Power talks took months of planning

Bermuda’s whistle-stop tour of Washington, DC should signal the start of many more meetings with top US politicians.
That’s the verdict of US Consul General Gregory Slayton, the man who organised this month’s visit.
He spent months locked in talks making arrangements with some of America’s most influential politicians before the hectic schedule was publicly unveiled on Monday.
And countless phone calls from the US consulate across the Atlantic to long-standing contacts and friends at the pinnacle of the American establishment have clearly paid off – giving Premier Alex Scott and his Cabinet team the ears of several leading figures on Capitol Hill, the White House and other centres of power over two days later this month.
Mr. Slayton only arrived in Bermuda to take up his embassy post on September 1 last year. But a great deal of that time has been spent organising the whirlwind diplomatic trip, believed to be the biggest official political delegation on this scale from the Island to the White House.
One glance at the walls of his Devonshire office shows he is no stranger to mixing with people in power. Photos show him, in his trademark baseball cap, shaking hands with George W. Bush, his wife Laura, his brother Jeb as well as other Republican heavyweights like Vice President Dick Cheney and Karl Rove and numerous other Senators and Congressmen.
Now six months of preparation and calling in contacts has paid off, with about 20 individual meetings with senior officials lined up in a hectic two-day itinerary for the Bermuda Government.
It is understood that the delegation will be inviting the politicians they meet on the trip back to Bermuda for further talks.
Firm Bush supporter Mr. Slayton, 46, believes crucial foundations are being laid to help build a lasting partnership between the tiny Island and the superpower.
The Consul General said: “I have been working on this since I got to Bermuda and these things do not happen overnight. It’s a long process.
“It started with my first return visit to DC last fall when I sat down with State Department colleagues and talked about Bermuda.
“There were many things they did not know about the Island and I said if we can arrange a visit would you be interested? They said they would be really interested.”
Although high-profile last-minute additions to the itinerary cannot be ruled out – including possible talks with Mr. Slayton’s friend, President Bush – several key figures are already confirmed. These include Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert, Senate leader Bill Frist and John McCain, the Senator defeated for the Republican nomination for President in 2000.
“We are meeting with some of the most influential people in Washington politics,” added Mr. Slayton. “And these will not be five-minute meetings. They will be substantial, allowing for strong relations to be forged.”
Senior figures have already said that one of the most crucial aspects of the meeting such high-flyers will be to make sure the US top brass gets armed with the facts about Bermuda – banishing any misconceptions on tax loopholes while filling in any gaps in their knowledge about the Island and its booming financial sector.
During the last American Presidential election, Bermuda found itself swept up in controversy as Democratic challenger John Kerry pledged to shut down tax loopholes that let “$40 million” into the Island.
Premier Mr. Scott has said that issue slipped off the political radar after the election dust settled, although he stated that the Washington tour will give him the chance to outline his Government’s stance on issues like finance, tourism, trade and drugs face-to-face with key players in the Bush administration.
The Consul General agrees that this aspect of the visit will be helpful, and says that he believes the tax issue will be one of many topics on the table when the round of talks begin.
“The US is a huge country and senior public figures there are expected to know an incredible amount about an overwhelming number of subjects.
“But they can’t know everything about everything.”
Asked about the Kerry controversy, he added: “There a tremendous amount of misinformation and one of the benefits of sitting down with other leaders is we can clear the air and let the facts speak for themselves.
“If you sit down and say, here’s what’s actually happening, and facts are exchanged, a rapport is built up.”
The Royal Gazette understands that one aim of the Washington mission is to strengthen relations and build up trust between the two countries in case the tax loophole debate rears its head when Republicans and Democrats clash on the campaign trail in the next heated White House election campaign.
Insiders say that official diplomatic ties between the two nations seem to have drifted somewhat in recent years and this month’s trip to Washington represents a concerted effort – spearheaded by a more hands-on approach from the new Consul General – to build stronger personal ties.
The May 17-18 talks come as Bermuda’s international business sector continues to boom, particularly its thriving insurance and reinsurance markets which is pumping billions and billions of dollars into the US.
And with Island-based firms expected to pay nearly 26 percent of the insured losses arising from the devastation wreaked in the US by last year’s horrific hurricane season, Bermuda’s growing economic clout in the US is bound to be a major subject on the agenda when dialogue begins in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the timing of Mr. Scott’s American visit is also good, with Congress in session and Capitol Hill awash with politicians.
“You have to make friends before you need them,” said Mr. Slayton, a Harvard Business School graduate once dubbed one of Silicon Valley’s best young executives by the Wall Street Journal.
“God forbid, if there’s any kind of crisis it’s so much easier when you know the person at the other end of the phone. That’s so much better than talking to a stranger.
“That’s not just true for a crisis. It’s true for any kind of diplomacy.”
And the man who speaks five languages is confident this month’s talks will lead to many more, ensuring such trips become firm fixtures in the diplomatic calendar in the years ahead.

Courtesy of Royal Gazette reporter Dan Jones, May 3,  2006