TT’s bid for FTAA getting serious attention

TRINIDAD AND Tobago’s bid to become the headquarters for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is getting serious mention in international circles.

Foreign Affairs Minister Knowslon Gift recounted what was stated at a meeting in Miami on April 23 at which there were “real heavyweights”. “They said, ‘Snicker as you like, our major competitor is Trinidad and Tobago. They have already 14 solid votes...’ The Chairman of the meeting went to say, ‘We know how to deal with that, find out the names of the wives of the Ministers, their children, their birthdays and shower them with presents.’ They further went on to say, ‘We know that they all want their children to go to school in Miami, give them scholarships.’ So you see the kind of competition we are up against.” Gift said within the next few weeks he expected other supporters on board to give Trinidad and Tobago the required 18 or 19 votes for victory. Gift said Trinidad and Tobago had 15 sure votes from Caricom, while the US has one — itself.

He said this country intended to mount an aggressive campaign at the OAS meeting in Chile in the next three weeks. Gift, who recently attended a meeting of Foreign Ministers, was asked whether Caricom was bracing itself for a backlash as a result of its opposition to the US on Iraq and its growing relationship with Cuba, especially since there was concern over the recent executions in Cuba. Gift said sovereign and independent states did not always agree on everything and that was expected. On the issue of Cuba, he said a newly appointed Ambassador from the European Union called on him recently and within 30 seconds of sitting down, stated that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago must abolish the death penalty. But Gift noted the death penalty was on the law books in the same way that in Cuba it was also on the law books. “I am not sure that other governments ought to have the right to say how the death penalty in other countries should operate,” he said.

Manning, dismissing reports that the US would seek to pressure Trinidad and Tobago for opposing it on any matter,  said Trinidad and Tobago was gaining greater significance to the US in the energy balance and therefore was being seen as important to the security of the US. Told that the Iraq invasion was a classic example of what happens when a country finds itself in that position, Manning said jocularly: “If the US decides to invade Trinidad and Tobago, it would have to give serious contemplation to what would happen if they lose.” Gift said Trinidad and Tobago, as part of Caricom, felt the UN General Assembly should play a central role in rebuilding Iraq. He also added that the St Lucia Foreign Minister was a virtual shoo-in for the next Chairman of the UN General Assembly.