VZCZCXYZ0023
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWN #0063/01 0321800
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011800Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6036
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1863
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0141
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0129
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000063 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CAR FOR ALAIN NORMAN 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ECON EINV XL NU VE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR OURISMAN TALKS CRIME, "ALBA," CULTURE 
WITH SVG PM 
 
REF: A) 07 BRIDGETOWN 1341 
 
Classified By: PolOff Arend Zwartjes for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In a wide-ranging discussion over breakfast, 
Ambassador Ourisman and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime 
Minister Ralph Gonsalves covered the crime situation in St. 
Vincent, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), 
the state of the region's primary air carrier (LIAT), the 
IMF's involvement in the Eastern Caribbean, and cultural 
influences and preservation.  PM Gonsalves reiterated SVG's 
gratitude for American military and law enforcement 
assistance, and offered to investigate the handling of a 
court case involving a Peace Corps Volunteer who had been 
stabbed mid-2007.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On January 29, 2008 Ambassador Ourisman hosted St. 
Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves for 
breakfast at the Embassy before his first official meeting 
with new Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson.  Initially 
meant to focus on the recent trial involving a Peace Corps 
Volunteer (PCV) who was stabbed in St. Vincent last year, the 
discussion soon wandered to cover a variety of issues. 
 
"Daniel, My Brother" 
-------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Much of the discussion focused on Gonsalves' 
participation in the sixth Bolivarian Alternative for the 
Americas (ALBA) summit just days before in Caracas (septel). 
Gonsalves was quick to deny any military and intelligence 
agenda or component to ALBA, and appeared to generally want 
to disassociate himself from Chavez's ideologies.  He was 
quick to thank the United States for is continued military 
and law enforcement assistance.  Gonsalves opined that 
Nicaragua's Ortega (who he described as his "brother") is 
"less strident" this time around, and noted that Chavez and 
Ortega plan to visit St. Vincent, Dominica, and Antigua in 
late February. 
 
Barbados Elections 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (C) On the subject of Barbados' newly elected government, 
Gonsalves stated that he did not expect any significant 
differences in the ruling Democratic Labour Party's policies, 
as both major political parties in Barbados are "steeped in 
social democracy and committed to regional integration." 
Echoing Grenada PM Keith Mitchell's comments in the press, 
Gonsalves dismissed the notion of "winds of change" sweeping 
through the Caribbean with the recent change of governments 
in Jamaica, St. Lucia, Bahamas, and Barbados.  According to 
Gonsalves, Barbados' two main parties are so similar that 
"differences will have to be manufactured to keep the party 
faithful happy." 
 
Investment, Macroeconomics, and the IMF 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) The Ambassador then mentioned USAID's recent support 
for Investment Promotion Authorities (IPA's) in St. Kitts and 
Antigua, and asked Gonsalves if SVG had interest in forming 
an IPA as well.  Gonsalves replied that while St. Vincent 
currently has a type of investment authority now (the 
National Investment Promotion, Inc.), he conceded that it 
needed modernizing and expressed interest in partnering with 
the United States to pursue an IPA.  Expanding on the theme 
of economics, Gonsalves noted that SVG farmers had "taken a 
beating" as a result of the loss of European trade 
preferences.  He noted that SVG had begun importing sugar and 
using the profits from selling the sugar to the private 
sector to subsidize agricultural inputs. 
 
¶6. (C) Gonsalves emphasized that while SVG currently receives 
good marks from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the 
organization is not generally constructed to understand the 
"peculiarities" of small island economies.  Saying "you 
cannot use general economic theories" with countries such as 
SVG, Gonsalves cited his use of "counter-cycle fiscal 
policy", which the IMF originally opposed, and then later 
praised but added that it should be discontinued.  Speaking 
philosophically, the PM noted that "the peoples in these 
islands are wedded to good governance," and have a "devotion 
to the rock but not necessarily to the government." 
 
UN Voting Record 
---------------- 
 
¶7. (C) When the Ambassador reiterated USG appreciation for 
SVG casting the deciding vote in December's UNGA human rights 
resolution on Iran, Gonsalves admitted, "we have not been 
consistent in the past in voting on these matters."  He 
followed this surprising admission by blaming SVG's former 
Ambassador to the United Nations, Margaret Hughes Ferrari 
(2001-2007) for previous UN votes on human rights, saying she 
was "cynical in her view that so-called Western nations used 
the human rights issue selectively."  (Note: Gonsalves 
replaced Ferrari with his son Camillo Gonsalves in late 2007. 
 End note). 
 
Peace Corps Stabbing, Crime, and Medical Schools 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶8. (C) The Ambassador then raised the recent dismissal of a 
criminal case against a Vincentian who had stabbed a Pace 
Corps Volunteer (PCV) in June 2007.  According to USG 
representatives who attended the recent rial, the case 
against the perpetrator was withdawn by the police 
prosecutor without calling allthe witnesses, and despite 
overwhelming evidencethat had been collected by local 
police.  Saying I am very sorry about this," Gonsalves 
promised o order investigations by te Police Chief, the 
Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General into 
the handling of the case.  Based on his knowledge of the 
legal system, the PM said that a retrial is very unlikely, 
given SVG's laws against "double jeopardy"; however, he noted 
that a civil suit was still possible. 
 
¶9. (C) When the Ambassador expressed general concerns about 
the crime situation in SVG, Gonsalves downplayed any 
concerns, and in reference to the closure of Kingstown 
Medical College (Ref B), denied that crime was truly a 
deciding factor.  Instead, he noted that the College had 
demanded "exclusivity" (a guarantee that it would be the only 
medical school with access to SVG's hospitals) while 
negotiating the renewal of its contract with the government. 
Gonsalves claimed that since the closure of the college, 
school officials had since offered to open a four-year 
medical school on the site, but that the government had 
decided (but not yet announced) to go with an offer from a 
different institution to found a four-year medical school in 
St. Vincent.  Recognizing the potential of so-called 
"educational tourism", Gonsalves noted that SVG was seeking 
additional medical schools that would be interested in 
attaching themselves to the medical center currently being 
built in the nation's second-largest city of Georgetown. 
 
LIAT, Race, and Culture 
----------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) When asked about recent claims in the Eastern 
Caribbean that the sole regional air carrier, LIAT, was 
inefficient and guilty of price-gouging, Gonsalves replied 
that (St. Lucia's Minister of Tourism) "Chastanet talks a lot 
of rubbish when it comes to regional air transport."  Noting 
the lack of air transport regulation in the Eastern 
Caribbean, and  in regards to governmental efforts to 
increase competition in the region, Gonsalves stated, "we've 
been down that road before", citing the failures of Carib 
Express, BWIA, and Caribbean Star, among others.  Gonsalves 
said he was "not against competition" but wants "fair 
competition." 
 
¶11. (C) He further criticized St. Lucia's Alan Chastanet as 
among "a species of brown people in the Caribbean with money" 
who are "not loyal to anybody".  Gonsalves continued by 
noting that such people, whom he described as "Castries 
mulattos", believe they are "oracles" and represent a "break 
in the social advancement in the Eastern Caribbean." 
 
¶12. (C) Continuing on the theme of culture, Gonsalves 
lamented the influence of "U.S. prison culture" on his 
country in the modes of dress adopted by young people.  On a 
positive note, the Ambassador expressed her desire to provide 
cultural preservation funding to the GOSVG to refurbish wood 
panels depicting the indigenous Carib population that are 
currently housed in the dilapidated Fort Charlotte. 
Gonsalves expressed gratitude and promised to provide the 
appropriate contact so that such a project could proceed 
immediately. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13. (C) While the friendly nature of the meeting reflected 
the Embassy's generally good relations with St. Vincent and 
the Grenadines, Gonsalves was at his legalistic best, 
downplaying both SVG's involvement in ALBA and the crime 
situation (which by most accounts has severely escalated of 
late).  Still, he was extremely responsive to the 
Ambassador's concerns regarding the incident involving the 
Peace Corps volunteer, and was quick to offer extremely frank 
views on a variety of subjects.  Gonsalves remains a master 
of contradictions, who continues to court whatever foreign 
government he can in order to secure financial and other 
benefits for his country.  End Comment. 
OURISMAN