Mancham Calls on US President Obama to Re-Open Embassy Closed at End of the Cold War
FOLLOWING his return from New York where he addressed an audience of distinguished Americans at the New York Institute of Technology on the "Future of Education in the World", hosted by Viridis Learning Inc., the office of founding President of the Republic of Seychelles announced that Sir James R. Mancham has written to the U.S. President Barack Obama calling on him to consider the re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Seychelles which was closed down at the end of the Cold War.
The audience included personalities like José Figuerrez - former President of Costa Rica; Vicente Fox - former President of Mexico; Bill Bennett - former U.S. Secretary of Education; General George W. Casey Jr. - former Chief of Staff of U.S. Army (Retired); Carlos Gutierrez - former U.S. Secrtary of Commerce and former CEO of Kellogg's; Pat McCrory - Governor of North Carolina; Duncan Niederauer - former CEO of New York Stock Exchange and Eric Spiegel - CEO of Siemens, U.S.A.
The closure of the embassy sent a signal suggestive that the U.S. was in Seychelles primarily for its national interest rather than to promote friendly and close relationship with the people of Seychelles consistent with a serious policy of international diplomacy.
The letter to President Obama which has been forwarded through Her Excellency Shari Vilarosa, Ambassador accredited to the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles, based in Port Louis, Mauritius, is reproduced below and speaks for itself.
In a covering letter to Ambassador Vilarosa, Sir James states - "Today more than ever before, I remain committed to continue spearheading my campaign for the re-opening of a U.S. Embassy in Seychelles. I do, however, recognise and respect the excellent work which Your Excellency has been doing from Mauritius, under at times, difficult circumstances.
Meanwhile, I trust Your Excellency will appreciate my desire to see a U.S. Ambassador stationed in Seychelles once again in the mutual interest of our two friendly nations. I, of course, cannot and will not accept the suggestion that the U.S. (actually the first superpower in the world), cannot maintain an Ambassador here because of budgetary constraint."
Founding President Mancham's letter to President Obama
"Dear President Obama
You must be profoundly proud with your recent achievements concerning U.S. ties with Iran and Cuba. These will certainly go down in the books of history as "Obama's great diplomatic achievements". However, there is one more item on the diplomatic list which you must tick before your departure from the White House
It is the re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Seychelles which the U.S.A. unilaterally closed down at the end of the Cold War despite the fact that Seychelles had throughout many years of the Cold War period hosted a U.S. Airforce Tracking-cum-Spying station on its principal island, Mahé. Not unexpectedly, the abrupt closed down of the U.S. Embassy in Seychelles gave rise to the suggestion that the U.S. was in Seychelles primarily for what it perceived as its national interest rather than to promote friendly and close relationship with the people of Seychelles consistent with a serious policy of international diplomacy.
Mr President, the sovereignty of the Republic of Seychelles must be recognised and respected. The Republic of Seychelles is an active member of the United Nations, La Francophonie, The Commonwealth and other international institutions. Personally I have gone as far as to say what I beg leave to repeat today that, "No country is small if it is surrounded by the sea". As a matter of fact, the archipelago of scattered islands which constitute our Republic, has a maritime space as large as the Federal Republic of Germany. It is for this reason, I believe, that the United Kingdom, France, Russia, India, China and even Cuba, have over the years since our independence established Embassies on our shores which have been kept justifiably active and busy. Yet, despite the closing down of the U.S. Embassy, the U.S. have over recent times stationed drones at our international airport; the U.S. Navy often visits us for rest and recreation; we are also a neighbouring country to the U.S. Naval-cum-Airforce Complex in Diego Garcia.
An average American citizen is shocked when he learns that there is no operating U.S. Embassy in Seychelles - a fact which justified China's President Hu Jintao when he visited us in 2007, saying that "China will not be a fair-weather friend of the Seychelles".
Over recent years, I have spoken to several personalities from the U.S. Navy and officials of the U.S. State Department, who have told me that the Seychelles situation is an anomaly which must be rectified. It would therefore be sad to see a situation of "Obama comes and Obama goes" without bringing to a close this unfriendly and seemingly hostile attitude vis-à-vis the Republic of Seychelles.
Today the citizens of Seychelles have no need for a visa to enter China, India, Russia, the UAE and most European and African nations. We are not claiming for visa free entry into the U.S.A. which would of course be welcomed, but at least that there should be a U.S. Embassy here where we could apply for a visa. Such an Embassy could also prove to be useful and important if one day an American citizen patronising one of our many 5-star hotels would need some level of assistance or protection. The time has come for the U.S. to end what can be best described as "Gun Boat" diplomacy vis-à-vis our friendly Nation.
Yours sincerely
Sir James R. Mancham, KBE
Founding President of the Republic of Seychelles"
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