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DE RUEHGE #0363/01 1892049
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 082049Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0630
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 1070
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7318
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L GEORGETOWN 000363 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CAR - FORTIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2019 
TAGS: ECON GY PREL
SUBJECT: CARICOM LEADERS TALK ABOUT PROGRESS ON INTEGRATION 
BUT PRODUCE LITTLE 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Karen L. Williams for reasons 1. 
4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Conference of Heads of Government of the 
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met in Georgetown July 2-5 for 
lengthy discussions on numerous regional topics with a focus 
on hemispheric relations, the economic criss, the free 
movement of peoples among member states and competing 
proposals for regional and sub-regional economic integration. 
 U.S.-specific topics included a "scheduled" meeting with 
President Obama in November; the new joint regional security 
initiative; and continuing/expanding security mechanisms 
established in 2007 for Cricket World Cup.  Conversations on 
the margins of the conference revealed perceived racist 
conduct as a factor in CARICOM's silence on the Dominican 
Republic's application bid; and, though unmentioned in the 
final communique, a new deadline for defining next steps on 
integration.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (SBU) The three day conference, which drew heads of 
government from 13 of 15 members (exceptions were Haiti and 
St. Kitts and Nevis), kicked off the chairmanship of Guyana 
President Bharrat Jagdeo of the Conference of Heads, which he 
will hold until passing off to Dominica in six months.  In 
Jagdeo's remarks opening the conference he bluntly outlined 
the Caribbean's minimal 'weight' in the world as measured 
against population and economic impact and implored the 
region's governments to stand together in international fora 
to maximize the region's strength.  He also lamented that 
some international financial institutions -- despite an 
opportunity to have an appropriately high-level representive 
meet with 15 heads of government -- offered to send 
'inappropriately low' officials, which prompted Jagdeo to 
tell them, he claimed, "don't bother to come."  An outline of 
other leaders' opening remarks and the text of the meeting,s 
communique is available at 
www.caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/pres270 09. 
 
U.S-CARICOM RELATIONS/SECURITY 
------------------------------ 
¶3. (C) The Communique noted anticipation of a summit 
"scheduled" with President Obama in November 2009 in 
Washington, DC, however neither CARICOM Assistant Secretary 
General Colin Granderson nor Guyana MFA Director Elizabeth 
Harper could explain how that specific date/place came to be 
part of the final document.  Harper told the Charge that the 
notes for the final communique had said that the Caribbean 
looked forward to meeting with "senior U.S. counterparts" to 
crystalize specific discussion areas for an anticipated 
meeting with President Obama "later this year" but did not 
assign a month or city to that discussion. 
¶4. (SBU) In other joint issues, the leaders agreed to pursue 
more U.S. pre-clearance travel facilities throughout the 
region to facilitate tourism and decided to reactivate the 
Resource Mobilization Sub-Committee to better utilize 
President Obama,s pledge of USD30 million (now USD45 
million) for developing security partnerships.  The leaders 
also agreed to reactivate the security facilities established 
with the U.S. for Cricket World Cup 2007 and those for the 
5th Summit Of the Americas for both the upcoming Commonwealth 
Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad & Tobago this year 
and the ICC World 20/20 cricket tournament in 2010.  They 
also agreed to proposals for for further implementation of 
two regional information programs for travel security ) 
CARICOM Travel Pass (CARIPASS) and the Advanced Passenger 
Information System (APIS) ) as well as a program for 
limiting the spread of small arms among violent criminal 
gangs. 
FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS 
------------------------ 
¶5. (SBU) Whereas previous CARICOM gatherings have focused on 
deportees from the U.S. or Canada, leaders in Georgetown 
vocalized exclusively on intra-CARICOM deportations. 
Relations between Barbados and several member states 
including Guyana have suffered due to several widely-reported 
cases of undocumented migrants to Barbados apprehended at 
night and forced to depart the island.  Public comments 
during the opening ceremonies and on the margins of the 
conference decrying the treatment of migrants brought 
applause from heads, audiences and political pundits. By the 
end of the meetings, leaders reaffirmed their commitment to 
lawful migration throughout the region as envisioned under 
the Treaty of Chaguaramas and broadened some of the allowable 
migrant categories. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & REGIONAL INTEGRATION 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The heads of government established a Task Force on 
the global financial crisis to mobilize funds and develop 
proposals for stabilizing regional financial markets.  The 
chair is President Jagdeo and membership includes the 
President of the Caribbean Development Bank and Director 
General of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. 
¶7. (SBU) Former Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, 
speaking at the opening ceremony after receving the Order of 
the Caribbean Community, warned that CARICOM,s credibility 
is deteriorating due to repeated failures by national 
governments to follow through with solemn pledges made at 
Heads meetings, particularly on economic development and 
regional integration.  He noted the dangers of member states 
abandoning their commitment to regional integration and 
endangering progress by forming alliances with other regions 
-- an indirect reference to the Bolivarian Alternative for 
the Americas (ALBA). 
 
¶8. (SBU) Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin 
Spencer, in remarks just prior to Patterson, noted ALBA,s 
benefits for his country and others (drawing limited applause 
from anyone except St. Vincent and the Grenadines PM Ralph 
Gonsalves, the Venezuelan and Cuban diplomats and Guyana 
People's Progressive Party Secretary General Donald Ramotar) 
and asserted that it is not a threat to CARICOM,s Single 
Market & Economy (CSME) or integration efforts by the 
Organization of East Caribbean States. 
 
¶9. (C) Although not noted in the final communique, delegation 
members said that a February 2010 deadline had been set for 
establishing concrete next steps on implementing a common 
single market and that "serious" discussion was underway to 
include in those steps the allocation of more authority for 
high-level Secretariat officials in the implementation 
process. 
 
GUYANA-VENEZUELA BORDER DISPUTE 
------------------------------- 
¶10. (SBU) Heads of government re-affirmed their support for 
Guyana,s territorial integrity and noted the still pending 
consultations between the Government of Guyana and the 
Government of Venezuela over identifying a Special 
Representative to the Good Offices Process under UN-auspices. 
 This action has been pending for two years. 
CARICOM STRUCTURE 
------------------ 
¶11. (U) Heads of government decided to incorporate the 
Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) into the 
CARICOM Secretariat as the Office of Trade Negotiations; 
Ambassador Gail Mathurin of Jamaica will direct this new 
office. 
 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MEMBERSHIP 
----------------------------- 
¶12. (C) Discussion of the Dominican Republic's membership 
application was reportedly non-existent during the official 
meetings and inquiries to delegates on the margins yielded no 
information.  However, CARICOM Secretary General Edwin 
Carrington angrily told the Canadian High Commissioner to 
Guyana in a private meeting that the DR's application would 
move very slowly through the process because of the DR's 
"racist" attitudes.  The High Commissioner said Carrington 
told him that the DR's application would never be seen 
favorably so long as the DR "couldn't seat a black man as 
their lead representative at meetings whenever a white man 
was also on the DR delegation." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶13. (C) President Jagdeo had asserted before the conference 
that he would push through meaningful steps on integration. 
Despite integration discussions purportedly dominating the 
meeting (and causing the sessions to run until 10 and 11 at 
night), the action decided upon -- setting a February 
deadline for next steps -- didn't even make it into the 
communique.  The February date is purportedly linked to the 
completion of (another) study on a way forward on 
integration.  Perhaps the lack of a statement is an 
acknowledgement by the leaders that the region would greet 
with sarcasm the announcement of another study and yet 
another deadline.  The rest of the list of 'actions' -- while 
including a number of 'low-hanging fruit' such as the 
broadening of immigrant categories, the continuation of 
security systems set up for CWC and the establishment of 
committees -- hold few actual items of progress.  END COMMENT 
 
Williams