STATEMENT BY FRED MITCHELL MP MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND IMMIGRATION 25th August 2013 UPDATE ON CUBAN DETAINEES CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE It has been a remarkable week. The people of the country stood up to those who would destroy our country and its reputation. The people of The Bahamas supported The Bahamas. That is a good thing. This is a law enforcement issue. Our detractors have tried to paint it as everything but that. We stand on that. We were at all times enforcing the laws of the country. We do so in a humane manner and where any excesses are found, the law will again be enforced. I want to thank all those who phoned the radio talk shows and wrote to the press to support The Bahamas. It shows that the patriotic feeling for this country is strong. It also shows that when it comes to politics, that ends at the water’s edge. In the face of an outside enemy all Bahamians tried and true stick together. Unfortunately, the only one who did not get or understand the point of Bahamians standing together was the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues. They find themselves voluntarily absenting themselves from the House of Assembly and the Senate in dereliction of their duty. They in this matter of the detainees, find themselves allied with the protestors in Miami against the Bahamian people. This is sad, reprehensible, regrettable, disgraceful, shameful. We must ask the question how is it that one day after the Leader of the Opposition called for the resignation of this minister, that the Leader of the protestors in Miami who have so defamed our country, also made the same call, using almost exactly the same words. Dr. Minnis must explain the connection. Further, Dr. Minnis must explain this. He makes the claim that we have and in particular I have not disclosed to the public the results of an incomplete investigation. If he is so enamored of public disclosure, he must explain to us why Amnesty International was able to allege on 20th August this year that the report of an investigation by the then FNM government in 2009 into events at the Detention Centre was never made public. Dr. Minnis was a Cabinet minister at the time. Further, the Detention Centre’s dorms were destroyed by arson. There were two fires, one in 2006 and another in 2008 which cut the capacity of the detention centre by 50 per cent. The FNM was in office for five years 2007-2012 and did nothing to replace the dorms. We had to begin to rebuild the dorms following our return to office and we are now well on the way. What does Dr. Minnis have to say about that? If he is so transparent and public explain that. Dr. Minnis’ comments were directed at me personally. I find them incredible. The Prime Minister has said that they border on gross stupidity. I go further and say they are grossly stupid. By private message, I understand that he now says that if the Prime Minister wishes him (Dr. Minnis) to stop speaking, all the Prime Minister needs to do is to call him ( Dr. Minnis) in. This is interesting because that is my philosophy on how government and opposition ought to act. We ought to be able to share certain information on a confidential basis with the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues. The problem that we have found is that they are unable to keep their counsel, in other words to keep their mouths shut and respect a confidence. So in these circumstances, we have chosen not to do so. The government represents all of the people of The Bahamas. This matter is not an FNM or PLP or DNA matter. In this matter, all Bahamians should stand together, even as we get our internal affairs together but at the water’s edge we should be united. I want to tell you now of the additional steps that are being taken to deal with this matter: I leave for Washington tomorrow for meetings at our Embassy there and at the State Department. I shall also visit the United Nation mission of The Bahamas in New York, then our consulate in Atlanta. I shall meet with the staff of the Consulate in Miami on Friday. The purpose of this is to brief all staff on the recent events, to introduce the new Ambassadors and to speak with the U S State Deportment about new proposals to deal with the current issues. I spoke with the Justice of Appeal (retired) this morning along with the Prime Minister and we are in the process of settling the terms of reference of the review of the investigation which we expect within a week and we are seeking to have the review of this matter settled within thirty days thereafter. A negotiating team will leave The Bahamas as early as the coming weekend to meet with the Cuban authorities in Havana with a view to settling the modalities of how there can be a quicker turnaround of migrant to Cuba. We expect that a new agreement will be in place shortly. I myself will meet the Cuban Foreign Minister in Grenada in early September to discuss these matters directly. We began discussions with the Acting Foreign Minister when the National Security Minister and I met in Havana earlier in the month. We have had helpful discussions within the past week with the Government of Panama. Our mandate is to ensure that the Detention Centre is empty of inhabitants, migrants, detainees as much as humanly possible. In the meantime, the facility is being repaired, and in a few weeks, the Ministry of Health will be supervising an effort to sanitize and paint the existing dorms. This will require those who are detained at the detention centre be housed at that prison until the sanitation is done. We are seeking to ensure that these numbers are at a minimum. I return now to a personal defence. I found the comments of the Leader of the Opposition to be sickening. He has embarrassed and shamed himself by siding with outsiders against The Bahamas. It is a serious error in judgment and it is clear that he is in over his head. He would be well advised to admit is egregious error and apologise to the Bahamian people. I give some unsolicited political advice. Winning in politics will require carrying the middle ground. Not just the unthinking FNM base. When you examine the commentary in the middle: the DNA, Front Porch, all took measured positions. Those who took the rabid positions, are the usual suspects Eileen Carron, the columnists at the Tribune Sharon Turner, Kirkland Evans their guest writers. These are people who have a pathological hatred of the PLP and so cannot make a logical argument, or give a measured rational response to anything that involves the PLP. Eileen Carron surprised me because I thought she at least had the ability to understand the English language but apparently she doesn’t either. In her column she suggested that I abjectly admitted that the matter could have been handled a different way. I have never abjectly done anything in my life. She ought to know if she does not know that sarcasm is a figure of speech which is used to make a point and so is irony. But then again that is English 101. I think we have won the middle ground in this matter. We pledge to continue to occupy the middle ground; to work diligently on behalf of the Bahamian people. Dr. Minnis’ Chairman Darron Cash said that my tone was belligerent. Well bless you my son. By Jove you’ve got it! Clarence Bain warned us to stay clear of weak-kneed apologetic Bahamians. If Dr. Minnis and Mr. Cash wish to fall into that category that is for them. But not Fred Mitchell. If Mr. Cash and Dr. Minnis were leading The Bahamas, in the face of these defamatory statements about The Bahamas, they would have spoken softly on their knees begging. I have a voice and I will use it to defend The Bahamas. I will speak strongly, firmly truthfully, in a principled manner. I will stand up for The Bahamas. That’s me. So Bahamians know now that in the face of a threat from the outside Mr. Cash and Dr. Minnis would speak softly on their knees, apologizing for The Bahamas but we on this side we stand up and give no ground. The choice in my view is now clear. Thank you. end
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 02:52:41 +0000
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