VZCZCXRO9564
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHGR #0156/01 3102121
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 062121Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY GRENADA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0314
INFO RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN 0341
RUEHGR/AMEMBASSY GRENADA 0380

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GRENADA 000156 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON ASEC EAID GJ
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER CABLE FOR WHA/CAR DIRECTOR'S VISIT TO GRENADA 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.       Embassy Grenada warmly welcomes November 
12-13, 2007 visit to St. George's of WHA/CAR Director Velia de 
Pirro.  Director De Pirro is visiting Grenada at a time when the 
United States is seen by Grenadians as losing its dominance in 
the Caribbean and China is filling the void.  Some Grenadian 
expats in the U.S. are recommending that the government play the 
two "giants" off each other to get the most money out of them, 
especially as the country continues to rebuild after devastating 
hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.  Strong disagreement about how to 
encourage investment and development divide the country.  The 
specter of elections loom, coloring all discussions, but the 
most recent CADRES poll reveals public ambivalence about local 
political parties.  Rising fuel and food prices have left the 
public reeling, looking to government for help at a time when 
public debt resulting from restoring infrastructure has reached 
a peak of 126% of GDP.  High youth unemployment and increasing 
crime are causes for concern.  The remnants of the Grenada 17, 
imprisoned for killing former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, 
members of his cabinet, and an untold number of Grenadians on 
October 19, 1983 maintain that the United States knows where the 
bodies are buried.  Mitchell will likely ask about WHA A/S 
Shannon's June promise to review USG files one more time.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
Economic Developments 
 
¶2. (SBU) Grenada's economy, dependent on tourism, education, and 
agriculture, was hit hard by the post-9/11 decline in tourism. 
It was then devastated by Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Emily 
(2005).  Ivan brought the economy to a near-standstill, doing 
damage equal to two and one-half times Grenada's GDP.  With 
assistance from the United States and other sources of 
international aid, reconstruction proceeded quickly.  Despite 
initial high unemployment in the tourist and other sectors, 
urban Grenadians benefited post-hurricane from job opportunities 
in the surging construction sector. Agricultural workers did not 
fare as well.  Hurricane Ivan destroyed or significantly damaged 
a large percentage of Grenada's nutmeg, cocoa, and other tree 
crops.  Hurricane Emily eight months later further damaged the 
sector.  Complete recovery will take years as many farmers 
simply walked away from their land and have not returned. 
Grenada continues to import many basic foods which are no longer 
grown in sufficient quantities on the island. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In anticipation of Cricket World Cup matches held on 
the island in the spring of 2007, many Grenadians renewed their 
focus on the rebuilding process.  The number of hotel and 
home-stay rooms in the tri-island state increased as a result. 
Both cruise ship visitors and stay overs have increased in the 
last year.  However, Grenada lags behind its neighbors in 
marketing the island overseas and many rooms remain empty for 
much of each year.  St. George's University, a large American 
medical and veterinary school with 3,700 students, about 1,200 
of them American citizens, is in full operation and making a 
significant contribution to the economy.  Due to the 2007 
closure of SGU's St. Vincent campus, there are 350 additional 
students in Grenada, resulting in a construction boomlet on the 
St. George's campus to create housing and teaching space for 
them. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Grenada has good infrastructure, a relatively high 
literacy rate, and stable political system.  Remittances from 
the U.S., Canada, and the UK are reported to amount to 
approximately 31% of Grenada's GDP.  High public debt, about 
126% of GDP, resulting from rebuilding efforts following the two 
hurricanes continues to be a drag on the economy.  Further 
economic diversification, especially in tourism and education 
services and higher-end niche agricultural markets, should 
improve Grenada's longer-term prospects.  The minimum wage was 
last raised in July 2002 for domestic workers, plumbers, 
agricultural workers, and shop assistants.  The normal workweek 
is forty hours in five days.  Unemployment, especially among 
youth aged 18-25, is over 20%.  The cost of living has been 
going up for the last several years. 
 
Assistance 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Government of Grenada is desperate for assistance 
that will not increase the country's overall debt.  As a result, 
offers from foreign donors are grasped as quickly as they 
appear.  The Cubans have sent doctors, run the local pathology 
lab (not very well apparently as any forensic work must be sent 
elsewhere, usually to Trinidad & Tobago), provided emergency 
saving (GE) light bulbs to local residents, and continue to 
provide eye operations for Grenadians.  Venezuela announced 
assistance to Grenada after Hurricane Ivan, but has only 
delivered a fraction of what was promised; the Venezuelan 
military has built some houses for needy Grenadians, though not 
the hundreds promised.  Grenlec - the American owned Grenadian 
electricity company - in October switched from Texaco to 
PetroCaribe for the fuel to run its turbines.  Japanese 
assistance to farmers and fishers is tied to Grenadian support 
 
GRENADA 00000156  002 OF 003 
 
 
for Japan's position in the International Whaling Commission 
(IWC).  Grenada supports the Japanese position in IWC meetings 
and in conversations with us. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Grenada's relationship with the PRC is the most 
complex.  We understand that the PRC provided a large amount of 
financial support to opposition party National Democratic 
Congress (NDC) in the 2003 elections; some here believe that 
support made all the difference in NDC contestants winning seven 
seats.  At that time, the GOG still recognized Taiwan.  In 2004, 
the GOG switched allegiance and the money started rolling into 
government coffers.  Twenty-four Grenadians are studying at 
universities around China.  The PRC built Grenada's new national 
cricket stadium with 600 plus imported Chinese workers.  With 
the stadium finished in early 2007, the workers fanned out into 
agricultural and cultural projects, teaching Chinese at the T.A. 
Marryshow Community College (TAMCC), and constructing the first 
tranche of a promised 2,000 homes.  GOG officials, government 
employees, and opposition MP's have been sent to China on all 
expense paid junkets.  Media workers have attended two to four 
week journalism seminars in China.  On October 31, the GOG 
announced that the PRC will build a port in Sauteurs in the 
north of the main island, send seven Chinese doctors, build IT 
centers around the country, and train the Royal Grenadian Police 
Force (RGPF) in martial arts.  Local construction companies 
complain that they cannot compete with a government that does 
not have to worry about making a profit and are particularly 
annoyed with the international financial institutions that allow 
the PRC to compete with private companies on their projects. 
The PRC uses only Chinese labor on its own building projects. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The GOG would welcome more U.S. engagement and 
assistance but will do nothing publicly to jeopardize ties to 
their newfound friends.  Politicians thank U.S. officials in 
private but are less effusive in public statements.  The U.S. 
continues to provide training and other assistance to the RPGF, 
and was heavily involved in the extensive training provided to 
those countries hosting 2007 Cricket World Cup, but this is less 
visible and therefore less politically desirable than the showy 
projects handed over without apparent strings by the Chinese, 
Japanese, and others.  Expats in the United States have been 
recommending that the GOG take lessons from the Cold War and 
U.S.-Soviet relations and attempt to play the "China card" to 
convince the U.S. to give more money to counter the "red 
menace".  Statements from USG officials that the United States 
has a different relationship with China than it had with the 
USSR and does not want another cold war fall on deaf ears. 
 
Politics 
 
¶8. (SBU) Governor General Sir Daniel Williams opened Parliament 
on October 12, 2007 with a shorter than usual throne speech 
consisting mostly of a compilation of government accomplishments 
and few specific future projects.  Speculation took off 
immediately that this was the last throne speech before Prime 
Minister Keith Mitchell calls elections.  The last possible date 
elections can be held is February - March, 2009.  The NDC has 
been trying for the last year to push the government into 
calling elections, but Mitchell continues to keep his own 
council. 
 
¶9. (SBU) National Democratic Congress (NDC) political leader 
Tillman Thomas gave his party's official policy statement on 
October 13, the first time the party has actually told the 
country what it stands for, rather than what it is against.  The 
NDC holds seven of the 15 seats in the lower house of 
parliament.  Thomas said an NDC government will focus on good 
governance, social development, human resource development, 
economic development, fiscal policy, and cost of living issues, 
with a special focus on re-invigorating agriculture.  Thomas 
maintained that the party will support private investment, a 
necessary qualification in light of private and public NDC 
leadership statements that government should own all land and 
that people should be required to remain on the land as farmers. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Grenada has three additional registered political 
parties: Grenada United Labour Party (GULP), People's Labour 
Movement (PLM), and Good Old Democracy (GOD) party.  GOD is 
essentially a vanity political party with one member.  Disarray 
in GULP and PLM leadership will most likely keep them from 
mounting effective challenges to the NNP and NDC anytime soon. 
Two people claim to be political leader of GULP and neither one 
will give an inch.  PLM recently lost a substantial number of 
its political leadership in a dispute over comments critical of 
the judicial system made by its political leader.  Ironically, 
the PLM deserters have joined one of the GULP factions, further 
exacerbating that party's internal problems. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Caribbean Development Research Services, Inc. 
(CADRES) released a poll in October that showed a public 
ambivalent about the political parties - with 43% either unsure 
or unwilling to say which political party they support - but 
 
GRENADA 00000156  003 OF 003 
 
 
with a clear preference for the current Prime Minister: 59% 
preferred Mitchell, 33% Thomas, with the remaining 5% split 
between GULP and PLM leaders.  The poll had a margin of error of 
+/- 5%.  Mitchell, enjoying his personal lead, cautioned that 
the results were clear that there was more work to do.  Thomas 
lashed out, accusing Mitchell of "buying off" CADRES and CADRES 
of deliberately hiding local-level results that proved NDC was 
preferred.  CADRES had stated up front that the information 
gathered at the local level was from too few respondents to be 
meaningful. 
 
Deportees 
 
¶12. (SBU) Grenada had been averaging about twelve deportees from 
the United States each year.  In 2007, there have been seventeen 
returned to Grenada from January through October.  Mitchell 
acknowledges that the U.S. has the right to determine who may 
live within its borders.  The Prime Minister has one example of 
a deportee becoming enmeshed in local violence upon his return 
to Grenada, which the PM regularly trots out in meetings with 
USG officials.  Embassy discussions with the Commissioner of 
Police (COP) reveal that the RGPF keeps track of each and every 
deportee upon their return.  Embassy informs the RGPF via letter 
of each returnee, escorted or non-escorted.  The police meet the 
person, interview them, and keep a record of where they are 
living.  The COP has told us that the police can pick any of 
them up at any time and says that from the police perspective, 
the deportees are generally not a major component of local crime 
and violence.  Grenada's Minister for Social Development told us 
she would like to see re-integration programs for prisoners 
leaving Grenada's one prison, but so far the GOG has not 
allocated any money.  Embassy Grenada has received several 
inquiries from deportees since mid-July asking about the USG 
"program to reintegrate deportees" into Grenadian society as 
well as when they can get visas to return to the U.S. 
 
1983 - Where the Bodies are Buried 
 
¶13. (SBU) WHA Assistant Secretary Thomas A. Shannon promised 
Mitchell in a one-on-one meeting in June, when the Prime 
Minister was in Washington for the Conference on the Caribbean, 
that the USG would make another effort to search U.S. files to 
determine the location of the bodies of former Prime Minister 
Maurice Bishop and members of his cabinet.  The Grenadians in 
prison for assassinating Bishop et al continue to insist that 
the "Americans know where the bodies are".  The most radical NDC 
adherents, who are very close to the prisoners, support this 
view.  DOD/OSD promised to follow through on a search upon 
receipt of a execsec to execsec memo from State.  Mitchell is 
likely to remind de Pirro of Shannon's promise. 
MCISAAC