Fun with China in the Caribbean

From Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Ben Tannenbaum - Filling the Void: China’s Expanding Caribbean Presence

Over the past decade, China has steadily increased spending on major infrastructure

projects in the Caribbean. This provides an opportunity for Chinese firms to expand to markets in the Western Hemisphere it had previously ignored.[4] However, Chinese investment levies significant obligations on its Caribbean partners.
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However, these Chinese investments come with major obligations and have serious repercussions for their Caribbean recipients. In exchange for building its Jamaican highway, the China Harbor Engineering Company received a 50-year toll concession in addition to land grants alongside the route.[16] Prominent members of the Jamaican opposition have lamented both the high toll prices and the fact that China will receive this fare revenue.[17] In addition, rather than use local laborers, the company brought in nearly 1,000 workers and engineers from China to build the highway. Adding to the complications, Chinese contractors receive significant advantages over local Jamaican firms.[18] Considering Jamaica’s already substantial debt obligation, this investment windfall appears unlikely to ease the island’s foreign dependence.

Along similar lines, the Bahamas may not reap many of the intended benefits from the grand Baha Mar resort. Baha Mar’s construction took a circuitous path, with lawsuits forcing prominent Bahamian investors into bankruptcy.[19] Like with the Jamaican highway, Chinese workers rather than locals received most of the construction jobs.[20] In addition, the Baha Mar investment agreement came with advantageous terms heavily weighted towards Beijing-backed companies.[21] Chinese investment took an even more perverse turn in Guyana. An SOE hired to build a wood processing plant violated Guyana’s labor laws by underpaying local workers.[22] China’s Caribbean involvement does not represent an altruistic Sino Marshall Plan. Beijing talks about “win-win,” but actually emphasizes “China winning, and if Latin America will go along with what China wants, that’s good too.”[23] China expects tangible return on investment and arranges favorable deals to maximize profit. This coldly pragmatic outreach imposes serious constraints to China’s Caribbean trade partners.
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China’s Caribbean outreach also has a military dimension. For example, Trinidad & Tobago recently purchased naval patrol vessels from the People’s Liberation Army.[27] Likewise, China has provided equipment such as tents, uniforms, and binoculars to the Jamaican military.[28] The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, and Guyana and have also discussed military collaboration with the PLA.[29] Such military agreements indicate a strong growth in Chinese security engagement with the Caribbean. Admittedly, these deals remain much smaller than the economic investments, and according to Ward China recognizes that “military [aid] isn’t its best option to gain allies” compared with infrastructure spending.[30] Nevertheless, such agreements represent a significant increase in foreign military engagement with the Caribbean. Any Chinese military deals in the Western Hemisphere carry a substantial symbolic punch and counter America’s regional hegemony.

China’s Caribbean diplomacy has a few key goals. First, as noted, the economic deals represent an opportunity for financial gain. The impositions placed on Caribbean recipients provide favorable conditions for the Chinese investors. Secondly, China hopes to potentially flip some of the five Caribbean countries that currently recognize Taiwan.[31] Third, and most important, China can use its Caribbean outreach to advance its broader vision of development and international relations.[32]

Influence ops.

I note that the Chinese "plan" to build an alternative to the Panama canal in Nicaragua is not mentioned, perhaps because it may be permanently stalled but probably ought to be thought about, if it's not a environmental disaster, it seems mostly a huge power and wealth grab by the national government "leadership" in their revolutionary zeal.

Well worth the full read.

The key takeaway is that China is working right next door.  Also worth noting that the U.S. reestablished the 4th Fleet in 2008, as set out here.

 Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships are being assigned to NavSta Mayport, FL, which puts them closer to the Caribbean.

They would seem to be good ships for the Caribbean - not very threatening and good for "friendship" visits.

Caribbean Sea Space Dispute: Colombia and Nicaraga

A dispute between neighbors (see the map) about valuable sea space as set out here:

While the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled on November 19 that Colombia does in fact own the regional islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, it gave the expanse of some 120 square kilometers of oil-rich ocean to Nicaragua. Colombia, which has long fought to keep the area, has rejected the decision and officially left the Bogotá Pact, a 1948 treaty which recognizes ICJ rulings to find peaceful solutions to these types of conflicts.

The country claims that by rebuffing the pact, it does not have to follow the decision. But Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega supports the court and says his navy is now “exercising sovereignty in all territory.”
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Nicaraguan fishermen report harassment:

Nicaraguan fishing boat captains on the Caribbean Sea say they are “fishing with fear” among Colombian warships that continue to ply Nicaragua’s recently recovered waters beyond the 82nd meridian. But they insist they are doing their patriotic duty to exert Nicaraguan sovereignty in the area.

“We are doing our part to support the government,” says Carlos Javier Goff, president of the Copescharley fishing company out of Puerto Cabezas. “We feel protected by the government and by the international community and, God willing, this won’t go to extremes…it won’t get beyond words and intimidation.”

Goff, whose fishing company has seven boats currently fishing near the 81st meridian, in waters still protected by Colombia despite the Nov. 19 world court ruling that establishes the waters as Nicaraguan territory, says his crews were harassed all last week by Colombian forces. He says his boat captains report the presence of two Colombian warships, which routinely deployed go-fasts to circle the Nicaraguan fishing boats. One of Colombian patrols allegedly attempted to board one of his Nicaraguan fishing vessels early last week, but the captain wouldn’t let the Colombian mariners aboard.

The harassment was also coming from the air, Goff says. “They were doing daily flyovers of our boats last week in helicopters and planes,” he told The Nicaragua Dispatch in a phone interview this morning.

The International Court of Justice materials relating to this dispute can be found here. Colombia has indicated disagreement with the ruling. Below is the press release the ICJ issued on 19 Nov 12:
ICJ Press Release Disp

A report on a meeting between the presidents of Nicaragua and Colombia "Nobody wants war":

Both presidents explained their respective country’s position on the matter and stressed the need for a solution through channels of diplomacy and dialogue.

“Of course nobody wants a bellicose confrontation. That is the last recourse,” Santos told reporters in Mexico following his sit-down with Ortega. “The way to resolve these types of situations is through dialogue—a sensible dialogue in which the positions are clearly stated and established, like we did in telling President Ortega what Colombia’s position is.”

Though the Colombian warships continue to ply Nicaraguan waters two weeks after the ICJ’s ruling, Santos said his country will look for mechanisms for international diplomacy to resolve the issue and “reestablish the rights that the ruling violated.”

Ortega, for his part, repeated that Nicaragua will continue to respect the ancestral fishing rights of the raizal, the Creole population of the Colombian islands of San Andres and Providencia.

“We are giving a message of peace and we are saying with total clarity that we are going to develop mechanisms for communication in all areas mentioned to guarantee the security of everyone, assuring the raizal people of their fishing rights, and also offering guarantees to the fishing industry based on San Andres,” Ortega said.

Something to keep an eye on.

UPDATE: Some thoughts on ramifications Colombia-Nicaragua ICJ Case Tests Region's Crisis Resolution Mechanisms


Circle on map is meant to show general are of dispute. Maps in the ICJ press release show actual areas involved.

Drug Submarines: Coast Guard, partner agencies interdict 5th Western Caribbean drug sub

Good news from the Coasties -Coast Guard, partner agencies interdict 5th Western Caribbean drug sub:

A sinking self-propelled semi-submersible vessel was interdicted in the Western Caribbean Sea March 30, 2012 by the crews of the Coast Guard Cutter Decisive, Coast Guard Cutter Pea Island, Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), and the Honduran Navy. The cutter Pea Island and Decisive's pursuit boatcrews interdicted the SPSS and detained four suspected smugglers. The SPSS sank during the interdiction in thousands of feet of water. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

The crews of the Coast Guard Cutter Decisive, Coast Guard Cutter Pea Island, Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), and the Honduran Navy interdicted a drug smuggling, self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) vessel in the Western Caribbean Sea March 30.

Cutter Pea Island

SPSS vessels are used regularly to transport illegal narcotics in the Eastern Pacific, and this interdiction is only the fifth Coast Guard interdiction of an SPSS in the Caribbean. The Coast Guard’s first interdiction of a drug smuggling, SPSS vessel in the Western Caribbean Sea happened July 13, 2011: http://tinyurl.com/bouggn2.

A Coast Guard Air Station Miami aircrew, working in the Caribbean in support of JIATF-S Operation Martillio, spotted a suspicious vessel and notified 7th Coast Guard District watchstanders of the location.

Cutter Decisive

The cutter Pea Island and Decisive diverted to the given position. The cutter Pea Island and Decisive's pursuit boatcrews interdicted the SPSS and detained four suspected smugglers. The SPSS sank during the interdiction in thousands of feet of water.

"Medium endurance cutters like the Decisive are built for multi-week offshore patrols including operations requiring enhanced communications, and helicopter and pursuit boat operations," said Capt. Brendan McPherson, 7thCoast Guard District chief of enforcement. "When combined with patrol boats like the Pea Island, which has superior speed and flexibility, it helps us and our partners to provide the Coast Guard's unique blend of military capability, law enforcement authority, and lifesaving expertise wherever needed to protect American interests."

Built in the jungles and remote areas of South America, the typical SPSS is less than 100 feet in length, with four or five crewmembers, and carries up to 10 metric tons of illicit cargo for distances up to 5,000 miles. Drug traffickers design SPSS vessels to be difficult to spot and to rapidly sink when they detect law enforcement, thereby making contraband recovery difficult.

The U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Customs and Border Protection, and partner nation aircraft and vessel crews work together to conduct counter drug patrols in the Caribbean Sea.

The Decisive is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Pascagoula, Miss.

The Pea Island is a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Key West, Fla.

Caribbean Pirates: "Fishermen in fear"

Reported as "Fishermen in fear" by The Trinidad Guardian:

Pirates who are stealing boat engines from fishermen have been exchanging them for marijuana in St Vincent, sources in the fishing industry are claiming. “The most amount of weed in T+T coming out of St Vincent,” the source said. “We understand these engines are going to St Vincent in return for a boatload of weed.

“These bandits are operating around all the fishing ports in the country and they are linked. “They operate out of one of the main rivers in south Trinidad.” The source said the marijuana is sold on drug blocks throughout T+T. He said while sea pirates have been stealing boat engines for years, the crime has escalated within recent times. The latest attack on fishermen occurred in the Gulf of Paria recently, resulting in the death of three fishermen from San Fernando and Claxton Bay.

T+T refers to Trinidad and Tobago.

A report on the earlier attack that left the three fishermen dead here. As noted in the main link, the act was unusually barbarous since the pirates wouldn't do anything to provide even simple flotation for the fishermen they tossed overboard.

Caribbean: People Smuggling

Headline reads "113 Haitians rescued, 2 dead, 85 missing off Turks and Caicos":

While authorities in the island fear that it was yet another smuggling operation gone array -- the tiny British-dependent island chain is a popular route among Haitian smugglers trying to get to South Florida from Haiti's north coast -- Johnson said, ``We are unsure if it's a smuggling venture.

``Right now, we are concentrating on locating an estimated 85 people that may still be missing,'' she said.

More info from Coast Guard News. And here. And from a Coast Guard Headquarters press release:

The U.S. Coast Guard is assisting Turks and Caicos authorities as they rescue up to 70 Haitian migrants who are stranded on a reef after their vessel capsized and sank.

It is estimated that 160 to 200 people may have been onboard the vessel when it capsized.

An HH60 Jayhawk helicopter assigned to Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) arrived on scene and hoisted four of the most injured migrants to the airport in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos for further transfer to medical personnel. Authorities from the Turks and Caicos used smallboats to rescue approximately 40 of the stranded migrants. Up to 20 migrants remain on the reef and are in the process of being rescued by Coast Guard and Turks and Caicos personnel. Three survivors have been located on an adjacent reef and four bodies have been located.

An HH-65 helicopter from Air Station Miami is on scene and searching for survivors in the water. The Coast Guard Cutter Valiant is en route. The reef is located approximately 2.3 miles southeast of West Caicos island.

A report on the allegedly "growing" problem of Haitian people smuggling to the Bahamas here:

More than two hundred Haitian economic refugees who came ashore in three separate groups last week are believed to be a part of a smuggling ring.
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Officials believe that migrants are coming to The Bahamas because the economic situation is worsening in the region, particularly in northern Haiti.

UPDATE: A site on the Haitian "disaspora in the U.S." here offers up this map of the migration route:


UPDATE (7-29-09): The search continues with 67 still missing and 15 confirmed dead:

The boat, believed to be a shoddily built sail freighter 30 to 50 feet long, had been heading north from Haiti.

Survivors said the boat had departed carrying 160 people and had picked up 40 more before sinking, according to Coast Guard officials. All were believed to be migrants. Most of the missing passengers have probably drowned.

“We’re getting reports of 20-knot winds and six-foot seas out there,” said Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami. “If you put 200 people on a vessel that’s 30 or 40 feet, it’s bound for disaster.”

The sinking is potentially one of the worst disasters in years to strike Haitians fleeing the destitution of their country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. If no other survivors are found, the death toll will be the largest since at least 2007, when about 80 Haitians drowned or were eaten by sharks after their boat capsized near Turks and Caicos with 150 people aboard.

Video caption:

MIAMI - An HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., deployed in support of Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos, rescued a Haitian migrant Monday after his boat capsized and sank near West Caicos Island, Turks and Caicos Islands. The migrant was one of an estimated 200 people aboard the grossly overloaded vessel. Of the 200 aboard, 118 have been rescued and 15 have been recovered deceased. (USCG video)

al Qaeda Plot in the Caribbean?

Have British intelligence agencies uncovered an al Qaeda plot to blow up a cruise ship somewhere in the Caribbean? Says so here:

The plot was uncovered on a jihadist website which British and American security services have been monitoring since early this year.

The terror plan echoes an al-Qaeda attack on the US warship Cole in Yemen in 2000.

Terrorists loaded a small boat with explosives and blasted a 12-metre hole in the ship's hull, killing 17 crew.

MI6 foiled a plot to blow up British ships off Gibraltar in 2002. Al-Qaeda's plot to target a cruise ship may also have involved terrorists getting jobs as crew members.

Fellow fanatics would then book cabins as passengers and link up with the rest of the group once at sea.

They could scuttle the ship by opening underwater hatches or start a disastrous blaze in the engine room. Some of the world's biggest cruise liners were picked as possible targets.

As They Always Have: Caribbean Pirates Attack Yachts

The pleasant life of island hopping on yachts in the waters of the Caribbean is occasionally disrupted by sea robbers, as reported in the LA Times piece titled Yachts encountering real pirates of the Caribbean:

Attacks on yachters across the Caribbean have marred the luxurious cruising life with increasing frequency as the number of vessels sailing the lush islands grows year to year, and with it the lure of valuables for thieves and drug traffickers in the region.
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"What is new in the last two to three years is an increase in the use of weapons," said Melodye Pompa, administrator of the Caribbean Safety and Security Net website, a sailing community endeavor that logs thefts, robberies and assaults committed against boaters. "It's becoming more violent. I've tracked that across the region we cover."
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Most of the hundreds of incidents collected from 30 countries and territories over the last four years involve dinghy and outboard motor thefts or burglaries of boats while passengers were ashore. But guns and knives are being used more frequently, and dozens of incidents involving beatings and stabbings are among the crimes reported to the website, which compiles its statistics from charter operators, marinas, harbor masters and the victims.
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Others with long experience sailing the Caribbean contend that it isn't so much that crime has increased, but rather the volume of cruising traffic and the means of communicating the incidents.

"There's definitely a concern, but it's really hard to say if there is more crime against yachts than there ever was or if dissemination of the information is just better now," said Sally Erdle, editor of the Caribbean Compass, a monthly newspaper published in Bequia, another island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines that is popular with the sailing crowd. "With the Internet, the yachts all e-mail reports of these incidents far and wide immediately, and also discuss them on yacht and ham radio nets."

The seaboard jungle drums can also generate multiple reports of a single incident, she noted, "turning it into a dozen in the minds of the public."

It has always been a good idea to take precautions for one's own safety, whether in Omaha or St. Vincent. It is not an amusement park out there.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

UPDATE: A good list of precautions to take - wherever you are in the world- when anchoring a yacht from Caribbean Safety and Security Net. Don't leave yourself too exposed.

A call for anti-terrorism cooperation in the Caribbean

Reported here:

Bahamas Minister of Maritime Affairs and Labour, Dion Foulkes, said on Wednesday that the “geopolitical” threat of terrorism calls for greater cooperation among nations dedicated to the ideals of freedom and protection of human rights.

Foulkes said only through continued regional cooperation and the sharing of technology and information can nations ward off such threat.

The Minister said the kind of “random violence” being witnessed in a number of countries as a result of terrorist activities has “truly become” a global phenomenon with blurred lines between combatants and non-combatants.

He said there is no distinction between military and civilian targets by an enemy that is recruited “from amongst our own citizens.”
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Foulkes said he hopes the ISPS Forum, which is being attended by delegates from The Bahamas and the region, will ferment new ideas on the implementation of security measures, while creating an even more integrated approach to reducing vulnerabilities at Bahamian ports.

He said while each country must implement measures agreed to by the ISPS Code as mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), it must be realized that The Bahamas faces the additional challenge of being an archipelago – spread over 100,000 square miles of ocean with 24 designated port facilities on four islands.