US embassy cable - 05NASSAU393

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NASSAU 000393 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR WBENT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2015 
TAGS: PINR, PREL, OFDP, PGOV, XL, BF, CARICOM, Bahamian Politics 
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER POISED TO RAISE PROFILE IN CARICOM 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador John D. Rood for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
SUMMARY 
- - - - 
 
1.  (C) His intelligence, work ethic, and undisguised 
ambition have made Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell 
one of the three or four most powerful members of the Perry 
Christie Government and a person of growing influence in the 
Caribbean.  Currently the vice-chairman in the Commonwealth 
Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), Fred Mitchell represented 
CARICOM at the CMAG Conference in London in February 2005. 
In April, Mitchell is in line to assume the position of the 
rotating Chairman of the "Council for Foreign and Community 
Relations" (COFCOR) within CARICOM.  Fred Mitchell is a 
Bahamian and a black nationalist.  The public Fred Mitchell 
is polished, sophisticated, and smooth and with a skilled 
attorney's ability to make commitments that commit to 
nothing.  Mitchell's personalistic, close to the vest 
operating style frequently leaves his own Ministry in the 
dark about his motives, policies, and actions.  The Foreign 
Minister accepts that the Bahamas is located next to the 
world's superpower while constantly seeking, in small ways, 
to play a mini-balance of power game to try to expand The 
Bahamas' foreign policy options.  Mitchell uses international 
organizations for added leverage as do all small powers, as 
well as working bilaterally.  Mitchell has been particularly 
unhelpful on issues such as Haiti, Article 98 and a wide 
variety of U.N. General Assembly votes. 
End Summary. 
 
 
CARICOM 
- - - - 
 
2.  (C) In April Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell will 
assume the position of the rotating Chairman of the Council 
for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) in Caricom, 
succeeding Barbadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dame Billie 
Miller.  This body is responsible for determining relations 
between the Community and international organizations and 
third states.  Whether Mitchell will be able to bend and 
drive this consensus-driven body in his direction will be one 
of the Foreign Minister's first tests on a stage larger than 
The Bahamas. COFCOR (and thereby CARICOM) was unable to come 
to a consensus following the departure of ex-President 
Aristide from Haiti, and the bloc would not support or even 
recognize the Interim Government of Haiti (IGOH) in the 
ensuing months under the chairmanship of Dame Billie Miller. 
 
3.  (C) Mitchell sees CARICOM as a means to an end.  The 
Bahamas would have little to no influence in the 
international sphere if it did not band with "its Caribbean 
brothers and sisters".  The Bahamas' stance of de facto 
recognition of the IGOH since the resignation of ex-President 
Jean-Bertrand Aristide allows The Bahamas to continue 
repatriating interdicted Haitian migrants while not breaking 
with CARICOM's formal policy of de jure non-recognition. 
 
4.  (C) Minister Mitchell believes that the only time the 
U.S. pays attention to CARICOM countries is when Washington 
needs something from the region.  Along with other CARICOM 
countries, the Bahamian government felt left out of 
communications with regards to the quick departure of 
ex-President Aristide.  He claims to understand the stakes, 
but refuses to break with CARICOM despite it being in the 
best interests of his own country.  The Bahamas feels the 
impact of illegal migration each time the stability of Haiti 
is in flux. 
 
5.  (C) Mitchell has a desire to be seen and heard in the 
international arena.  He also currently holds the position of 
vice-chair in the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group 
(CMAG).  In January 2005, Mitchell attended a CMAG conference 
in London to discuss the Commonwealth's disapproval of 
Pakistan's President retaining the seat of Chief of Army. 
Mitchell likes playing to make his voice heard in this type 
of forum. 
 
 
POLITICAL CAREER 
- - - - - - - - - 
 
6.  (C) Fred Mitchell decided as a young teenager that he 
wanted to be a cabinet minister and admits to having 
calculated every step to achieve this goal.  He succeeded 
just under four decades later.  FM Mitchell has been a 
life-long supporter of the PLP, from his student days through 
his journalistic days at the Broadcasting Corporation of The 
Bahamas (ZNS).  (Mitchell once admitted to the DCM that he 
embarked on a journalist career strictly as a way to gain 
access to (and model himself after) influential Bahamians.) 
He joined the Office of the Prime Minister in the Pindling 
Government in 1980.  After a falling out with then-Prime 
Minister Lynden Pindling in 1992, Mitchell struck a deal with 
the incoming PM Hubert Ingraham; Mitchell would not contest 
the Fox Hill constituency if Ingraham would promise him a 
seat as an independent senator.  Over the next five years, 
Mitchell gradually began his return to the PLP and was 
eventually forced to resign as an independent in 1997. 
Shortly after his resignation, Mitchell officially rejoined 
the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).  Four months later, he 
was reappointed to the Senate, this time as a member of the 
PLP Opposition. 
 
7.  (C) On May 10, 2002 Fred Mitchell was sworn in as 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service.  Since 
that time, Mitchell has developed a persona of an aloof and 
humorless, but highly intellectual and respected politician. 
Oftentimes, Mitchell appears to be in agreement with 
officials at meetings, and then expresses opposite opinions 
to the media or in Cabinet.  He has aspirations of being an 
international player and future Prime Minister. 
Unfortunately, FM Mitchell's further political assent in The 
Bahamas will be hampered by widespread rumors and tabloid 
accusations that he is a homosexual.  In an outwardly 
Christian country, Bahamians are extremely homophobic.  The 
fact that Mitchell remains single at the age of 51 appears to 
support this rumor to the average Bahamian. 
 
8.  (C) Mitchell is respected for his intellect, but not 
particularly well-liked -- even by the current Prime 
Minister.  PM Christie has made snide remarks with reference 
to the dress and manner of the foreign minister in front of 
Embassy personnel.  Nevertheless, Christie trusts Mitchell, 
defers to him on all foreign policy matters, and often 
chooses him to represent The Bahamas at CARICOM Heads of 
Government Meetings. 
 
 
VIEWS TOWARDS U.S. POLICY 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
9.  (C) Fred Mitchell is extremely knowledgeable about the 
United States, at ease in the United States, a frequent 
visitor to the United States, and accepts the reality of the 
United States.  But he probably doesn't "love" the United 
States.  Bahamians inevitably have close ties to the U.S. 
Like many, FM Mitchell was educated in the U.S., receiving 
his undergraduate education at Antioch University in Ohio and 
a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy 
School of Government at Harvard University.  Like many 
colleagues in the PLP, he is most comfortable with, and has 
the most contact with, liberals. He seeks to differentiate 
The Bahamas from what he believes is a neo-conservative, 
militaristic tilt in U.S. foreign policy.  China, Cuba, 
Caricom, even the British Commonwealth are all, in Mitchell's 
eyes, vehicles that could serve to somehow increase Bahamian 
freedom of action otherwise constrained by the geological 
reality of being located less than 50 miles from the United 
States.  During his tenure, FM Mitchell has gained approval 
to open embassies in both Beijing and Havana.  Mitchell 
thinks of himself as a policy intellectual and strategist on 
par with players of larger countries in the global arena.  In 
his role as Foreign Minister, Fred Mitchell has been 
criticized for his excessive travel by the Bahamian public. 
 
10.  (C) Mitchell has not been supportive in the promotion of 
several key U.S. foreign policy goals: the formal recognition 
and support of the Interim Government of Haiti, the signing 
of an Article 98 Agreement or a Status of Forces Agreement 
(SOFA), and on a litany of U.N. General Assembly votes 
including the Anti-Israeli Bias and on Human Rights in the 
Sudan.  The Bahamas voted "no action" on several country 
specific votes, taking the CARICOM stance of "preferring not 
to name and shame" others.  The visiting Israeli Ambassador 
complained recently that Mitchell equated Israeli policies 
toward Palestinians with white South African before majority 
rule. 
 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
11.  (C) In public, FM Mitchell studiously avoids commenting 
on scandals and making overly-provocative speeches.  A 
pretentious and intellectual man, he prefers to remain above 
the fray in these situations. The private Fred Mitchell is on 
display in a website previously titled "Fred Mitchell 
Uncensored" and now nominally edited by a third-party and 
named "Bahamas Uncensored."  In Bahamian political circles, 
it is assumed that the Foreign Minister retains editorial 
control over the website.  Mitchell hides behind the website 
to make more petulant and more candid commentary than he 
normally would in public. 
 
ROOD