"NEGOTIATIONS" OR NOT, GOH SCRAMBLES FOR WAY TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001460

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NOFORN
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DEPARTMENT PASS AID FOR LAC
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2016
TAGS: PGOV HA
SUBJECT: "NEGOTIATIONS" OR NOT, GOH SCRAMBLES FOR WAY TO
DEAL WITH GANGS


Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson, reason 1.5(d).


1. (C/NOFORN) Summary and Comment. Senior GOH officials
tell us privately that the GOH is scrambling for a way to
address Port-au-Prince's continuing gang violence. President
Preval remains wedded to his carrot and stick approach for
the time being and has instructed senior staff members to
meet with the gangs in Cite Soleil, most recently late last
week. He himself met with one gang member last week without
result. According to State Secretary for Public Security
Eucher (protect),Preval's patience with the gangs is not
inexhaustible; he will give them "weeks, not months" to lay
down their arms. MINUSTAH continues to participate in
discussions with the Preval team on the violence but Preval
has kept the UN forces response tightly constrained. Public
pressure for action from a variety of sources is growing as
kidnappings continue. Preval's end game in all this remains
unclear: ambivalent about unleashing MINUSTAH against the
gangs, Preval may find that his hand is forced as public
anger about the gangs' seeming impunity grows and his
leadership is questioned. End Summary and Comment.


2. (C/NOFORN) Senior GOH officials tell us privately that
the GOH is searching for a way to address Port-au-Prince's
continuing violence. President Preval used last Thursday's
visit of UNSYG Kofi Annan to reveal that the GOH has launched
a "dialogue" with the gangs. Prime Minister Alexis told me
that "negotiations" were underway with the gangs, but
carefully backtracked when I called him on it. Whatever the
term, the Presidency has now launched talks with gang leaders
both directly and indirectly and that fact is becoming
increasing public. According to newly appointed State
Secretary for Public Security (protect) Joseph Eucher,

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Presidential Counselor Bob Manuel met with the gangs leaders
last week and invited them to meet with Preval at the
Presidency. Apparently, only one Cite Soleil gang leader, Ti
Blanc, showed up as the others, fearing a trap, skipped the
session with the President. Subsequently, Ti Blanc told the
local Reuters correspondent that "we want to disarm...but
disarmament should be done without bias." (A reference, we
believe, to others that the gangs think are equally guilty of
violence, such as Guy Philippe.)


3. (C) Eucher told me that the Preval administration has a
clear strategy: first the olive branch and then MINUSTAH. At
the same time, he notes, the international community must be
ready to assist the residents of the slums through social and
economic development programs. The olive branch that Preval
held out last week would not last forever, Eucher contends,
although he refused to provide a time line except to say that
it was measured in "weeks not months." The President must
attempt to persuade the gangs to disarm peacefully before
letting MINUSTAH and the HNP take them on, Eucher said. This
carrot and stick approach, he argues, is the only one which
will yield results without hurting innocent victims. He
added that the UNSYG's call for resources to address the
crime issue in the MINUSTAH mandate report will be a help to
the GOH which has yet to establish fully functioning police.



4. (C) UN SRSG Mulet, who spent most of August 4 and 5
huddled with the GOH, told me that the President has given
MINUSTAH specific guidelines to deal with the gangs. Anyone
outside of Cite Soleil may be stopped, arrested and shot if
necessary to prevent a violent crime. However, Cite Soleil
remains fenced off. Preval has specifically told Mulet "not
to put any pressure on Cite Soleil." Frustrated, the SRSG
has asked the GOH for a map outlining the "no-go" zones to
esnure that MINUSTAH follows the President's instructions
exactly. In the meantime, Mulet reports, on August 3, HNP
Director General Andresol, UN Police Commissioner Muir and
others went to the gang-infested suburb of Martissant and
located a building in which to establish a permanent
HNP/MINUSTAH presence. This represents, according to Mulet,
the HNP's first police station in the area and is key to
getting the GOH back in Martissant. The building will be
staffed with HNP, UNPOL, DDR and humanitarian aid officials.
Mulet noted that this is an important step, as was HNP's
return to the Belair area three weeks ago after a long
absence due to the violence there. He expects MINUSTAH will
have similar problems getting the HNP back to Cite Soleil if
it quiets down. "They are just scared," he observed.


5. (C) Whatever discussions are now underway, pressure

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continues to build on Preval and Alexis to act. The past
weekend's attack on the Rue Delmas residence of a noted local
businessman, which resulted in his death and the kidnapping
of his wife, has upped the angst level in town. Although
Preval has been soundly criticized by the business community
and politicians (including the Lavalas party group),most
recently by Senate President Lambert, for "negotiating" with
the gangs, most contacts with whom we talk have acknowledged
that there is no easy way to end the violence, much of which
is random in nature. In a recent roundtable with seven
leading business leaders, our interlocutors decried the
president's negotiations with the gangs but offered no
alternatives apart from letting MINUSTAH "fix it." One
observed that Preval's fixation on the Cite Soleil gangs,
while understandable, tends to obscure the broader security
problems Haiti faces, such as the encroachment of drugs and
pervasive corruption within Haitian society.
Parliamentarians have been equally vociferous in their
criticism of MINUSTAH, alleging that the UN's lack of action
has brought Haiti to this juncture, but there now appears to
be a growing understanding that MINUSTAH will not act without
presidential authorization.


6. (C/NOFORN) That authorization will come shortly, Bob
Manuel avers. Although somewhat reluctant to discuss his
current contacts with the gangs (despite the fact that
Port-au-Prince is buzzing about them to the extent of
claiming that money has changed hands),Manuel insists that
Preval will not shy away from the tough decisions necessary
to deal with the violence. Preval is not afraid of the gangs
as some have suggested, Manuel said, but he does not see them
as a long term threat and he does need time to act. After
all, Manuel reminded me, we have only been in government a
few months, give us time.
SANDERSON