AmCham meeting: Corruption and Security

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001214

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
EB/IFD/OMA
EB/IFD/ODF
WHA/EPSC
INR/IAA/MAC
STATE PASS TO AID FOR LAC/CAR
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAN/WH/OLAC/ (SMITH, S.)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN PGOV HA
SUBJECT: AmCham meeting: Corruption and Security


1. SUMMARY: At the Ambassador's meeting with the AmCham
Board of Directors, Haitian business leaders raised the lack
of security, particularly the threat of kidnapping, as the
top economic and business issue they face, and argued for a
much tougher law enforcement response, including arms from
the United States for the police. They also decried the
pervasive corruption in the country and lamented that the
Interim Government had not made ambitious reform proposals.
They concluded with a request for the USG to consider
sending U.S. troops to Haiti to help with security during
upcoming elections. END SUMMARY.

Security is Paramount
--------------


2. On April 27, the Ambassador hosted the Board of
Directors of the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce, to
review the AmCham's activities for the year and to discuss
the state of the economy and activity in the business
sector. However, the main issue on the minds of these
Haitian business leaders was security. There was unanimous
agreement that until the security situation in Port-au-
Prince improves the economy will continue to stagnate. The
inability of the IGOH to stem criminal and political
violence is the main impediment to growth, not just
structural weaknesses and slow aid disbursements. Of
particular concern to these leaders were kidnappings, a
subject that strikes close to home to these generally
wealthy business elites.


3. Their solution to the kidnapping problem was much
tougher law enforcement. Unfortunately, the police are
outgunned and not up to the task. The President of the
AmCham, Philippe Armand, made a plea for more arms for the
police, noting that the 60-man Haitian swat team has only 12
automatic weapons, while the gangs in Cite Soleil had 500.
He strongly urged the USG to approve the sale of weapons and
ammunition to the Haitian police; there was unanimous
agreement around the table on that point.

Corruption Must be Tackled as Well
--------------


4. A second concern raised by the group was the pervasive
corruption in Haiti. Top-to-bottom corruption is making
doing business in Haiti an expensive, slow and difficult
endeavor, as everyone looks for their cut. The Customs
Bureau is particularly egregious. One member of the AmCham,
one of the country's major importers, supplied calculations
showing that outside of Port-au-Prince only about two
percent of customs duties that could be collected actually
are, contributing to lack of respect for the law and
exacerbating Haiti's already difficult financial situation.


5. The members of AmCham agreed that officials at the top
of the interim government were honest and had not been
corrupted. However, these officials, including Finance
Minister Bazin specifically, have not taken action to fire
corrupt officials in their Ministries. Bazin and other
Ministers, some felt, were reluctant to take action against
their employees for fear of being accused of going on a
witch hunt against Lavalas party members or provoking more
strikes at the ports. Several members gave a withering
critique of Prime Minister LaTortue's weaknesses. They
bemoaned the missed opportunity of this government. It
could have taken courageous reforms since none of the
ministers are facing elections.

We Want U.S. Troops
--------------


6. Finally, the group made a pitch for U.S. troops to be
deployed to Haiti during the election. U.S. troops are
needed to provide security during voting and would give the
people of Haiti confidence to go to the polls, confidence
currently lacking with MINUSTAH provided security.


7. COMMENT: There are a myriad of problems that have to be
tackled to get the economy going again, but the AmCham Board
of Directors is correct, security and corruption must be at
the very top of the list. Security may come with elections
that produce a legitimate winner, accepted by all segments
of society, but fighting corruption will be a long-term,
difficult battle. Security and corruption are two themes
that invariably come up in any conversation with a
businessperson here. END COMMENT.