VZCZCXRO3213
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHGE #0149/01 0772036
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 182036Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7099
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 0011
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 0003
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA PRIORITY 0011
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT PRIORITY 0032
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA PRIORITY 0026
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000149 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EAID ECIN ECON EFIN EINV ETRD GY XF
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT JAGDEO TO EMBARK ON MIDDLE EAST TOUR 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: President Bharrat Jagdeo has announced that 
he will travel to several Middle Eastern countries beginning 
on March 20, with his visit centered around the March 31 
Second Summit of Arab-South American Countries in Qatar. 
Other countries on the planned itinerary include Syria, 
Jordan, Kuwait, and Cyprus. This regional tour follows on the 
heels of a trip Jagdeo took to Libya in mid-January, where he 
was received by President Qaddafi, as well as recent remarks 
by Jagdeo and other GoG officials deploring the humanitarian 
tragedy in Gaza and Palestine. Jagdeo affirms that he seeks 
improved social and investment links with the region, but 
also likely wishes to identify potential new sources of 
financial assistance in the face of the economic slowdown 
afflicting western donor nations. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) At a recent Muslim holiday celebration in 
Georgetown, President Jagdeo announced that he would commence 
a multi-country tour of the Middle East on March 20. (Note: 
Jagdeo made no reference to the specific countries he would 
visit, but post learned from the MFA that the current 
schedule includes stops in Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Cyprus, and 
Qatar, where Jagdeo will attend the Second Summit of 
Arab-South American Countries on March 31. End Note.) 
Affirming his desire to "pursue better relationships" with 
the countries and peoples of the region, Jagdeo highlighted 
the need for Guyana to seek out potential new sources of 
foreign investment due to the economic crisis afflicting most 
western nations, asserting "we have to flow with the tide." 
 
¶3. (U) The upcoming tour comes on the heels of Jagdeo's trip 
to Libya in mid-January, where he met with President Mohamar 
Qaddafi and other senior Libyan government officials to 
discuss areas of possible bilateral cooperation. This was 
followed by a late February visit to Guyana by several 
representatives from the Libyan Trade and Investment Agency, 
in which the parties discussed potential Libyan investments 
in agriculture, forestry, and hydropower. Guyana's government 
media agency reported that during Jagdeo's January visit to 
Tripoli, the two sides agreed that Libya would open a Libyan 
People's Bureau in Georgetown. The media also reported that 
Jagdeo lobbied Libya for a write-off of its bilateral debt, 
although no agreement was reached. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Jagdeo and other senior officials have also been 
making frequent references in recent months to the 
humanitarian crises in Gaza and Palestine, with several GoG 
ministers even participating in a small, mid-January march 
outside the Embassy that protested U.S. support for Israel. 
Donald Ramotar, Secretary General of Jagdeo's party, in a 
public speech at a recent celebration of International 
Women's Day went so far as to say that the women of Palestine 
and Gaza "carry a cross and burden heavier than that which 
Jesus Christ bore."  This strong stance represents a shift 
for a government traditionally averse to commenting on highly 
sensitive international political issues, and could be an 
attempt to curry favor with countries for which the plight of 
the Palestinian people is a foreign policy priority. 
 
¶5. (U) Jagdeo's consistent globetrotting since December 2008 
has included separate trips to Poland (for a UN Climate 
Change Conference), the Mediterranean (the Libya trip 
included a stop in Greece), northern Europe (to attend the 
World Economic Forum in Davos and address climate change 
issues in Oslo, where he met with the Norwegian Prime 
Minister), and Washington (to speak at two climate 
change-related programs). This is in addition to his standard 
Caribbean affairs-related travel, which most recently 
involved a Heads of Government meeting in Belize. Jagdeo is 
widely perceived as eager to burnish his international 
credentials, and his ability to articulate a vision on 
climate change has garnered him accordant attention. However, 
this trip to the Middle East is expected to focus principally 
on Guyana's economic needs amidst the ongoing global 
turbulence. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: After boldly asserting in 2008 that his 
government had constructed a "firewall" to protect Guyana's 
economy from significant external shocks, Jagdeo and his 
Cabinet have sounded an increasingly alarmist tone in recent 
weeks. Jagdeo appears to believe that the global economic 
crisis will diminish western donor nations' appetite and 
capacity for funding endeavors in Guyana and similar nations, 
and with this trip seeks to explore additional sources of 
potential investment and/or assistance. The Middle East is a 
natural fit for new outreach, with Guyana's considerable 
 
GEORGETOWN 00000149  002 OF 002 
 
 
Muslim population and long-standing membership in the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference. The country's 
consistent willingness to accept financial and/or other forms 
of aid from virtually any available source -- even 
neighboring Venezuela, which officially claims two-thirds of 
Guyana's territory, is a benefactor through PetroCaribe -- 
means this is probably not the last of Jagdeo's overseas 
adventures. End Comment. 
Jones