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C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000239 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL CPAS CVIS EINV OFDP PINR SNAR XL
SUBJECT: CARIBBEAN POLITICS: AN INSIDER'S VIEW 
 
REF: A. BRIDGETOWN 85 
 
     ¶B. 05 BRIDGETOWN 1216 
     ¶C. 05 BRIDGETOWN 95 
 
Classified By: Acting DCM Sheila Peters, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Caribbean political campaigns are awash with 
money from a variety of sources, particularly wealthy 
expatriates seeking to influence governments, according to 
regional political consultant Peter Wickham.  The 
availability of money favors ruling parties and has 
dramatically changed the way campaigns are run, giving 
inordinate influence to outside consultants, as well as 
non-nationals and members of the diaspora from whom much of 
the money is raised.  In the extreme, this has allowed an 
American billionaire to virtually purchase the Government of 
Antigua and Barbuda.  It has also led to special 
consideration and sweetheart deals for certain regional 
businesses; in some instances campaign contributors have been 
rewarded with diplomatic passports.  Considering the 
diminutive size of governments in the Caribbean, a relatively 
small campaign contribution by U.S. standards promises great 
benefits for the contributor and, unfortunately, provides 
increasing opportunities for corruption.  End summary. 
 
----------------- 
Money in Politics 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The amount of money spent on political campaigns in 
the Caribbean has increased with each election, according to 
Peter Wickham, a consultant who has worked for various 
governments and political parties throughout the region. 
With no campaign finance laws or disclosure requirements 
present in most countries, political parties are free to 
accept funding from any source, including wealthy expatriates 
seeking to curry favor for their business and personal 
interests.  The most extreme example is American billionaire 
Allan Stanford, who has spent millions to virtually buy 
Antigua and Barbuda by bankrolling either party and providing 
funding for Government projects.  Influence does not have to 
come at such a high price, however, considering the small 
size of the countries in the region.  A sudden injection of 
US$350,000 in the last two weeks of St. Vincent's December 
2005 election campaign allowed the ruling Unity Labor Party 
to sway voters in a handful of hard fought parliamentary 
races by helping people pay overdue bills, fix leaking roofs, 
and buy groceries. 
 
¶3. (C) Money has changed the manner in which campaigns are 
run, with outside consultants such as Wickham having great 
influence in countries where political decisions used to 
depend solely on the opinions of local party leaders. 
Wickham agreed with the assessment of other observers, who 
have noted how campaigns once depended on rousing oratory by 
stump speakers but now feature expensive rallies with musical 
acts and other entertainment; the political speakers are an 
annoyance that the audience must endure.  Campaigns also rely 
on in-kind donations from local supporters or members of the 
diaspora.  Shipping containers full of hats, T-shirts, 
posters and other campaign paraphernalia typically arrive 
from the U.S. as elections approach.  Money also allows 
parties to fly in supporters from overseas.  Wickham believes 
the ruling party flew about 400 people to St. Vincent from 
the U.S. for the recent election.  Dominica, however, is the 
major offender with both parties flying in several planeloads 
of people from the U.S. for its May 2005 election. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Dominica Diplomatic Passports for Sale 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) In poor, economically strapped Dominica, well over 
US$2 million was spent on the 2005 election campaign, with 
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit's ruling Dominica Labor 
Party (DLP) having the lion's share.  Although the opposition 
charged that China funded the ruling party, most of the money 
came from wealthy Caribbean expatriates.  The Government did 
not deny, for example, opposition charges that a 
non-Dominican living in the Cayman Islands provided the 
ruling DLP with funds in exchange for a diplomatic passport 
(ref B).  According to Wickham, the largest amount of money 
came from Leroy Parris, Chairman of CLICO Holdings Limited, a 
Barbados-based insurance and real estate company.  The 
Government rewarded Parris with a particularly friendly 
business environment and his company will soon finance 
construction of a new housing development in Dominica. 
Parris was also named a "Goodwill Ambassador" who will help 
attract investment to the country. 
 
¶5. (C) Note:  The Government of Dominica's interpretation of 
"Goodwill Ambassador" appears to include real diplomatic 
status.  In September 2005, the Dominica MFA sent Post a 
diplomatic note requesting that it issue a visa in the 
diplomatic passport of "Ambassador at Large" Parris.  Despite 
Post's repeated requests for an explanation of the capacity 
in which Parris, a Barbados citizen, will serve as a Dominica 
diplomat, the MFA failed to provide an answer.  Post recently 
returned the passport to the MFA without the requested visa. 
Dominica also continues to have an active economic 
citizenship program, through which individuals from various 
countries of concern have previously purchased passports. 
End note. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Ralph Gonsalves Sure Can Cuss... 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) In St. Vincent, Wickham works for Prime Minister Ralph 
Gonsalves's ruling Unity Labor Party (ULP), where the PM was 
closely involved in planning the recent campaign and 
personally reviewed each opinion poll and discussed the 
results with his advisors.  Wickham is impressed with 
Gonsalves's intelligence and attention to detail, although 
the PM can get too involved in minutia and is often openly 
critical of those around him.  "When you have been cussed out 
by Ralph you have really been cussed at," said Wickham.  He 
does not believe that voting irregularities allowed the 
ruling ULP to win three closely contested parliamentary seats 
in the December election, as the opposition has claimed (ref 
A).  Instead, Wickham is of the opinion that it was the 
aforementioned infusion of cash and flying in of voters that 
allowed the ruling party to win the three races his polling 
showed they could very well have lost. 
 
------------------------------- 
...But Not at Marijuana Growers 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Marijuana growers have considerable influence in St. 
Vincent, where they are not necessarily considered 
undesirables but can be quite prominent people, according to 
Wickham.  He thinks there is some truth to the rumors that 
that certain individuals tied to the drug trade provided 
funding to Gonsalves's ULP, at least during the 2001 election 
that brought it to power (ref C).  In Wickham's assessment, 
Gonsalves has to appear to be doing just enough to tackle 
marijuana production to satisfy the USG and CARICOM member 
states.  "Vincentian ganja is a big thing" in the Caribbean, 
said Wickham, who believes that it is difficult for the 
Government of St. Vincent to crack down on one of the 
country's few lucrative industries. 
 
-------------------------------- 
St. Lucia Politics Up in the Air 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony is hard to 
read; his comments during political strategy sessions amount 
to little and it is unclear how engaged the PM is, in 
Wickham's assessment of another of his clients.  Wickham 
offered that the current political situation in St. Lucia, 
where a Member of Parliament who represented a small third 
party recently resigned her seat, is very unsettled.  The MP 
had intended her resignation as a means to force PM Anthony 
to call a national election earlier than it is 
constitutionally due in December 2006.  Anthony declined to 
do so, but his ruling party could look weak if the opposition 
United Workers' Party, led by former Prime Minister John 
Compton, wins the by-election that must be held by April to 
determine who will fill the empty parliamentary seat.  The 
outcome could have a significant impact on the upcoming 
national election. 
 
---------------------- 
Biographic Information 
---------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Peter Wickham is the Director of Caribbean Development 
Research Services, Inc. (CADRES), a Barbados-based consulting 
firm specializing in public opinion polling.  Among CADRES's 
clients are a variety of corporations, international 
organizations, and media outlets.  Wickham is best known for 
his work as a political consultant, conducting polls for 
governments and political parties throughout the Caribbean. 
CADRES recently opened an office in Trinidad and will soon 
begin working in Guyana.  Wickham identifies himself as a 
liberal and his clients are typically labor parties.  He 
says, however, that it is preferable to work for ruling 
parties, regardless of ideology, because they tend to pay 
their bills.  Wickham is also a political commentator who 
appears on TV and radio in Barbados and writes a weekly 
column for the "Nation," the country's leading newspaper.  He 
completed his bachelor's (Political Science and Law, with 
honors, 1990) and master's (Political Science, 1993) degrees 
at the University of the West Indies, where he also served as 
a Liaison Officer for the University of California's 
Education Abroad Program.  The affable Wickham has met 
periodically with Emboffs over the past several years to 
offer his views on a variety of issues. 
 
¶10. (C) Comment:  The increasing availability of campaign 
funds to Caribbean political leaders, combined with a lack of 
legal control over how the money is raised, makes for a 
troubling situation in a region where many turn a blind eye 
to corruption.  A few hundred thousand dollars, a pittance to 
a wealthy businessperson in Barbados or the Cayman Islands, 
could buy a great deal of influence in one of the small, 
economically troubled countries in the region.  Some of this 
influence may be purchased to further legitimate business 
concerns, but as in the case of marijuana growers, or even 
the bearers of passports to which they are not entitled, the 
influence could be used for more nefarious purposes.  End 
comment. 
KRAMER