What with the bits of information reveal- ed by Wiki-leaks, details of Central Intelligence Agency reports, our own living experience and observable developments, one can safely conclude that different American governments have paid significant attention to Malta, although they did not match that with the sort of calculated generosity they display towards various countries that also fall into their sphere of attention.
The Americans were enraged when Mifsud Bonnici warned Gaddafi (against, I might say, my protestations in the Cabinet) of an impending armed attack- Lino Spiteri
Such interest goes back to the height of the Cold War. The American Sixth Fleet, which operated in the Mediterranean, kept Malta well within its sight, even though the island was safely ensconced within the direct sphere of activity of the British Armed Forces. In time, American interest was fuelled by the arrival of the Gaddafi phenomenon.
In September 1969 Muammar Gaddafi and a number of fellow Libyan army officers removed the ruling King Idris in a bloodless coup. Idris had been very close to the Americans. The incipient Gaddafi regime made it clear early on that was about to change, and radically so.
Undemocratic though Gaddafi’s arrival was, the George Borg Olivier government immediately extended diplomatic recognition to the changed and changing Libya. That was the natural thing to do, both in terms of diplomatic practice and in view of Libya’s proximity to Malta.
When Dom Mintoff’s Labour won the 1971 general election and 16 years of Labour administration started, relations between the two countries grew. Mintoff was up to his tricks, building a hand of cards where none existed. He did go over the top in his closeness to the young and unruly Gaddafi but, when push came to shove and the Libyan autocrat sent gunboats to prevent oil exploration in waters Malta held to be hers, Prime Minister Mintoff quickly branded the bellicose action as that of the worst enemy.
In time, though the oil exploration issue was not resolved – it remains outstanding 31 years later – Mintoff-Gaddafi relations became close again. They were upped when Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici became Prime Minister.
The Americans watched all this silently and with suspicion.
The Americans were enraged when Prime Minister Mifsud Bonnici warned Gaddafi (against, I might say, my protestations in the Cabinet) of an impending armed attack. Uncle Sam gnashed his teeth.
We learn now that the American President signed Malta off friendly relations and put us on the American radar of suspects. Things should have changed after May 1987, when the Nationalists came to power.
Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami quickly reduced the Malta-Libyan relationship to one of a purely diplomatic nature. That notwithstanding, the Americans continued to mistrust Malta. Post-Lockerbie and well into the life of Fenech Adami’s government they saw it, we now learn from the CIA, as a hub for Libyan intrigue.
The US coldness towards Malta persisted. In 1995, Alfred Sant, then Opposition leader, asked me to accompany him to the US and Canada. Among other things we visited the State Department. We tried to soften the hard American attitude towards Malta, which was having negative impact, for instance, on Malta’s early efforts to become an international financial centre of repute.
The Nato-friendly Nationalists were in office. And it was clear, from the way Harvard-educated Alfred Sant was speaking and had been acting in Malta, that he was no rabid Mintoff. We also stressed that Malta’s geo-political reality was not her choosing.
Still, we were astonished by the vituperation displayed by those who received us. To them, Malta’s coolly friendly relationship with Libya was enough to continue to write us off, Nationalists and all.
Write us off in the sense of being parsimonious with cooperation beneficial to Malta. With icy calculation, the American government proceeded to act in its own best interests.
The assistance it gave to Malta in time took the form of equipment intended to ensure that the Freeport was not used for passage of armaments. It provided passport equipment which placed all those who pass through Malta (this was before Schengen) on the US’s data base.
It noted that Malta’s membership of the EU could be useful to it as all EU members, whatever their size, have one vote. And it bought a huge chunk of land at Ta’ Qali from the Malta government to build a massive embassy, to my mind hugely disproportionate to our island’s size.
To its shame, opposition Labour did not query the real purpose of the bunker embassy. I did, through this column. The US ambassador reacted by inviting me to lunch, between mouthfuls and sips of water straining to persuade me that this was going to be a standard embassy.
She was persuasive, except for one thing – that Malta, this bit of rock as the first grandmaster called it and our young still do, is not standard.
Now I can be surer that I was not hallucinating when I doubted that the new embassy was built to service American interests within Malta. Its purpose is to safeguard regional interest from Malta.
Gaddafi and his moods were still a reality when the new embassy concept was hatched. Now that he is almost gone, the embassy will still serve its watching purpose, for there is much to watch.
It will do so in the context revealed by the outgoing ambassador who, when he came, was not merely delighted to find a place where to grow more admirably devout. Barely having presented his credentials, America’s representative publicly suggested we rethink our neutrality.
Foreign Minister Tonio Borg also expanded to this newspaper on Sunday on the revelation that the US diplomats tried to make their serviceman above our laws when visiting Malta. To his credit, he would have none of that.
My point is not that we should be anti-American. The US, warts and all, is the mainstay of the democratic grouping to which we, also warts and all, belong. But we should be clear about the interest in us by the US, as well as by other countries, including China and the new Libya. They are motivated by their own interests. So should Malta.
Our politicians, on both sides of the fence, and business people too should remember that, and always be careful in their choice of words and actions.