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RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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RUEHCV/USDAO CARACAS VE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 002083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USTR 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2016 
TAGS: AC ECON EFIN ETRD PGOV PINR PREL XL EINV CASC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR OURISMAN'S INTRODUCTORY VISIT TO 
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 
 
REF: BRIDGETOWN 1811 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARY OURISMAN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (U)  See action request para 11. 
 
¶2.  (C) Summary:  On November 16-17, 2006, Ambassador 
Ourisman visited Antigua and Barbuda to present her 
credentials.  She conducted an initial round of meetings with 
Antiguan officials, including the Prime Minister and the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, both of whom 
identified settlement of the Internet gambling dispute, 
trade, Cricket World Cup, and deportations as priority 
issues.  In a meeting with the Attorney General, Ambassador 
Ourisman discussed the Half Moon Bay property dispute.  In 
addition, Ambassador Ourisman paid a courtesy call on the 
dean of the diplomatic corps, the Ambassador of Venezuela 
Jose Laurencio-Silva Mendez, met with Peace Corps volunteers 
and the U.S. consular agent, and visited the U.S. Air 
Station.  End Summary. 
 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs:  Gambling, Cricket, and WHTI 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶3. (U) On November 16, 2006, Ambassador Ourisman presented 
her credentials to Sir James Carlisle, the Governor General 
of Antigua and Barbuda.  In a meeting with Ambassador Colin 
Murdoch, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, Ambassador Ourisman received assurances of Antigua's 
strong desire for continued close cooperation with the United 
States.  Murdoch noted that "the United States is our main 
ally," but the bilateral relationship was not without its 
issues.  Foremost among them, at least given Murdoch's focus, 
was the Internet gambling dispute.  According to Murdoch, the 
Internet Gambling and Prohibition Enforcement Act took 
Antigua by surprise, as it was passed only a few days after 
Antigua's Minister of Finance and Economy Errol Court had 
visited Washington seeking a compromise.  He expressed a hope 
that the legislation was not the final word on this matter 
and that the United States would be willing to restart a 
dialogue with Antigua and work toward a compromise.  Murdoch 
urged the United States to consider regulation rather than 
prohibition as the way to address its concerns.  According to 
Murdoch, "we're even ready to consider co-regulation where 
our law enforcement authorities could work with those of the 
United States."  Ambassador Ourisman responded by promising 
to convey Antigua's interest in a dialogue on this issue to 
Washington agencies.  She also stressed that our 
interpretation of the WTO ruling differed and that the 
Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act was not a 
pre-election gimmick, as Murdoch had suggested, but reflected 
a broad consensus in the United States. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Murdoch thanked Ambassador Ourisman for U.S. 
assistance, especially in the area of security for the 2007 
Cricket World Cup (CWC) and trade.  Murdoch considered the 
visit of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael 
Chertoff, and the signing of the Advance Passenger 
Information System (APIS) Memorandum of Understanding as key 
steps forward in the region's preparation for CWC.  He 
acknowledged that the region will continue to benefit from 
these and other security advances even after CWC.  According 
to Murdoch, the Antiguan government is grappling with other 
CWC-related challenges, like accommodations.  He admitted 
that Antigua presently has only 3,000 hotel rooms, despite 
the government's incentives package, which was passed last 
year to stimulate construction of additional hotel space.  He 
thought that private accommodations and cruise ships could be 
used to handle any visitor overflow during CWC, but was 
uncertain on how advanced the government's planning was in 
these areas.  Murdoch also thanked the United States for the 
USAID Trade Assistance Program, which he said is progressing 
well.  Murdoch has also been in touch with Dominican 
officials, who have told him that they are also satisfied 
with the project. 
 
¶5.  (U)  Reflecting the concerns voiced throughout the 
Eastern Caribbean concerning the Western Hemisphere Travel 
Initiative (WHTI), Murdoch worried that the passport 
requirement would discourage Americans from traveling to the 
Eastern Caribbean and urged the United States to extend the 
deadline for airline travelers as was done for cruise ship 
 
passengers.  Ambassador Ourisman countered his concerns by 
noting that most Americans traveling to the Caribbean already 
do so with passports and that the U.S. State Department is 
conducting a far-reaching public outreach effort to inform 
the American public of the new requirement.  Murdoch admitted 
that he understood the need for the passport requirement, 
given Antigua's "unfortunate connection" to "Washington 
Sniper" John Allen Muhammad, who had spent some time in 
Antigua assisting illegal immigrants to enter the United 
States with forged U.S. documents. 
 
Prime Minister:  Gambling, Cricket, and Deportations 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Ambassador Ourisman's discussion with W. Baldwin 
Spencer, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
was very much a continuation of her discussion with Murdoch. 
Prime Minister Spencer turned almost immediately to the 
dispute over Internet gambling and argued that if both sides 
returned to the table, a "mutually beneficial solution" could 
be found.  He acknowledged that the United State and Antigua 
interpreted the WTO ruling differently, but thought that for 
that very reason, the two sides should seek common ground and 
a "modicum of balance." Ambassador Ourisman told the Prime 
Minister that she would consult with Washington agencies and 
respond to his proposal at a later date.  Prime Minister 
Spencer added that the region was also very interested in the 
continuation of trade preferences under the Caribbean Basin 
Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and expressed a hope that 
Paraguay would drop its opposition to the WTO waiver soon. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Like Murdoch, Prime Minister Spencer was very 
appreciative of U.S. assistance with CWC preparations, 
especially APIS.  Nevertheless, Prime Minister Spencer urged 
the United States "to go beyond that and put in place 
additional measures" to assist the region.  Ambassador 
Ourisman recounted the numerous ways the United States is 
already helping the region.  Rather than provide details of 
what more was needed, the Prime Minister only added that "the 
United States and the United Kingdom should work with us to 
ensure that the region is properly secured." 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Prime Minister Spencer was equally vague on the 
issue of deportations.  While he readily recognized the right 
of any sovereign country to deport non-citizens, he urged the 
United States to find some "alternative approaches" because 
Antigua and the other Eastern Caribbean islands were too 
"small and vulnerable" to deal with their returned nationals, 
who no longer have any ties to their home countries.  Prime 
Minister Spencer also implied that Eastern Caribbean 
nationals were being singled out and were being deported by 
the United States for the smallest offenses.  Ambassador 
Ourisman countered that the United States was doing nothing 
but applying its laws and that no country or a group of 
countries was being singled out.  The United States has 
worked hard with local authorities to give them advance 
notice of any deportee arrivals and to assist the islands in 
a number of ways, whether it be with security or with 
community projects targeting youth.  Prime Minister Spencer 
admitted that the United States has indeed been a good friend 
to the Eastern Caribbean. 
 
Attorney General Simon:  Half Moon Bay 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C) Ambassador Ourisman's meeting with Attorney General 
Justin Simon focused exclusively on the Half Moon Bay dispute 
between the Antiguan government and Mrs. Natalia Querard, a 
U.S. citizen.  Simon began the meeting by informing 
Ambassador Ourisman that the momentum generated in late 
September and early October through the engagement of William 
Rogers, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, as Mrs. 
Querard's attorney and representative could have been 
jeopardized because of Mrs. Querard's latest move.  Simon 
said that he recently found out that Mrs. Querard hired a new 
attorney, Dr. Joseph Samuel Archibald, who has a practice in 
Tortola (reftel).  According to Simon, Mrs. Querard's 
decision caused some confusion because Rogers was unaware 
that Mrs. Querard hired a new attorney, and Archibald was 
unaware that Mrs. Querard already had an attorney. 
 
¶10.  (C) Despite this latest wrinkle in the long-running 
 
dispute, Simon assured Ambassador Ourisman that the Antiguan 
government remains committed to reaching a settlement at the 
earliest possible date.  At present, the government was 
awaiting a response from Dr. Archibald on the latest 
settlement proposal.  According to Simon, the proposal 
includes a number of conditions that Mrs. Querard will have 
to satisfy because the government will not give Mrs.  Querard 
a "carte blanche" in light of the value of the property and 
past history surrounding this case.  The conditions include a 
requirement that Mrs. Querard provide a guarantee of 
financing, commence work on the property within a certain 
period of time following the signing of the agreement, and 
discontinue the appeal before the Privy Council of the United 
Kingdom.  Although the government was not making the 
severance payment for former Half Moon Bay employees a 
condition in the settlement agreement, Simon said that the 
government would expect Mrs. Querard to make the severance 
payment eventually.  Conversations with Rogers and Archibald 
led Simon to believe that they considered the 
government-proposed conditions to be reasonable.  Simon hoped 
that the government would receive Mrs. Querard's response in 
the next four weeks. 
 
Action Request and Comment 
-------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) Action Request:  The Embassy would appreciate 
guidance from Washington agencies on how to respond to 
Antigua's request for a bilateral dialogue on Internet 
gambling. 
 
¶12.  (C) Comment:  Both Prime Minister Spencer and MFA 
Permanent Secretary Murdoch made it clear that Antigua is 
very keen on restarting a dialogue with the United States on 
Internet gambling.  Undoubtedly, the Internet Gambling 
Prohibition and Enforcement Act is at least partially 
responsible for this increase in interest and energy level. 
Antigua's other requests for assistance on CWC and 
deportations are not new, and we have addressed them 
previously.  Antiguans also continue to hope that one day the 
U.S. Embassy, which was closed during the early 1990s, will 
reopen.  The issue was raised by both the Governor General 
and the Prime Minister.  While Ambassador Ourisman told the 
Antiguans that the United States has no plans to return to 
Antigua, we will continue our effort to maintain a visible 
presence on the island through our consular agent and 
frequent visits.  The presence of our Peace Corps volunteers 
is also an important part of this effort, and they have 
generated much good will through their work on the two 
islands. 
OURISMAN