HAITIAN STUDENT MOVEMENT DIVIDED BUT YOUTH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001793

SIPDIS

WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT FOR DS/IP/WHA
DS/DSS/ITA
DSERCC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN STUDENT MOVEMENT DIVIDED BUT YOUTH
GENERALLY SUPPORT TRANSITION

REF: 04 PAP 244


1. (U) Summary: In the year since Aristide's departure,
university student groups and other youth-oriented
organizations have shifted their focus from grassroots
political activism (the "shock-troops" of the anti-Aristide
movement - reftel) and returned for the most part to their
founding principles -- academic reforms, employment, and
socio-economic development. The transition/election process
has also afforded an opportunity for student and youth
organizations to broaden their portfolio to include civic
education, national dialogue and support for the political
process. Student groups, once courageous and united in their
opposition to Aristide, are now divided -- and fearful -- and
represent little threat to the IGOH, despite their
dissatisfaction with it (see septel summary of the divided
student movement). Youth groups in general are bitter that
their efforts to rid Haiti of Aristide have gone unrewarded,
and they bristle at being marginalized from the transition
process. Post is seeking to engage and support those groups
that seek to play a peaceful role in political and social
development. End summary.


Student support strong for elections; weak for the IGOH
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) Students at first praised the transparency of the
IGOH but soon began to criticize the lack of tangible results
and the absence of any engagement with the youth movement.
Students believe that they were responsible for bringing down
Aristide and installing the IGOH and begrudge the IGOH for
ignoring them over the course of the last year. They long for
a consultative role on issues and are frustrated that they
have not received any benefits from the IGOH that they
believe they brought to power. They often say, though with
little conviction, that they could "rise again" at any moment
if the IGOH does not respond to their requests for inclusion.


3. (SBU) The IGOH's loss of credibility among the students
has damaged student faith in elections as well. One ex-leader
of the CdC told Poloff that the IGOH had proven itself
incapable of organizing anything, and it was only the
international community that gave Haiti an "appearance of a
State" and kept the bandits from taking power. Others claim
the lack of any "new blood" among the politicians has
dampened student enthusiasm. Above all, students are
resentful that they have not been included in elections
preparations efforts, and say they are uniquely qualified,
uncommonly energetic, and ideally placed to help the CEP and
the international community to implement the registration,
civic education and voting process, if only the IGOH and the
UN would let them play a role.


Students divided, less mobilized
--------------


4. (SBU) There were few instances in the past year where
students have taken to the streets in a show of force. For
the most part, students have the same complaints regarding
the IGOH as the population at large (all talk and no action,
lack of transparency and inclusion, inept and ineffective)
but they are more emotional in their hostility. But students
are more divided -- by ideology and interests -- than before
and this discord has hindered action. Many students simply
want to get a job or get out of the country, while their
leaders seek to join Haiti's insular political class. Leaders
often inflate scandals and spark crises in order to attract
press and enter the political conscience. Many old student
leaders try to prevent new leaders from emerging, and rumors
are rife that the IGOH (and specifically Youri Latortue) is
building an "intelligence cell" within the student movement
for political ends.


5. (SBU) In this estranged environment, most student displays
of force have been confused, small-scale rallies focused on
narrow student interests and/or were staged to enhance the
political image of student leaders: a sit-in at the Primature
that mobilized no more than 50 backers of Saintilus; a hunger
strike at the Faculty of Business that mixed its protest over
the expulsion of a dozen students with a call for the
overthrow of the IGOH; or a shouting match between
private-sector backed GRAFNEH (see septel for group
descriptions) and the more radical Faculty of Social Sciences
on the security situation and role of MINUSTAH. To date, the
primary student and youth groups have voiced their
displeasure with the IGOH mostly in private, and at this
stage are basically resigned to the idea of replacing the
government via fall elections.


Non-student youth organizations
--------------


6. (SBU) The disruption of Aristide's patronage system that
produced bands of "chimere" youth in targeted neighborhoods
had two effects. Without viable alternatives, many of those
who benefited from the handouts reconstituted themselves as
the soldiers of the organized criminal gangs bent on
destabilizing the country and living off the spoils of
lawlessness. On the other hand, according to one organization
leader, community groups that were passed over by Aristide's
focus on loyalty rather than ideas, were liberated by the
dissolution of the patronage system to pursue more
socio-economic -- rather than political -- goals. Desperate
to play a role in the transition process, these groups claim
an existent network on the ground they say is perfectly
placed to assist the IGOH and the international community
with anything from disarmament talks to elections
registration to trash cleanup.


7. (SBU) As with students, however, many of these
organizations complain the IGOH and international donors have
ignored their offers, and assert persuasively that
initiatives from dialogue to disarmament have failed because
the government and the UN have attempted to impose solutions
from above without engaging the population to help solve
Haiti's problems themselves. They also bemoan Haiti's
"antiquated" political class and argue that elections would
be meaningless without a new cadre of modern politicians.
Although almost unanimous in their reproach of the IGOH (and
often MINUSTAH) and skepticism of political parties, they
retain a sense of hope and interest in elections.


8. (SBU) During a roundtable with the Ambassador on June 7,
group leaders from the poorer neighborhoods appealed to the
international community (and the United States in particular)
to intervene in the neighborhoods and "provide youth with
alternatives to joining gangs." Jean Enock Joseph from
Collectif des Notables de Cite Soleil (CONOCS) called for an
aggressive, organized social policy to fight against misery
and lawlessness, saying residents were "desperate, but not
hopeless." Belgarde Berton, who represents over 300 popular
organizations in the Group of 184, called for the
international community to work together with local
organizations to ensure investment goes to the people who
need it, rather than to a clique of local interests. Carlot
Paulemon, leader of Rassemblement Nationale des Citoyens
Organises pour le Development d'Haiti (RANCODHA),an umbrella
organization of neighborhood organizations, pointed to the
recent success of a June 4th Community Forum in Cite Soleil
as a model of "bottom-up" reconciliation unmatched by IGOH
promises of a grand National Dialogue. (Note: the Community
Forum was funded in part by USAID via a grant from NDI. End
note). The groups sent a clear demand for more micro-oriented
projects and social reintegration on a local scale.


Comment
--------------


9. (SBU) Divided and simply scared off the streets by the
threat of chimere revenge, student groups are unlikely to
mobilize in a mass, public display of anger against the IGOH.
Most have by now accepted the inevitability of elections and
are juggling bids from political parties for support. Without
a new political personality to motivate them, the diverse
groups are likely to remain as splintered politically as the
numerous political parties themselves. It is unfortunate,
however, that student energy could not be harnessed for good,
as their support for elections and eagerness to play a role
have the potential to stimulate greater public enthusiasm. A
unified and public youth movement for elections and against
violence would help grant the transition process the public
relations momentum it needs to overcome the public's
obsession with security concerns.


10. (SBU) We have already pointed to the need to introduce
flexible, quick-start development projects in Bel Air and
Cite Soleil if and when the security environment permits it.
Post is making a considerable effort to engage and support
student and other peaceful, non-political "base movements" in
these areas to provide a hopeful alternative to the gangs
that dominate their neighborhoods. But much more could, and
should, be done. We stand ready to work both independently
and in cooperation with others to fulfill our pledge if
MINUSTAH fulfills theirs to pacify the slums.

GRIFFITHS