PREVAL WELCOMES SENATOR DEWINE AND REPRESENTATIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002339

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM HA
SUBJECT: PREVAL WELCOMES SENATOR DEWINE AND REPRESENTATIVE
SCHAKOWSKY


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Classified By: Charge d'affaires Thomas C. Tighe for reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d).


1. (C) Summary: President Rene Preval met with Senator
DeWine (R-OH),Representative Schakowsky (D-IL) and the
Ambassador at the National Palace November 29 in advance of a
cocktail reception Preval held in honor of DeWine. Preval
stressed that insecurity in Port-au-Prince is not due to
political factors, but rather a result of banditry. The
police need to gain the trust of the population so they will
share their knowledge about the kidnappers; currently,
victims and neighbors are too scared to tell the police what
they know for fear of retaliation by rogue police officers.
Preval explained the cumbersome process to amend the
constitution, which would be necessary in order for
naturalized Americans to retain Haitian citizenship. Senator
DeWine said that the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through
Partnership act (HOPE) is unlikely to pass this year but
encouraged the president to travel to Washington early next
year. The President's somber and even defensive mood when
discussing insecurity likely reflects both the timing of the
meeting (following over a week of an increase in violence)
and pressure from the Haitian population for a GoH resonse to
insecurity in Port-au-Prince. End Summary.

A New Wave of Insecurity
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2. (C) Preval said that insecurity in Port-au-Prince is
largely a result of the economic situation in the country.
The worst way to view the situation is as a result of
political factors; the other worst thing to do is doubt the
will of his administration in the face of insecurity. He
explained that there were two causes of insecurity in
Port-au-Prince: the people close to Aristide and bandits.
Now, only the bandits are left and they have resorted to
kidnapping. He said this is a new wave of insecurity and that
it is a question of who the gangs are and where they are,
because "all it takes is one small gun and there are lots of
them in Haiti."


3. (C) Preval addressed the wide-spread belief that the
Haitian National Police (HNP) is involved with the kidnapping
and said that the GoH is looking for links between the
bandits and the police. The population must trust the police
enough to share information about the kidnappers. He said
that the number of HNP is not sufficient and that they do not
have enough resources, although he acknowledged the
motorcycles and radios that the U.S. gave to the HNP. Preval
also said that the GoH had prioritized the local elections on
December 3, which require already scarce security personnel
from both the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(Minustah) and the HNP. He guaranteed that following the
elections, both security forces will be focused on the
insecurity. He also promised to convoke a forum of
parliamentarians, politicians and members of the civil
society to address the problem of insecurity.

Dual Citizenship for Haitian-Americans
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4. (U) On behalf of her Haitian constituents, Schakowsky
asked Preval about the possibility for amending the
constitution to allow for dual citizenship of Haitian
Americans. Preval explained that amendment process is
difficult. First one parliament has to propose the change and
approve the proposal, and then the following parliament,
under a newly-elected government, must approve the amendment.
Preval's commission reviewing the constitution found that
this process takes too long, but constitutionally, even the
process itself would take about ten years to change.

HOPE Unlikely to Pass This Year
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5. (C) DeWine admitted that the HOPE bill is not likely to
pass this year because Congress may be in session for only
one week. In the event that it does not pass, DeWine advised

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Preval to go to Washington early next year. Preval thanked
DeWine for his earlier advice that it would not be worthwhile
for Preval to travel to Washington to lobby for the HOPE bill
before the end of the year, and said that he is certain it
will pass, thanks to friends like DeWine.


6. (C) Comment: This meeting occurred after one week of an
increase in violence in Port-au-Prince. The somber, at times
defensive attitude of the President likely reflects pressure
from the situation and from previous conversations with his
inner circle. The growing impatience of the population for a
GoH response to insecurity also seemed to play a role,
particularly in his comment that the worst thing to do is to
doubt the will of his administration. End comment.


7. (U) Senator DeWine and Representative Schakowsky,s
office have not cleared on this cable.
TIGHE