POSTCARD FROM PORT-DE-PAIX AND ILE DE LA TORTUE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001410

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: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM HA
SUBJECT: POSTCARD FROM PORT-DE-PAIX AND ILE DE LA TORTUE

REF: PORT-AU-PRINCE 1141

PORT AU PR 00001410 001.2 OF 002



1. Summary. Port-de-Paix, the capital city of Haiti's
Northwest department, is Haiti's fifth largest city with a
population of roughly 100,000. Ile de la Tortue, also known
as Tortuga, is an island located off the coast of
Port-de-Paix that has a population of 35,000. During a June
14-16 trip, Poloff found Port-de-Paix's residents to be poor,
but the city appeared to have basic services and organized
commerce. Drug-trafficking plays an important role in
Port-de-Paix's economy, but has not produced the gang
violence or banditry found in Port-au-Prince or Gonaives.
Ile de la Tortue, on the other hand, is impoverished and
completely undeveloped, even in the eyes of Haitians. Many
of Ile de la Tortue's residents, who appeared undernourished,
resist adopting environmentally sustainable farming
techniques that could increase food production down the road
but which lower it in the short term. End summary.


2. Poloff traveled to Port-de-Paix via plane and landed at
the airport, a rocky, hardened-dirt landing strip easily
accessible to local pedestrians as well as stray animals.
Flying to Port-de-Paix is preferable to driving: the 163
mile drive from Port-au-Prince to Port-de-Paix normally takes
eight hours over extremely rugged terrain which begins after
passing through the city of Saint Marc. Inside the city,
cars and mopeds easily navigate the narrow, concrete-brick
roads. The only impassable road that Poloff observed was a
muddy, trash-filled street adjacent to the central pier. The
roads outside the city are rough, rock-filled and prone to
flooding. Unlike Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince, only small
boats can dock at Port-de-Paix's rudimentary pier; larger
vessels must remain a short distance away in the harbor.


3. Port-de-Paix's residents are avid consumers of advanced
communication services. Mobile telecommunication towers and
individual television satellite dishes are prevalent
throughout the city, as are private generators. The hotel
where Poloff stayed has its own wind turbine (windmill)
generator. Many houses are fully finished and brightly
colored. Small, modest business establishments, such as a
supermarket, restaurants and night clubs/bars, contribute to
the city's economic life. The waterside hotel a short
distance outside the city where Poloff stayed appears to be
an economic mainstay of the area.


4. During a conversation while en route from the pier to the
hotel on June 15, Bernard Dadaille, the Haitian National
Police (HNP) Commissaire for Port-de-Paix, claimed that
violent crime of the sort found in Port-au-Prince is rare in
Port-de-Paix. Instead, he cited drug trafficking as the
city's major criminal activity. Dadaille said he believes
that the drugs arrive from Port-au-Prince, after which
smugglers use their boats and contacts to transport the drugs
to the Bahamas, and then to the United States. He noted that
the drug traffickers smuggle merchandise and people as well.
The low-level of violence growing out of the trafficking --
producing few leads or suspects -- and the Haitian Coast
Guard's derelict facilities in Port-de-Paix make it difficult
to investigate and prosecute traffickers. Local residents,
he told Poloff, tacitly support smuggling.


5. Ile de la Tortue, by contrast, is wholly undeveloped. It
possesses a rudimentary pier to which only small boats can
dock. The paved road, however, ends about 100 yards away
from the pier. The dirt roads contain gullies large enough
to swallow the tires and scrape the axles of 4x4 vehicles
with the highest clearances. The winding dirt roads do not
have guard rails, are prone to mudslides, and are barely wide
enough for one vehicle. Passing another vehicle on the road
is a negotiated, perilous endeavor. Soil erosion appeared
severe. Outside the island's main village, Poloff
encountered unclothed children, visibly undernourished
persons and unfinished housing. There were no cell phones or
satellite dishes.


6. Ile de la Torture has a subsistance economy. Many
residents appear engaged in either fishing or agriculture.
The island contains few commercial establishments, of which
the two funeral homes appear the most prosperous. There are

PORT AU PR 00001410 002.2 OF 002


two hotels. Haitian officials who were present declined to
spend the night in either. Poloff saw a small number of
makeshift bars and barber shops. Severe soil erosion stands
in the way of farmers' producing enough food. When Wilmarc
Eugene, an agronomist for Caritas who participated in the
June 15 conference on clandestine migration, (see reftel),
explained to residents that their traditional farming methods
caused the environmental degradation and low crop yields, the
residents replied, ''We are hungry. We need food.'' The
islanders responded negatively not only to environmentally
sustainable farming techniques, but also to non-farming
micro-credit initiatives.


7. Comment. Port-de-Paix's modest, small-town appearance
belies the underground, illicit economy on which it depends.
Residents who benefit from smuggling appear to understand the
importance of remaining inconspicuous to the GoH in
Port-au-Prince, thereby avoiding the aggressive HNP response
recently seen in Port-au-Prince and Gonaives. Physical
security in Port-de-Paix is not illusory. As in
Port-de-Paix, which contained few armed guards, the hotel
outside the city where Poloff and the Haitian officials
stayed did not have armed guards. Ile de la Tortue's
residents, however, would like the GoH to focus its attention
on developing the island (see reftel). Unless the GoH or
local government improves the island's food security, which
would make residents better able to embrace changes that
development would entail, the island appears condemned
indefinitely to abject poverty.
TIGHE