Friday 6th December, 2002
Bahamas Information Services photos by Derek Smith

This morning, I adjourned the bi-annual meeting of the United States-Bahamas Joint Drug Task Force at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a date to be fixed. This unprecedented adjournment was taken because of the remarks of the United States Ambassador, made in the presence of the Press and therefore now public knowledge, and to provide me with an opportunity to respond to those remarks.

These Joint Task Force Meetings are held in closed session.  However, there is a ceremonial opening session for general statements of policies, aims and objectives, to which the Press is invited. In accordance with the normal diplomatic protocol, statements of a substantive and policy nature that go to the essence of a relationship between friendly countries are not normally made at ceremonial openings.

Much to our chagrin, The Bahamas was unexpectedly and unfairly blindsided by theU.S.Ambassador’s statement, concerning The Bahamas as a partner in the drug effort.

In accordance with normal procedures, we had requested a copy of the Ambassador’s statement before hand.  This request was not honoured.  Our trust that the statement would be in accord with those normally made at Opening Ceremonies turns out to have been misplaced. The remarks made this morning made it appear that The Bahamas and The United States are not at one in our efforts to fight the scourge of drugs.  Nothing is further from the truth.

Our dignity as a nation was challenged.  Our law enforcement officers, sitting in the room, were embarrassed by what appeared an attack by the Ambassador on the integrity of their agencies and our national honour.  No Foreign Minister of The Bahamas could leave those statements unanswered.

Once the Press withdrew, I immediately made it clear to the Ambassador that we were shocked by the statement.  It appeared that we were being lectured by a satrap to colonial subordinates. Bahamians would have taken offence at the manner and tone of the statement.

The issues raised in and of themselves were not new or revolutionary.  In fact, the ideas for reform are much in the way of our own thinking.  Each concern is being addressed, including the allegations about the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.  But it is unacceptable, in the presence of the Press to make allegations of  a political nature in a scheduled technical meeting of senior public officials.

I am particularly concerned that the Ambassador’s statement gives the impression that every Defence Force Officer and Marine is corrupt, when we know that cannot be so.  The statement also dictates to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in mandatory terms, for example, that a drug czar ought to be appointed and a national drug strategy be adopted by the time we resume our discussions in the summer of next year.

Further, the statement, by calling for an independent prosecutor, and for an independent inquiry into the law enforcement branches gives the impression that current mechanism is not appropriate or effective.

In all of our dealings with the United States, my predecessor before me, and since 2nd May 2002 myself, have asked for specific evidence of corruption from US authorities.  That evidence has not been presented.

The Bahamas’ position has always been that progress in the various areas are impacted to some extent by operational and technical difficulties and lack of resources, and are not a systematic attempt to frustrate. Given our commitment to meritocracy, why would it be otherwise?

In the face of the statement made this morning I considered it best to adjourn the meeting so that each side could consult with their principals.  The matter is now at a political level and not a technical level.  The Prime Minister has been briefed on this morning’s events and in due course, a statement will be made to the Parliament.

The Bahamas reaffirms its full commitment to the fight against drugs, and to full cooperation with the United States and our other regional and international partners, in order to save our societies from the scourge of drugs.

We reaffirm our commitment to the Joint Task Force effort and we expect the Task Force Meeting to resume within six (6) weeks.