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Viewing cable 06BRIDGETOWN1140, DOMINICA MAY CEDE BIRD ISLAND TO VENEZUELA

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06BRIDGETOWN1140 2006-07-05 14:30 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Bridgetown
VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWN #1140/01 1861430
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051430Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2838
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1463
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL
RUEHCV/USDAO CARACAS VE
UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 001140 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PBTS PHSA PGOV PINR PREL EAID DO VE XL
SUBJECT: DOMINICA MAY CEDE BIRD ISLAND TO VENEZUELA 
 
REF: A. BRIDGETOWN 1127 
     B. BRIDGETOWN 368 
     C. 05 BRIDGETOWN 2485 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Dominica has moved closer to abandoning 
its claim on Bird Island, a small piece of rock and sand 
located in the center of the Caribbean Sea that is also 
claimed by Venezuela.  Following a June meeting with 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Dominica Prime Minister 
Roosevelt Skerrit remarked publicly that Venezuela has an 
internationally recognized legal claim to Bird Island that 
Dominica can do "nothing" about.  The leaders agreed to form 
a commission that will examine technical matters related to 
their maritime boundary but will not actually be charged with 
determining ownership of the disputed territory.  Dominica's 
previous public defiance of Venezuela's claim to Bird Island 
(ref C) appears to have been softened by substantial new aid, 
including a US$22 million Venezuelan grant for housing 
construction.  To economically distressed Dominica, this 
should be ample compensation for giving up its already 
precarious legal position.  End summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Bird Island Belongs to Venezuela 
-------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit appears to 
have all but ceded his nation's claim to Bird Island in June 
when he said that the international community recognizes 
Venezuela's sovereignty over the disputed territory.  "It's a 
fact.  So there is nothing we can do from a legal standpoint 
to reclaim Bird Island," explained the PM during a June 26 
press conference at the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana.  The 
Dominica PM's remarks came several days after he met with 
Venezuelan President Chavez in Caracas, where the leaders 
agreed to establish a joint commission that will meet in July 
to examine the maritime boundary between the two nations. 
 
3. (U) Note:  St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister 
Ralph Gonsalves visited Caracas at the same time as the 
Dominica PM and attended a joint meeting with Skerrit and 
Chavez, according to press reports.  The Dominica MFA could 
not confirm, however, that such a three-way meeting actually 
took place.  End note. 
 
----------------------- 
We Haven't Ceded it Yet 
----------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) PM Skerrit has not formally given up Dominica's 
claim to Bird Island, a high-level official in the Dominica 
MFA explained to Poloff.  The PM's remarks were not intended 
to recognize Venezuela's claim of sovereignty to the disputed 
territory, but simply state the current legal situation. 
Dominica understands that several countries have previously 
recognized Venezuela's right to Bird Island, and that if the 
matter goes to arbitration Dominica may very well lose.  The 
MFA official explained that the planned joint commission 
would not determine which nation's claim to Bird Island is 
accurate, but simply allow legal experts to examine technical 
issues regarding the maritime boundary between Venezuela and 
Dominica.  (Note:  The demarcation of the maritime boundary 
will be of great importance if undersea energy deposits are 
ever found in the region.  A key issue that still needs to be 
addressed, and is crucial to Venezuela, is whether Bird 
Island is classified as a habitable island that generates an 
exclusive economic zone (EEZ).  End note.) 
 
----------------------- 
Venezuela Increases Aid 
----------------------- 
 
5. (U) Venezuela will provide Dominica with US$29 million in 
new aid for housing construction, the Government of Dominica 
announced on June 29, just three days after PM Skerrit made 
his remarks regarding Bird Island.  This latest Venezuelan 
assistance will be given in the form of a US$22 million grant 
and US$7 million soft loan, supplementing the estimated US$10 
million combination of funding and in-kind assistance 
Venezuela currently provides to Dominica's airport expansion 
program (ref B).  Dominica, along with several other Eastern 
Caribbean countries, also moved closer to implementing the 
PetroCaribe oil accord in June when it signed a bilateral 
agreement with Caracas that could allow it to begin receiving 
Venezuelan petroleum products (ref A). 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
6. (SBU) Venezuela's recent largesse appears to have had the 
effect of convincing Dominica to change its tune from 2005, 
when the nation's Foreign Minister said his country would not 
give up its claim of sovereignty over Bird Island without, at 
least, a diplomatic fight (ref C).  This was, most likely, an 
attempt by the Government of Dominica to place itself in a 
position to extract some form of compensation from Venezuela. 
 As the PM's recent remarks indicate, the Government 
understood that it did not have a strong legal case for Bird 
Island and simply sought to get something from Venezuela in 
return for ultimately acquiescing.  The new US$22 million 
grant from Venezuela suggests that Dominica was successful. 
KRAMER