. "I suppose that we will have 
to train them to talk in code even in restaurants," she 
exclaimed.  Charge confirmed that Bahamian diplomats should 
have no expectation of any privacy either at work, in public, 
or in their homes. 
 
 
COMMENT 
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9.  (C) It is likely that Minister Mitchell hopes to 
facilitate repatriation of illegal Cuban migrants interdicted 
in Bahamian waters with this gesture and that this is the 
quid pro quo expected of the Cuban Government.  Currently, 
the Government of Cuba only accepts its nationals back a few 
at a time, causing The Bahamas to hold Cuban nationals in 
detention for months until repatriation -- a very costly 
venture for the Bahamian government. 
 
10. (C) It is difficult to imagine any concrete benefits to 
The Bahamas from establishing a closer relationship to Cuba. 
The small size of the Bahamian population precludes major 
commercial sales to/purchases from Cuba, but Bahamians 
currently trading do make significant profits.  Medi-tourism 
is growing as fiscally prudent Bahamians seek a high-quality, 
lower-cost alternative to Miami for medical treatment. 
Ideologically, FM Mitchell and others in the Bahamian cabinet 
will also get psychological gratification from proving that 
they can conduct an independent foreign policy at odds with 
superpower neighbor. 
WITAJEWSKI