Chile supporting TT for FTAA

Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced that the “bulk of Caricom,” including Trinidad and Tobago, was prepared to back Chile’s candidate for secretary general for the Organisation of American States (OAS), while Chilean President Dr Ricardo Lagos Escobar reiterated Chile’s support for Trinidad and Tobago as the headquarters of the FTAA.

But both leaders flinched at the suggestion that  they were bartering and trading support. Speaking at a joint news conference at Whitehall, Escobar stressed: “We took that position (to support Trinidad and Tobago’s bid for the FTAA headquarters) not to get a vote (for our bid for the OAS Secretary General). We took the position long before we made any decision with regard to the Organisation of American States.” He said Port-of-Spain was the best place for the FTAA, in geographical and in political terms.

Manning said that while Chile’s candidate for the OAS Secretary General had found favour with Trinidad and Tobago, Caricom was divided on the issue. He said the heads agreed that Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson should speak with all other heads to bring about consensus. But he stressed the majority of Caricom countries were behind the Chilean candidate. There are three candidates for the OAS post — one from Chile, another from Mexico and another from El Salvador. Saying that Trinidad and Tobago/Chile relations were entering a new phase, President Escobar said his visit signalled the importance of the role of Caricom countries within the context of Chile’s  hemispheric relations as well as within the context of the relationship between Latin America and the Caribbean countries.

On the bilateral level, he noted that there were several issues on the table — the issue of a double taxation agreement. the need to work towards a memorandum of understanding in energy. Chile is interested in building a re-gasification plant from liquid gas and is looking for a supplier.  Chile was also interested in cooperation with Trinidad and Tobago with respect to oil. the possibility of cooperation between the Chilean airline and BWIA. The plan would involve, among other things, extending flights from Chile to Caracas into Port-of-Spain, and using Trinidad and Tobago as a base to fly to the rest of Caricom.

There were also discussions on the question of Haiti. Escobar also spoke to Manning about the kind of policy Chile envisaged for the OAS. Today Chile’s minister of interior affairs and its foreign affairs minister will visit Haiti. Manning said he was anxious to hear their report since this would inform the decisions that Caricom makes on the problem of Haiti.