US embassy cable - 05KINGSTON2083

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KINGSTON 002083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT), EB/ESC/IEC 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/7/15 
TAGS: EPET, ENRG, ECON, PREL, JM, Petrocaribe, Venezuela 
SUBJECT: JAMAICA HOSTS PETROCARIBE SUMMIT IN MONTEGO BAY 
 
REF: A. KINGSTON 2082 
 
     B. POWELL/BENT 9/7 FAX 
     C. KINGSTON 02026 
     D. POWELL/NICHOLS 9/7 E-MAIL 
 
Classified By: CDA Thomas C. Tighe.  Reasons 1.5(b) and (d). 
 
 ------- 
 Summary 
 ------- 
 
1. (U) On September 6, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson hosted 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuban President Fidel 
Castro, and representatives of CARICOM states, the Dominican 
Republic, and Monserrat, to conclude the PetroCaribe Energy 
Cooperation Agreement.  Domestically, the summit was 
overshadowed by the opposition Jamaica Labor Party's (JLP) 
island-wide protest against the Patterson Administration in 
response to rising food- and utility prices, and bus fares, 
an event at least in part calculated to embarrass the Prime 
Minister in front of his regional guests.  In addressing 
Summit attendees, Patterson specifically praised Simon 
Bolivar, Chavez and his "Bolivarian vision", and Castro's 
"record for humanitarian generosity" despite 50 years of 
opposition from the USG.  He emphasized that the benefits 
offered by PetroCaribe came with no strings attached, and 
that they involved concessionary loans rather than sub-market 
oil pricing by Venezuela.  GOJ contacts began returning to 
Kingston from the PetroCaribe Summit on September 7; we are 
awaiting replies to our requests for read-outs and will 
report further on the substance and dynamics of the event. 
End summary. 
 
------------------ 
PetroCaribe Summit 
------------------ 
 
2. (U) On September 6, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson hosted 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuban President Fidel 
Castro, and representatives of CARICOM states, the Dominican 
Republic, and Monserrat.  Domestically, the summit was 
overshadowed by the opposition Jamaica Labor Party's (JLP) 
island-wide "day of protest" against the Patterson 
Administration for rising food-, utility- and bus fare 
prices, and event at least in part calculated to embarrass 
the Prime Minister in front of his regional guests (Ref A). 
GOJ contacts began returning to Kingston from the PetroCaribe 
Summit on September 7; we are awaiting replies to requests 
for read-outs and will report further on the substance and 
dynamics of the event. 
 
----------------------------- 
Patterson Welcomes His Guests 
----------------------------- 
 
3. (U) In his opening address to the visiting delegations 
(text of remarks faxed to WHA/CAR, per Ref B), Patterson gave 
a verbal nod to Simon Bolivar, whose 190-year old, 1815 
"Letter from Jamaica" served nominally as commemorative 
backdrop to the PetroCaribe Summit.  He described the 
countries represented at the Summit as states "...whose 
people share a common history of colonial conquest..."  The 
PM also noted that the PetroCaribe Agreement "will serve to 
strengthen our ties with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 
and two of our close neighbors in the wider Caribbean Basin, 
Cuba and the Dominican Republic."  Continuing, Patterson 
welcomed Chavez, "...whose own commitment to regionalism 
brings added meaning to the Bolivarian vision '...to put into 
use all the resources for public prosperity; to improve, 
educate and perfect the New World.'"  He mentioned rising 
global demand for oil led by China and other Asian countries, 
and, after noting the recent rise in oil prices beyond the 
USD 70 per barrel mark, expressed "profound sympathy" to 
those in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who were affected 
by Hurricane Katrina.  According to Patterson, "The 
PetroCaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement which replaces, with 
Venezuela, the San Jose Accord and now the Caracas Energy 
Agreement of 2001, will further deepen and strengthen the 
bonds of friendship and the process of collaboration between 
the signatory countries." 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
PetroCaribe's Benefits, As Jamaica Sees Them 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) As he has done on several occasions since Chavez 
visited in August to sign a bilateral GOJ/GOV accord under 
PetroCaribe (Ref C), Patterson emphasized that Jamaica will 
continue to purchase Venezuelan oil at the prevailing world 
price, paying only a small amount up front in cash while 
"...the rest of the payment is convertible by our Governments 
as a concessionary loan at one percent over 25 years." 
Patterson described further benefits of the Agreement as: 
 
1) averting a severe reduction of foreign exchange reserves, 
thereby easing the pressure for currency devaluation; 
 
2) the accumulation of loan funds at concessionary rates 
which cannot be secured either from the International Lending 
Agencies or Capital Markets and without any conditionalities 
attached; and 
 
3) the ability to repay portions of the loan by way of goods 
and services, including sugar, bananas and rice, which have 
suffered from adverse rulings of the WTO. 
 
------------------ 
In Praise of Fidel 
------------------ 
 
5. (U) Patterson also lauded Castro, saying:  "The 
(PetroCaribe) program, which will permit Cuba with its 
advanced capability in the Health Sector to provide special 
treatment to needy patients in Jamaica serves as a 
trailblazer.  Allow me to commend President Fidel Castro, 
whose record for humanitarian generosity has never diminished 
despite whatever daunting challenges his government and 
people have faced over the past five decades."  Concluding 
his remarks, Patterson said, "In a globalized world in which 
dominant economic and political blocs hold sway we must be 
prepared to chart our own course and harness the skills of 
our people to strengthen our economies..."  (Note:  Pol/Econ 
Chief is scheduled to meet with the Health Ministry Permanent 
Secretary on September 8 and will ask for specifics about the 
 
SIPDIS 
Cuban eye care program for indigent Jamaicans. End note.) 
 
----------- 
Delegations 
----------- 
 
6. (U) The GOJ provided the following, incomplete information 
on the Heads of Government/State/Delegation represented in 
Montego Bay:  Jamaica - PM P.J. Patterson; Venezuela - 
President Hugo Chavez; Cuba - President Fidel Castro; Guyana, 
PM Samuel Hinds; Grenada - PM Keith Mitchell; Monserratt - 
Chief Minister John Osborne; as well as unspecified heads of 
delegation from: Barbados, Dominica, Suriname, Trinidad  & 
Tobago, and the Dominican Republic.  According to the media 
reports, the Barbadian, Bahamian, and Trinidadian 
representatives attended as observers. 
 
----------------------- 
A Touch of Light Comedy 
----------------------- 
 
7. (C) As the Summit was unfolding, an Embassy Kingston 
consular officer had a series of inadvertent run-ins with the 
Cuban delegation to the PetroCaribe Summit.  Conoff arrived 
by commercial air at Montego Bay's Sangster International 
Airport, where her husband, in Montego Bay on a long-planned 
vacation with visiting Amcit friends, met her in their POV. 
The two were mistakenly directed by GOJ security personnel 
(who apparently misread the diplomatic license plates on 
their vehicle) into the official convoy proceeding onto the 
tarmac to welcome the aircraft carrying Castro's arriving 
delegation.  When Cuban and Jamaican officials recognized the 
error, conoff and her husband were quickly removed from the 
procession and asked to depart the airport.  They proceeded 
to their resort villa (which they had reserved in May), 
whereupon they learned that Castro and his delegation were 
occupying the villa next door.  Their license plates again 
provoked surprised consternation, then baleful looks from 
Cuban security officials, whereupon conoff and her party were 
quickly moved to a far side of the resort by resort staff who 
were clearly acting at the behest of the Cubans.  Before they 
moved, however, a cell phone from conoff's party went missing 
for a few hours, and a request to the hotel desk to fix a 
non-functioning computer in their original villa quickly 
brought seven "technicians" to the suite who examined the 
computer intently but were unable to restore internet service. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
8. (C) Patterson, never shy about publicly reiterating his 
commitment to maintaining Jamaica's "principled stance" 
against U.S. policy in Iraq, Haiti, and at the UN, felt no 
need to stand on principle or to say or do anything to make 
his two prominent, democratically-challenged guests 
uncomfortable.  Drawing on Department guidance prior to the 
Summit, Charge and Pol/Econ Chief raised (with senior 
officials at the MFA and Commerce Ministry, and with a close 
personal friend and unofficial advisor to Patterson) USG 
concerns about Chavez's behavior regionally and at home, and 
the unlikely notion that the GOV would offer such seemingly 
favorable terms with no strings attached.  The message 
clearly reached the Prime Minister, who subsequently and 
publicly rebutted the notion of hidden "conditionalities" on 
at least three occasions.  We will report further on the 
substance of the Summit once we are able to discuss the 
proceedings with official contacts streaming back to the 
capital from Montego Bay. 
TIGHE