Barbados has not escaped the growing international scrutiny surrounding the release last Friday of over 251 000 confidential documents by the global whistle-blower organization WikiLeaks.
On the heels of Sunday’s stern denial by political analyst Peter Wickham, who claimed that he was wrongfully identified in the leaked documents as a source of information on Caribbean leaders, more United States government cables have revealed some less-than-flattering statements made by two former United States diplomats about leading Government and Opposition figures here, as well as the overall state of politics on the island.
In a June 5, 2007 cable, the harshest criticisms were levelled against the then Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley. The communication, which was sent by former Ambassador Mary Ourisman, raised questions concerning Mottley’s suitability for leadership but also made bold statements about her lifestyle.
This cable was sent by Ourisman following a meeting with Mottley. The ambassador reported that “former Senator Phillip Goddard, an excellent contact of the Embassy, recently confirmed to the DCM (Deputy Chief of Missions) in a private conversation that internal BLP (Barbados Labour Party) leadership is absolutely determined that Mottley would not lead the party, should they be returned to power in the next elections”.
Ourisman also wrote: “Mottley is among the youngest members of [Prime Minister] Arthur’s Cabinet. She is also probably the most capable and articulate. Nevertheless, Goddard’s claims, if true, coupled with Mottley’s abrasiveness and overconfidence, which are unlikely to have won her many friends within the BLP, could bring her promising political career to an end.”
Yesterday, Goddard declined comment on the statements attributed to him, while attempts to reach Mottley for a comment proved futile.
Ourisman made her feelings known, too, about the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
In a December 12, 2007 cable, on the eve of the general election campaign, the former ambassador stated the then Opposition of “trying to manufacture an illusion of impending democratic and financial breakdown”, while stating that Barbados was “enjoying economic growth and facing a prosperous future” under the Owen Arthur Government.
“In such an issue-free atmosphere, both campaigns have had to content themselves with making mountains out of molehills,” said Ourisman.
Charge d’Affaires Brent Hardt also shared his views on late Prime Minister David Thompson, describing him in a separate cable sent as “a bland but competent leader”.
This was followed by another cable sent by Hardt when Thompson did his first Cabinet reshuffle after less than a year in office. In Hardt’s estimation, Thompson had removed Dr David Estwick as Minister of Health and replaced him with Donville Inniss who was “expected to toe the PM’s line in favour of renovating” the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Estwick was seen as being against this.
The Thompson Government also came in for some harsh criticism for its implementation of a new immigration policy in 2009, with the embassy reporting that “while the policy is consistent with other [Government of Barbados] actions to ‘fence in’ economic opportunities for Barbadian nationals, it flies in the face of their purported support for greater regional integration and effectively negates their traditional criticism of US criminal alien deportee policies”.
