NEW UN SRSG FOR HAITI SHARES HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 001918 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, IO/UNP, EB/IFD; SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2016 TAGS: PREL HA SUBJECT: NEW UN SRSG FOR HAITI SHARES HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS Classified By: AMBASSADOR HANS H. HERTELL. REASON: 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary and Comment: New United Nations SRSG for Haiti Edmond Mulet told WHA PDAS Shapiro June 4 that he had come away from his first two days on the job with the sense that it was urgent for President Preval to be able to show some results that the population could see. He hoped that the international community would continue to provide supporton priority projects such as police and judicial rform, as well as provision of oil to generate elctricity. He also hoped the remaining electionscould be combined into one in the October-Novembr time frame. Mulet shared a perspective not unlke the USG's. He brings enthusiasm and energy as e sets out to learn the issues and personalities End Summary and Comment. -------------- Arriving at the Right Time -------------- ¶2. (C) The new Special Representtive of the United Nations Secretary-General andHead of Mission in Haiti, Edmond Mulet, SIPDIS met with WHA PDAS Charles Shapiro on June 4 on the margins of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States. ¶3. (C) Mulet began by commenting that the timing of his June 2 arrival in Port au Prince was excellent. There was a great opportunity to help Haiti now, one built on the good work of his SRSG predecessor Juan Gabriel Valdez, as well as France, Canada the United States and others to convince Haitians to hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections. -------------- First Impressions ... Time is of the Essence -------------- ¶4. (C) Mulet has already met with President Preval and the Prime Minister Alexis. Both were "impressive" and both had made strong commitments to fight corruption. However, Preval was taking too long to form a government. Mulet did not expect the next full cabinet to be named and confirmed for another three months. There is much to be done and Mulet was concerned the Preval Government was slow off the starting blocks. ¶5. (C) Preval's honeymoon was coming to an end, and it was now critical that Preval act forcefully if he was to have a chance at succeeding. This would require urgent direct support from international donors now. Haiti needed almost "everything," starting with more people qualified to run the government and continuing through help with elections and constitutional reform. The parliament is in a warehouse and needs a suitable facility to carry out its constitutional functions. Donors could offer computers, offices and training for administrators. Even continuing to provide oil to run Haiti's electricity generators would help. -------------- Mulet's Priorities -------------- ¶6. (C) First on the list was elections because Preval needed elected officials with whom to work. He hoped that the run-off elections, municipal elections, and local elections could be wrapped into one and held together in October or November, or at least before the end of the year. Other priorities were police reform, judicial reform, improving jails, assuring electricity and reducing human rights abuses. The police were a particular problem, as the Chief of Police believed that they committed at least 30% of the crime and were heavily involved in corruption, gangs, and drugs. Many officers would need to be fired, a sensitive matter. Over the longer term, Haiti would need reforestation, agricultural help, exports and tourism. ¶7. (C) Shapiro noted that Haiti's challenges of security, job creation, getting the economy moving and capacity building are inter-related. Mulet and Shapiro agreed that a DDR program would be inappropriate for dealing with the Port au Prince gangs. -------------- Security -------------- ¶8. (C) Mulet said MINUSTAH was the only body guaranteeing security at the moment. Consequently, it would have to stay until a new police force could be trained. Political director John Bevan noted that some 1500 police had been trained in the past two years, but that left some 3000 more to train. Asked whether the mix of police and military was right, Bevan said the mix was a problem, but realistically there is a shortage of police forces available for deployment in international peacekeeping missions. -------------- Other Support -------------- ¶9. (C) Mulet noted that the Dominican Republic had a role to play, too, as the Haiti-Dominican border was porous. Mulet had plans to meet Dominican President Fernandez and Foreign Minister Morales Troncoso while in Santo Domingo for the OAS General Assembly. He would also be talking to the World Bank about joint projects for the border. Shapiro encouraged him to engage with the Dominican Republic not just on border issues, but also on economic reconstruction. 10: (C) Finally, Mulet was pleased that Caricom had announced that it will invite Haiti to rejoin the organization at its next meeting. This would be very important, since Haiti presented a problem for the entire region, and Caricom could play a role in strengthening Haitian institutions. ¶11. (C) This mesage has been approved by WHA PDAS Shapiro. HERTELL