THE U.S. EMBASSY in Fiji is open for business - literally.
Most U.S. ambassadors are content to monitor political and economic activity in the countries to which they are assigned and to put in a good word for the United States in local circles. But not Don Gevirtz.Gevirtz is aggressively acting as a middleman between American businessmen and their Fijian counterparts. He is trying to quadruple U.S.-Fiji trade and make his station a model for dozens of small U.S. embassies around the globe.
As a multimillionaire former California entrepreneur, he has the necessary background for the experiment. But just because he honed his people skills as an active fund-raiser for Bill Clinton didn't make him a natural ambassador at first.
Two days after he was posted earlier this year, Gevirtz called a press conference at the ambassador's residence that lasted 45 minutes - but the repercussions lasted for weeks. Like many first-time diplomats, Gevirtz committed a gaffe that left many locals, including the country's prime minister, seething.
Gevirtz pointed out that he would be closely monitoring Fiji's constitutional review process and said that America hoped it would be attentive to human rights. He intended to gently suggest that the new constitution should be more inclusive and allow members of the minority Indo-Fijian ethnic group to hold key government posts like president and prime minister. But his statements were widely viewed on Fiji as meddling.
Back in 1987, Indo-Fijians had come to number more than half the population and promptly won a majority in parliament. This prompted a bloodless military coup and constitutional alterations to prevent them from ever doing so again.
Subsequently, Indo-Fijians left the country in droves, creating a brain drain that still continues. Between Indo-Fijians fleeing and ethnic Fijians having larger families, the ethnic Fijians are again in the majority for the foreseeable future.
"I was mostly talking about trade and cultural exchanges in the press conference, but five minutes of it was about human rights," Gevirtz told our associate Dale Van Atta. "One reporter asked me if I thought the constitutional review, when completed and adopted, would improve human rights in this country, and I said, `Yes.' For 10 days, there were headlines in the paper. There was an exchange of diplomatic notes between our two countries."
The prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, the major general who directed the coup a decade ago, said the ambassador had "crossed the line" and was interfering in local politics.
Relations between the two men have warmed considerably since then, however. Gevirtz lauded Rabuka on a recent speech-making tour to improve the Fiji's image and to drum up business for the 300-island nation.
In 1995, the United States imported $99 million in goods from Fiji and exported almost $87 million. Business from Fiji may only be a ripple in the Pacific Ocean for the United States, but Gevirtz is determined to prove that small-country trade is the wave of the future - much as entrepreneurs and small businessmen like him have become the engines of economic growth and employment in America in recent years.
The results of Gevirtz's efforts are impressive so far. Partly at the ambassador's instigation, ITT Sheraton and Travelodge have upped their investment in hotels here. Air Pacific, the profitable local airline that has two flights to Los Angeles every week, is buying two aircraft from Boeing to increase service.
Gevirtz is also urging Fijians to start a film commission that will lure heavy-spending Hollywood producers to this beautiful location, most prominently featured in the two "Blue Lagoon" movies. He explains to local leaders that a single movie, "Crocodile Dundee," was believed to be responsible for increasing American tourism to Australia by at least 5 percent a year.
He also persuaded the U.S. Navy to make more port calls here. Five Navy vessels have stopped so far. Each time, they bought fuel worth nearly $200,000, and the sailors dropped $100,000 at Suva shops in a weekend.
If nothing else, Gevirtz has proven the State Department can be - of all things - cost effective. "It only costs about a million and a half bucks a year to run this embassy," he said. "We take in up to $400,000 just on the consular business, the visas and passports. Now we're increasing trade all the time, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. So, for a million bucks a year, the American taxpayers have a heck of a deal."