Prime Minister Perry Christie, during "a very good" meeting with United States President George W. Bush on Wednesday, sought assistance for a number of issues confronting The Bahamas and the region.
President Bush hosted a breakfast meeting with leaders from the Caribbean at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York yesterday morning. Also present were Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo, St. Lucia's Prime Minister Kenny Anthony, and Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.
From left are: Guyanaﾒs President Bharrat Jagdeo, Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie, President Bush, St Luciaﾒs Prime Minister Kenny Anthony, and Grenadaﾒs Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.
On Friday, Prime Minister Christie is to receive an award for Excellence in Leadership from the 100 Black Men of America organisation.
During a conference call with the Bahamian media following the breakfast meeting, Prime Minister Christie revealed details of the session with President Bush, particularly those of concern to The Bahamas.
He described the affair as "a very good meeting, a meeting of friends who all shared views and had frank exchanges on issues relevant to our countries."
President Bush's concerns were the impending Free Trade Areas of the Americas agreement; attaining democracy in communist Cuba, polititical turmoil in Haiti, and cooperation on terrorism.
The Bahamas was particularly concerned about the instability in Haiti, and to a lesser extent, Cuba, and terrorism, Prime Minister Christie said.
"I took the opportunity to impress upon the President, our gratitude for the continuing assistance of the American government in rescue matters, (and) joint programmes for the interdiciton of drug traffickers," he said.
With specific reference to Haiti – Prime Minister Christie said, he noted the influx and smuggling of illegal immigrants into The Bahamas.
"I also indicated that it was the considered view of The Bahamas Government, that the joint programmes would be greatly impacted by the American Government, agreeing to join us in the establishment of a base at Inagua," he said.
To this, President Bush said that his officials, headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell, would look into the matter, and the need for shared cooperation of security in the coming weeks.
As Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), member-states share the view that something must be done to bring stability to that impoverished homeland, Mr. Christie said.
"Haiti is a member of Caricom, and therefore, there is going to be greater accountability," he said.
The Prime Minister said he also indicated that The Bahamas is a country carrying the brunt of the load of the problem associated with illegal immigrants.
The country clearly has a challenge to find more resources to be dedicated specificially to maintaining a detention centre, and repatriation exercises, he said.
"We believe that democratisation and normalization of democracy of Haiti would be greatly enhanced by programmes that minimize the flow of illegal immigrants," Mr. Christie continued.
He also suggested that the American Government ensure that in applying pressure to Haiti, that it was not just applied to Presdent Aristide and his govenhment but to opposition forces, which included the Catholic Church.
"The president ought to consider … wisdom in attaching conditions (to Haiti) and measuring the progress of establishing democracy with funding," Mr. Christie said.
With the war on terrorism stll high on the Bush administration's agenda, Prime Minister Christie said he indicated that The Bahamas, too, is becoming increasingly concerned that this country is being used as a "jump off" locale for terrorist acts.
He said he also called on President Bush to consider the fact that, "We have hundreds of millions of dollars in American investment in The Bahamas, that we have millions of Americans who come to The Bahamas and many of them have second homes and they themselves attract terrorists, that insufficient attention is being paid by the American Government to this issue, and to the limited resources of The Bahamas Government to effectively deal with the issue.
"I reminded the president and I tried to be as strong as I could on this," Mr. Christie said, "that when dedicating resources for Homeland Security, that The Bahamas must be taken into consideration."
By Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
