US embassy cable - 04NASSAU1855

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 001855 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ECON, BF, CARICOM 
SUBJECT: PM CHRISTIE: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN U.S. 
RELATIONS WITH CARIBBEAN 
 
Classified By: CDA Robert M. Witajewski For Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
- - - - 
 
1. (U)  Prime Minister Perry Christie told an international 
audience in Miami on October 1 that while U.S. good 
intentions toward the English-speaking Caribbean are not in 
doubt, there is room for improvement in the overall 
relationship.  Christie believed that the U.S. was not 
sufficiently sensitive to Caribbean concerns on issues 
including free trade, and hoped that generous international 
assistance would be forthcoming to help Caribbean countries 
recover from a devastating hurricane season which has already 
damaged them beyond their means.  Christie acknowledged U.S. 
humanitarian assistance and its support for democracy, 
efforts which only underscored the importance of the U.S. and 
the wider Caribbean working together to find a permanent 
solution to the problems in Haiti.  The Bahamian Prime 
Minister was a featured speaker at the Miami Herald's annual 
"Americas Conference." 
End summary. 
 
2.  (U)  Prime Minister Perry Christie addressed the Miami 
Herald's "Conference of the Americas" on October 1, 2004, 
delivering remarks on the theme "Friend or Foe? Can The 
Caribbean and the U.S. Repair Their Damaged Relations?". 
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell and Carl Smith, coordinator of 
The Bahamas' "National Emergency Management Agency" (NEMA), 
accompanied the Prime Minister to Miami. 
 
 
REASSESS IMPACT OF FREE TRADE ON SMALLER NATIONS 
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3. (U) PM Christie, taking a more positive tone than the 
agenda theme would indicate, announced that he disagreed with 
the assertion that U.S.- Caricom relations are "damaged," 
declaring that he preferred instead to characterize the 
situation as leaving room for "improvement".  He suggested 
that many of the areas of tension existing between the U.S. 
and Caricom nations could be resolved with increased regular 
dialogue. 
 
"I would be less than candid if I did not say that there is a 
view in some quarters that there is not sufficiently deep 
understanding in the United States of the issues and concerns 
which face our region," Prime Minister Christie said. 
"Concerns for example about emerging free-trade arrangements 
seem sometimes to fall on deaf ears or are treated 
dismissively, without realizing that the entire economies of 
poor, struggling nations, especially in the Eastern 
Caribbean, hang in the balance.  Simply cutting a check or 
making a sympathetic speech does not address these issues at 
a fundamental level.  If sustainable development and economic 
viability are to remain within the grasp of these smaller and 
more vulnerable states, there simply has to be a 
re-assessment of the direction in which free trade 
arrangements are headed." 
 
 
PM CALLS FOR GREATER ROLE IN HAITI? 
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4. (U) Christie told his listeners that the main source of 
tension in the region currently stems from the February 29th 
departure of former Haitian President Jean Bertrande 
Aristide, and more specifically because the U.S. government 
did not better communicate with Caricom heads of state about 
events surrounding Aristide's resignation at the time. 
Christie encouraged the region to come together to help Haiti 
in its time of need. 
 
"..It is so important for the United States and the wider 
Caribbean region to jointly promote democracy, peace, 
stability and growth in our sister nation of Haiti.  The 
destruction that was wrought there by Tropical Storm Jeanne 
is of monumental and tragic proportions.  We continue to 
watch, helplessly at times, as that beleaguered national 
still struggles to find its way.  Make no mistake about it, 
all our collective talk about neighborly cooperation and 
democratization will be judged a fraud by history if we do 
not -- and by "we" I mean all the countries of the region -- 
pool our resources and bring the full weight of our resolve 
to bear on a permanent solution to the problems of Haiti." 
 
In response to a question from the press, Christie cited 
issues surrounding official recognition of the 
interim-government of Haiti and Caricom's relationship with 
Cuba as being the major differences in regional policy. 
 
HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS 
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5. (U)  PM Christie told the conference that while The 
Bahamas escaped the worst of the destruction brought by this 
season's series of hurricanes, parts of his country are still 
reeling.  He stated that The Bahamas would need "all the help 
in the world that we can get."  Christie offered to host a 
regional conference on to discuss how the United States and 
the Caribbean region can respond to natural disasters on a 
regional scale. 
 
6. (U) Making a plea for further U.S. assistance to the 
region following Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, Christie 
announced that a consensus had been reached at the Caricom 
Heads of State meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in September 
2004 that the scale of disaster relief was beyond the 
resources of the Caribbean.  While acknowledging the need for 
U.S. help for Grand Bahama and Abaco, Christie did admit that 
Grenada and Haiti "desperately need help from the 
international community and to the most generous extent 
possible." 
 
 
COMMENT 
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7.  (C) The Bahamian Prime Minister envisions himself as a 
regional leader, and he used his speech at the conference to 
address hurricane relief issues and the concern over the 
implications of free trade agreements for the small, 
developing nations of the Caribbean.  While making a clear 
pitch for the United States to give more humanitarian 
assistance to sister countries, Grenada and Haiti, the Prime 
Minister also referred to the "symbiotic relationship" the 
U.S. shares with The Bahamas repeated his oft-cited statistic 
that "eight cents out of every dollar earned in The Bahamas 
is spent in the U.S." as a lightly veiled attempt to 
demonstrate that Bahamian contributions to the economy in 
Florida should not go unnoticed while deciding how to 
distribute hurricane relief aid to the region. 
 
8.  (C) Indirectly via confidants and directly, Ambassador 
and DCM had previously urged that Christie not take his 
assigned theme literally but adopt a more positive stance in 
his remarks.  He appears to have done so -- either heeding 
the suggestions or simply because he is by nature invariably 
upbeat and optimistic...and a former Tourism Minister in The 
Bahamas intimately familiar from whence the bulk of his 
country's tourist dollars come.  Talking about the Prime 
Minister's remarks after he had returned from Miami, Foreign 
Minister Fred Mitchell told DCM that the Prime Minister had 
indeed deviated from his prepared text several times in the 
course of his remarks. 
 
9. (C)  Christie is anxious to play regional statesman and is 
undoubtedly pleased that his address got major coverage in 
the Bahamian and Miami media.  Not only is Christie happy 
with his reception in Miami, he is equally pleased that 
Alberto Ibarguen, Miami Herald publisher, has invited him 
back to Miami to meet with the newspaper's editorial board -- 
an invitation that promises to generate further positive 
regional publicity for him.  Christie brought Carl Smith, his 
disaster relief coordinator, with him on his Miami trip. 
During his trip, Christie did receive additional relief 
contributions from prominent Miami residents.  But while he 
was basking on a regional stage with fellow national leaders, 
back home in The Bahamas local media featured growing 
criticism of his government's handling of the relief and 
reconstruction efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Frances and 
Jeanne. 
 
WITAJEWSKI