VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBH #0297/01 0681221
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 091221Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY NASSAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3954
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L NASSAU 000297 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/CAR BNICHOLS AND RBUDDEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2017 
TAGS: PROV PREL KNNP KTIA BF
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND FM MITCHELL REVIEW PSI, AUTEC, 
ELECTIONS AND REFUGEES 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN DARRELL ROOD, REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 ¶1. (C)  Summary:  Ambassador Rood and Foreign Minister 
Mitchell met March 7 to review outstanding bilateral issues, 
including the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), the 
U.S. request to install new sonar arrays at the Atlantic 
Undersea Testing and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), the 
Ambassador's recent trip to Turks and Caicos, upcoming 
Bahamian elections, Cubans in the detention center, and 
continuing security and safety problems at the airport. 
Mitchell expressed his frustration that, with elections 
looming, little was getting done in the government.  End 
Summary. 
 
Proliferation Security Initiative 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Ambassador raised the longstanding U.S. request to 
conclude a PSI Shipboarding agreement with The Bahamas. 
Minister Mitchell stated that the Attorney General's office 
had recently generated a 10-page memorandum after reviewing 
the U.S. proposal that concluded that The Bahamas could 
already undertake all of the requirements of PSI without 
signing an agreement.  In a newspaper interview earlier this 
year, Mitchell had expressed the same view.  The Ambassador 
requested a copy of the memo to share with Department legal 
experts.  (Comment:  U.S. legal experts had presented two 
options to the Bahamian side during discussions in 2005, the 
second of which was an amendment to the existing 
Comprehensive Maritime Agreement.  End Comment.) 
 
Sonar Array for AUTEC 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (C)  The Embassy is currently supporting a request by the 
Navy to install a new passive Acoustic Measurement Facility 
on two new sites on the ocean floor at the Atlantic Undersea 
Testing and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) at Andros Island.  The 
Ambassador raised the U.S. request with FM Mitchell, noting 
that a Navy team had provided MFA and other Bahamian 
officials a technical briefing on the proposal.  The Minister 
said he was committed to accommodating the Navy request.  He 
also inquired if the Embassy could arrange an AUTEC town 
meeting with Andros MP Vincent Peet and the Ambassador in 
attendance. 
 
Election Season Woes 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. (C)  The Ambassador briefed Mitchell on his recent trip to 
the Turks and Caicos (TCI) to coordinate with the Governor 
and Premier on Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) 
strategies following December's Joint Task Force meeting in 
Nassau.  He noted that the Turks Government had agreed to ban 
wooden hulled Haitian vessels from entering the TCI, which 
would help stem current drug flows to the U.S. via Haitian 
sloops through Turks and Bahamian waters.  The Ambassador 
encouraged The Bahamas to consider the same step.  Mitchell 
expressed envy that TCI Premier Missick could quickly call 
and hold elections and then move back to governing.  FM 
Mitchell expressed his frustration at the indecision in his 
own government stemming from the pending elections.  Mitchell 
cited the delay in signing the airport management contract 
and the delay in moving ahead with discussions on the Flight 
Information Region as two examples. He noted that if the 
elections had been called in November and held in December, 
the government would either be out of power already or be 
finished with the elections and able to govern effectively. 
 
Cubans at the Detention Center 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (C)  The Ambassador had previously raised the case of 7 
Cubans who the government appears to believe merit refugee 
status, but who remain at the detention center awaiting 
identification of a country that will receive them.  They 
have been detained for well over 2 years and are responsible 
for setting a December 2004 fire that destroyed part of the 
dormitory in which they were living.  At the breakfast 
meeting with FM Mitchell, the Ambassador urged that something 
be done to resolve their cases.  The Foreign Minister stated 
that Cuba was now unwilling to take them and that all of the 
countries that The Bahamas has approached have also declined 
to take the 7 Cubans.  The FM asked if the United States 
could take them; the Ambassador indicated to Mitchell that at 
this time it did not appear the U.S. would take them. 
 
Consular Issues 
--------------- 
 
 
¶6. (C)  Mitchell also took the opportunity to raise the case 
of a Bahamian currently incarcerated in Alabama who wishes to 
be transferred back to The Bahamas.  The request was 
apparently denied by Alabama authorities.  The Ambassador 
promised to look into it. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (C)  Although the human rights report had been released 
the day before and made front page headlines, FM Mitchell did 
not raise any concerns about the report at the meeting.  He 
later spoke with the media on the report and sought to 
downplay its significance and encouraged the public not to 
accept its conclusions uncritically.  Mitchell is facing a 
very tough campaign in his Fox Hill district and has seemed 
increasingly distracted in public venues.  he expressed 
interest in meeting with Secretary Rice, but revealingly, 
noted that "time was running out."  His frustrations about 
the delay in calling elections no doubt reflect his weariness 
at being out on the campaign trail almost non-stop since 
September.  Elections are likely to be announced sometime 
after Easter and are expected in May. 
 
 
HARDT