YOURI LATORTUE REACHES OUT

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001138 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/13/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MARR HA SUBJECT: YOURI LATORTUE REACHES OUT REF: PORT-AU-PRINCE 1080 PORT AU PR 00001138 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: AMBASSADOR JANET A. SANDERSON, REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D). ¶1. (S) Summary. Senator Youri Latortue, during a June 18 meeting with Poloff granted at Latortue's request, expressed his desire to have better relations with the embassy and expand the reach of his political party. Latortue explained that he supported forming an army that would help the state protect its borders and respond to emergencies, such as natural disasters and crime waves. Latortue's meeting request was in part spurred by actions taken by the international community, including post, to counter Latortue's efforts to weaken justice reform legislation. Latortue's profile as a leading opponent of the government and future presidential candidate has risen sharply in recent months, even though informed Haitians widely assume that he was involved in drug trafficking and is still directly linked to criminal activity in his home base in the Artibonite. Latortue's influence makes it increasingly difficult for post to shun him completely, but we will maintain our policy of keeping him at arms length. End of summary. Ambition -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Going through his talking points with poloff in a methodical, organized manner, Latortue explained that the party he founded to take part in the 2005 elections, The Artibonite in Action (LAAA),pursued ''decentralization, deconcentration, and local development,'' as a response to insufficient GoH development of the Artibonite Department. He pointed to a joint project between his party and Taiwan to give students access to computers at the local university as an example of the development partnerships that his party seeks. Latortue stated his goal was to transform his organization from a regional to a national party. LAAA would grow through either its own resources or merger or in coalition with other parties. In his opinion, however, the current national parties are not viable coalition partners due to their disorganization. I am Not a Crook -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Latortue stated that the international community plays a big role in Haitian affairs and that he must reach out to it if he is to be a successful, national political leader. He claimed to have had good relations with the US Embassy in the past, but that the relationship soured beginning in 2004. Unprompted, Latortue acknowledged that some people believe he is a drug trafficker. He retorted that these were unsubstantiated claims by his and his ''uncle's'' political enemies. (Note. Gerard Latortue, the former Prime Minister in the interim government, is in fact Youri's first cousin once-removed. The two commonly referred to each other as uncle and nephew and are reportedly very close. Youri Latortue served as PM Latortue's chief of security, and left that position in 2005 in order to run for the Senate. He left under suspicion that he was using his office for personal gain and to conduct political vendettas. End Note.) He closed his remarks on his political ambitions by avowing that he has always been, and will continue to be, a friend of the United States. He said that he receives from Cuba and Venezuela offers to visit, but always declines because these countries ''do not represent his way of thinking.'' He also claimed to have counseled other government officials and parliamentarians that accepting these offers would appear to be playing off the United States and Venezuela/Cuba against each other, which is a game that Haiti cannot win. Go Army -------------- ¶4. (SBU) When asked why he called for the re-establishment of an army in a previous newspaper interview, Latortue responded that the constitution provided for an army, and that Haiti needed one. He claimed to have raised the issue with President Rene Preval, who agreed in principle that the GoH should create a force of some type, but that the force should resemble a gendarmerie. Latortue said that he did not envision the reestablishment of the FAd'H (Armed Forces of Haiti),but rather a new ''public force,'' consisting of the coast guard, a border guard, and a civil defense corps, which would respond to natural disasters. The coast and frontier guards could assist the police under special circumstances, but not in normal operations. Though the coast and frontier guards would be professionally staffed, the civil defense corps would be staffed by instituting an obligatory one year service for 18-20 year olds. Latortue claimed that the obligatory service would help instill in young persons the need to serve their country. He thinks that the total ''public security force'' should number between 1,000-2,000. (Note. Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis on June 20 announced his intention to create a commission, lasting eight months, to examine the creation of a new ''public force'' or ''gendarmerie'' that could operate in cooperation with the police. Alexis, however, also expressed that he remained unenthusiastic about creating a new army. End note.) The Trouble with Youri -------------- ¶5. (C) Comment. Latortue's meeting request was spurred in part by a joint effort by post and MINUSTAH to counter efforts by Latortue to weaken the government's justice reform initiative. Poloff emphasized during the meeting that post joined with the GoH and international community in supporting reform that insured the independence and integrity of the judicial system and provided for vetting of current justice officials. Latortue professed to support the same goals; thus the meeting may have headed off a possible public rift between Latortue and his supporters in parliament and the international community. (Post will report on the status of justice reform septel.) ¶6. (SBU) Comment Continued. Of much greater significance is Latortue's blatant political ambition. As he is in public, Latortue was erudite and engaging during this meeting, and divulged a clear strategy in his campaign to become president: deliver projects/money to his Department; win the political allegiance of students and young adults; and stay at the center of important national issues such as justice reform and the re-establishment of the army. His public stance on the army positions him to take advantage of significant sympathy for the ex-FAd'H, which is at once also anti-Lavalas, and also appeals to law-and-order nostalgia. ¶7. (S) Comment Continued. Among political observers, it is an article of faith that Latortue was involved in drug trafficking under Aristide and during the first Preval administrations. Preval himself reports that Latortue ''ran drugs'' out of his office in the Presidency during Aristide's mandate. As reported in reftel and other reporting, it is similarly widely believed that Latortue has assumed leadership of the criminal elements in Gonaives and throughout the Artibonite and is working to undermine the government and weaken Prime Minister Alexis. (When Latortue and Prime Minister Alexis had occasion to shake hands during a recent appearance by the PM at parlament, onlookers burst out laughing.) Neverthelss, in Haiti's see-no-evil - hear-no-evil politcal culture, many Haitians naturally assume that Latortue will play an increasingly important role in politics as he consolidates his power, and view him as a serious presidential contender, even as he becomes the poster-boy for political corruption in Haiti. SANDERSON