The world owes WikiLeaks a debt of gratitude

DIANE ABBOTT

Sunday, December 26, 2010

THE WikiLeaks saga continues here in Britain, with founder Julian Assange released on bail. But the most recent name to surface, as the secret cables from American diplomats are disclosed in the media, is that of Allen Stanford.

He is the swaggering Texan financier who once appeared to treat the Caribbean island of Antigua as his private fiefdom, but now languishes in an American jail with 21 federal charges against him.

The first cables in 2006 describe how the American ambassador to Barbados met Stanford for the

first time.

"Ambassador Kramer met controversial Texan billionaire Allen Stanford for the first time at an April 21 'Legends of Cricket' breakfast in Barbados. Stanford is reported to have bent the ambassador's ear concerning his significant new tourism and property investments in Antigua and plans for his Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun airlines."

Also present that morning, the cable said, was Barbados PM Owen Arthur, who pulled the ambassador aside to express his view that President Bush needs to lay out an innovative, ambitious energy strategy to serve as an example to the hemisphere. The breakfast was an attempt by legendary Barbados cricketers to whip up more enthusiasm for the sport. Stanford was likely invited due to his 20/20 cricket initiative to revive West Indies Cricket.

This cable goes on:

"In response to the ambassador's question about his business ventures, he (Stanford) discussed his plans to develop a number of homes in the US$10-20 million range and a world-class golf course on a small island off the coast of Antigua. Stanford's second big venture in the Caribbean is investment in new airplanes for his Caribbean Star airline. He expects to be running about 400 flights a week throughout the Caribbean, including to San Juan and Caracas, but it is unclear when this expansion will occur.

"A number of the planes on order are jets, and the others are the familiar regional DASH-8s that currently make up most of the Caribbean Star and LIAT fleet. During his speech at the event, PM Arthur suggested that Stanford should merge his Caribbean Star airline with cash-strapped LIAT."

The cable adds:

"Allen Stanford is a controversial Texan billionaire who has made significant investments in offshore finance, aviation, and property development in Antigua and throughout the region. His companies are rumoured to engage in bribery, money laundering, and political manipulation. Embassy officers do not reach out to Stanford because

of the allegations of bribery and money laundering."

American diplomats were so dubious about Stanford that they refused to be photographed with him. The cable noted thankfully:

"The ambassador managed to stay out of any one-on-one photos with Stanford during the breakfast."

There were no more cables from American diplomats featuring Stanford for a few years. But he went from strength to strength. And he reached the pinnacle of fame and social acceptance through the funding he threw at the British cricket authorities. In 2008, he offered them a deal of £11.4 million over five years. To mark this deal he descended on the Lords cricket ground in a helicopter with his name on it, carrying a Perspex box with $20 million in it.

Luckily for him, the British cricket authorities seemed much more credulous than the American diplomats. Not only were the British happy to pose for innumerable photographs with Stanford, but they described him as "a great legendary entrepreneur". But less than a year later, the American financial authorities caught up with Stanford. So suddenly there were more American diplomatic cables featuring him. But this time all the earlier suspicions about his probity were confirmed.

"No sooner did the PM's election date announcement hit the airwaves, when news of a major SEC indictment against Antigua's richest citizen, primary banker, and second largest local employer and philanthropist, Sir Allen Stanford, shock the small island," the cable said.

But the diplomats also noted that it all came back to cricket.

"It has also not been lost on regional commentators that one of the biggest financial backers of the West Indies cricket team, and the person who brought the more marketable 20/20 cricket format to the Caribbean, is none other than Sir Allen Stanford. And many are beginning to wonder how his indictment might hurt a team that is just beginning to rebound from a drubbing in the 2007 Cricket World Cup," said the cable.

It is interesting that the suspicions about Allen Stanford were widely known enough to be written about by American diplomats. Yet the politicians and the financial regulatory authorities in the region never moved against him.

Allen Stanford has had a grim time in jail. He has had a series of health problems and was beaten up by fellow prisoners. He faces his second Christmas behind bars. However, his trial is apparently set for early in 2011.

Julian Assange, one of the WikiLeaks team, is being hunted down by the authorities. There is a concerted attempt to trash his reputation with (what many believe) are trumped up charges of sexual misconduct. He is currently fighting being extradited to Sweden. The fear is that from there he will be extradited to the United States where he will face prosecution for terrorism.

But whatever happens, the world owes WikiLeaks a debt of gratitude. The leaked diplomatic cables have shed light on many things that America would rather keep secret and, incidentally, on characters like Allen Stanford.

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GCT to go down, white rum prices going up

The world owes WikiLeaks a debt of gratitude