WikiLeaks: Perry Christie had deep concerns about the Petrocaribe agreement with Venezuela while he was prime minister...and his worries about certain moves then Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller was making, allegedly without Cabinet approval

Christie hit out at Miller

U.S. Cables reveal sharp Cabinet division over Petrocaribe in 2005

BY CANDIA DAMES
NG News Editor
thenassauguardian
candia@nasguard.com



Cables obtained by The Nassau Guardian through the whistleblower WikiLeaks reveal deep concerns Perry Christie had about the Petrocaribe agreement with Venezuela while he was prime minister, and his worries about certain moves then Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller was making, allegedly without Cabinet approval.

In fact, the cables reveal that the Christie Cabinet was “sharply divided” on Petrocaribe, a program under which countries purchase oil from Venezuela on conditions of preferential treatment.

One cable claims Christie made a direct negative comment relative to Miller as a minister.

“Some ministers, the PM continued, were brought into the Cabinet because of their qualifications; others, like Minister Miller, were included in an effort, at times unsuccessful, to keep an eye on what they’re doing,” said the cable, which was classified by then U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas John Rood.

The cable said that at a private meeting Rood had with Christie in July 2005, the then prime minister discussed several energy matters as well as his political future.

“The PM indicated that he has concerns about the Petrocaribe agreement signed on behalf of The Bahamas on June 29 by Trade and Industry Minister Leslie Miller,” the cable said.

“He stated that Minister Miller ‘got way out in front of the Cabinet’ on the issue and suggested that Cabinet’s eventual consideration of the Petrocaribe agreement would not be favorable.

“...The PM recalled that there were no disruptions to local fuel supplies during [the 2004] busy hurricane season.

“He doubted that government, given its poor record running hotels, airlines, and utilities, would be able to do as well as the international oil companies had done. The PM confided that the Trinidadian government had expressed to him its displeasure that Minister Miller signed the Petrocaribe agreement.”

In another cable penned about a month earlier, a U.S. Embassy official wrote that Christie had up to that point remained silent on the issue but “has shown no inclination to embark on the type of sweeping project that Minister Miller envisions”.

“On the other hand, Christie has also shown no inclination to silence a minister whose more outrageous comments regularly make for embarrassing headlines,” the June 2005 cable said.

“Minister Miller is an erratic figure within the Christie Cabinet and his frequent dramatic pronouncements on issues ranging from Petrocaribe, to hurricane relief funding, to liquefied natural gas projects are taken with a large grain of salt.

“His recent comments on high gasoline prices have focused less on Venezuela and more on decreasing the fixed markups that local gasoline importers and retailers are permitted to charge,” the cable said.

The American diplomat observed: “The Bahamas is sufficiently interested in possibly lowering its energy bill to keep sending Minister Miller to Petrocaribe meetings, but it has little in common politically with President [Hugo] Chavez.

“The one possible exception is Cuba, with which The Bahamas shares a pragmatic working relationship based on migrant issues and other people-to-people matters such as tourism and medical training and treatment.”

That same cable reveals that a high level government official had privately expressed concern that a “loose cannon” like Miller would be representing The Bahamas at an upcoming meeting between CARICOM and Chavez.

The Bahamian official suggested to the Americans that rather than request Miller to speak out, “it might be better for both countries (The Bahamas and the United States) if he stayed in the background and made no other substantive comment.”

MILLER’S RESPONSE

According to that cable, Miller called a U.S. Embassy official to discuss his trip.

Responding to the official’s urging that the best long-term solution to the energy situation would be a market-based solution within the context of a stable, democratic political system, Miller said that in petroleum, economics and politics are always mixed, the diplomat recorded.

“He called on the United States to itself construct new oil refineries in the U.S. to relieve supply shortages,” the cable said.

“Miller then went on to describe himself as a ‘nationalist’ saying that he understood why ‘dirt poor people in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina’ were upset with oil companies.

“When [the embassy official] cautioned against concluding an agreement with an unstable government whose president had a penchant for tearing up and re-writing contracts, Miller responded by declaring that paying royalties from extracted natural resources of ‘one percent’ was ‘ridiculous and unfair’.”

The embassy official, according to the cable, told Miller that investment required stability, transparency, and predictability and that all of these were in short supply in Chavez’s Venezuela.

In another cable, the Americans wrote that Miller had returned from Venezuela “waving the Petrocaribe agreement and declaring cheap gas prices in our time.”

Miller was quoted as saying, “What we got from the Venezuelans is a dream come true. This is an extraordinary agreement, one that I have been behind for the past two and a half years.”

But the Americans wrote: “Reducing the price of gas in The Bahamas without reducing either wholesaler or dealer profit margins or the government tax has long been one of Leslie Miller’s signature theme projects.

“His past predictions of cheap gas in our time have gone unfulfilled while he has lurched from political gaffe to political gaffe. The local oil companies have long been suspicious of his maneuverings and have challenged his proposals both publicly and privately.

“His permanent secretary, the senior civil servant in his ministry, has long given up trying to explain to him the economics of the oil business in general and in The Bahamas in particular.”

The diplomat said the lack of consultation with the local oil companies suggested that any real changes to The Bahamas’ energy market “remains a distant dream”.

In the comment section of the cable, the American diplomat wrote: “Local reaction to Petrocaribe has been skeptical ever since its signing.

“Minister Miller’s actions have been criticized in terms of process (not having Cabinet’s authorization) and on substance (creating another inefficient government entity, relying on a single source of supply, and endorsing Venezuela’s political agenda).”

The cable said that while Miller was pushing Petrocaribe, Christie indicated to the ambassador that he intended to walk away from the agreement.

Miller has said he will not ever accept a cabinet appointment again. He has already been ratified by the PLP to run again in Blue Hills, a seat he lost to attorney Sidney Collie in 2007.

The July 2005 cable also revealed that Christie, at the time, was unsure as to whether he would be able to lead the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) into the 2007 general election, as he was still recovering from a mild stroke.

“The PM stated that he has already begun internal discussions on the timing of the next elections, which he must call no later than May 2007,” the cable said.

“He believed he would know by his party’s annual convention in November whether or not he is strong enough to lead the party into elections for another five-year term. If he is fit enough to run, the PM is confident that no one will be able to defeat him.”

Christie was strong enough to lead his party into the election. However, his party was defeated.

When the Free National Movement (FNM) came to office in 2007, it made it clear that The Bahamas government was not interested in the oil alliance with Venezuela.

In a May 2007 cable, a U.S. Embassy official wrote, “We do not expect any warming of relations between Caracas and Nassau.

“Indeed we expect the FNM government to be a stronger partner of the Untied States in addressing Venezuela-related issues.”

Not long after, Minister of State for Public Utilities Phenton Neymour confirmed that Petrocaribe was not, and would not be, a priority for the new Bahamian government.

An embassy official later wrote that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham called the Petrocaribe accord a “stupid proposal”.

The Americans noted: “The Bahamas has a wholly privatized oil distribution system that is incompatible with Petrocaribe. Further, both FNM and PLP senior leadership are leery about being beholden to Venezuela.”

Jun 07, 2011

thenassauguardian