Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTAUPRINCE1609
2006-08-29 19:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

HAITIAN-DR BORDER CALM: BUT NO COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC

Tags:  ECON EAID PGOV PINS HA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9771
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1609/01 2411944
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291944Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0487
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3916
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1202
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1044
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0565
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001609 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
EB/IFD
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)
COMMERCE FOR SCOTT SMITH
TREASURY FOR JEFFERY LEVINE
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID PGOV PINS HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN-DR BORDER CALM: BUT NO COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC
YET

REF: A. PAP 1552


B. PAP1417

PORT AU PR 00001609 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001609

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
EB/IFD
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)
COMMERCE FOR SCOTT SMITH
TREASURY FOR JEFFERY LEVINE
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID PGOV PINS HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN-DR BORDER CALM: BUT NO COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC
YET

REF: A. PAP 1552


B. PAP1417

PORT AU PR 00001609 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified: please
protect accordingly.


2. (SBU) Summary and comment: Jeantal Clervil, head of
customs for Malpasse at the Haitian-DR border (on August 24)
told emboffs visiting the border town that the situation had
calmed considerably since the Haitian National Police (HNP)
sent in reinforcements August 22. Clervil said that
situation would stay calm as long as the HNP remained in the
area because the protesters, a small number of transport
workers called "Transporters in Action," were unorganized and
powerless in the face of a strong police presence. The
Police Commissioner for Malpasse Jacques Noel Orival echoed
Clervil's assessment and added that Clervil was enforcing the
law and not charging an "unacceptable sur-tax" as the
protesters claimed in calling for Clervil's resignation.
This was the first step in what will presumably be a series
of enforcement activities around Haiti in order to raise
government revenues. Malpasse was a wise start; if one of
the largest, and previously lawless, points of entry proved
manageable with an increase in police presence, perhaps the
others, including regional ports, will too. End summary and
comment.


3. (U) Malpasse is located on the Haitain-DR border, 50
kilometers east of Port-au-Prince on a main route. On the
way to Malpasse, emboffs passed through the town of Fond
Parisien (located two kilometers from the border),where the
strikers set up barricades to prohibit commercial traffic
from crossing into Haiti from the Dominican Republic
(reftels). Everything appeared calm: the town seemed quiet
and the road was empty. Both Jeantal and Orival said that
although the border was never officially closed, there had
been no commercial traffic since late July, because of the
barricades which forced commercial traffic to turn around.
(Note: There are two border crossings located north of
Malpasse at Belladere and Ouanaminthe, where customs'
controls are non-existent. Haitian officials suspect that
the goods are crossing into Haiti from these towns despite
the difficult trek on badly-maintained roads to
Port-au-Prince. End note.)


4. (SBU) According to Clervil, transport workers "in most
countries" have no problems with customs, since they are paid
only to transport goods and are not responsible for the
import fees. However, because the Port-au-Prince importers
rely on the transport workers to negotiate border
transactions (fees and bribes) the transport workers are
"posing as importers" in protesting the import fees. Since
Clervil's appointment in December 2005 until the onset of the
strike, he had raised government revenue at the Malpasse
border to US $1550 from around US $300 per month (ref A).
Clervil estimated that the government has lost around US
$2500 in import fees since the strike started on July 10. He
stressed that this is a small cost compared to the loss by
the Dominicans which sell their goods to Haiti. Emboffs
visited the border market, which is usually bustling with
Dominican goods, and found it quiet and calm, with only a few
goods for sale, some trinkets and bottles of alcohol.


5. (SBU) Comment: Newly-elected President Rene Preval tasked
the ministry of finance with raising government revenues.
Customs fees, which include a value-added tax, are
traditionally and by far the greatest source of income for
the government. It follows that the ministry targeted the
bustling point of entry at the border as the first real push
to raise revenues. Though commercial traffic coming through
Malpasse has stopped for the time being -- and government
revenues which had drastically increased are now at zero --
the government's strong stance demonstrates its serious
posture regarding customs enforcement. Should the GOH move

PORT AU PR 00001609 002.2 OF 002


to enforce customs fees at other points of entry, they will
likely face local contention to government intervention,
particularly at regional ports located in lawless areas like
Gonaives and St. Marc. However, local resistance in
Malpasse, one of the largest points of entry and also
traditionally lawless, proved manageable, though the GOH took
its time to generate an appropriate response.
TIGHE