PEASANT MOVEMENT LEADER PLANNING TO SPEAK OUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001507 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: 09/07/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM HA SUBJECT: PEASANT MOVEMENT LEADER PLANNING TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE GOH PORT AU PR 00001507 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson, reason 1.4(c) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) During an August 30 meeting with Embassy Poloff in Papaye (Central Department) Chavanne Jean-Baptiste, the leader of Mouvman Peysan Papay (Peasant Movement of Papaye - or MPP) laid out a list of grievances against President Preval. Jean-Baptiste views President Preval as the latest incarnation of the pro-Aristide Lavalas party because in Jean-Baptiste's opinion, many Lavalas members still support Preval, and because Preval failed to arrest and prosecute known Lavalas criminals currently in Haiti. Jean-Baptiste also accuses Preval of exploiting the political reconciliation process and Haiti's chronic physical insecurity to defuse criticism over the GoH's failure to present a cohesive development strategy. To fill this perceived void, the MPP, located in the Center Department, plans to team up with other peasant organizations in the Artibonite and Northwest departments to mount an opposition campaign against the GoH in late September or early October. The peasant organizations will demand that the GoH prosecute known Lavalas criminals, provide restitution to Lavalas victims, and adopt a more pro-peasant development strategy. Jean-Baptiste disavows any interest in running for the presidency in 2011 or any other elected office. End summary. MPP Background -------------- ¶2. (C) Jean-Baptiste in 1973 started MPP in the Center Department as a movement representing peasant rights and interests. Under Jean-Baptiste's leadership, MPP became a leading peasant organization in Haiti, where the majority of the population remains agricultural. President Jean Bertrand Aristide found a natural ally in Jean-Baptiste, with Aristide claiming to be the voice for the urban poor and Jean-Baptiste doing the same for the rural dispossessed. President Preval's background in agronomy and affinity for the political left led him in 1996 to take up the political relationship with Jean-Baptiste where Aristide left off. Over the years, MPP has acquired substantial landholdings and buildings. Jean-Baptiste's remarks to Poloff indicate the reasons for this relationship unraveling. End background. Rural Grievances Against Preval -------------- ¶3. (C) Jean-Baptiste was critical but respectful of President Preval throughout the interview. He readily acknowledged Preval's success in reducing political violence and physical insecurity, and that Preval has placed some distance between himself and Lavalas. Nevertheless, Jean-Baptiste views President Preval as the latest incarnation of Lavalas. He claimed that in exchange for their support, Preval has granted known Lavalas criminals currently in Haiti impunity from criminal prosecution. Jean-Baptiste noted that MPP's relationship with Preval began to sour during Preval's first term as president (1996-2000), during which some MPP members or supporters were killed or wounded, a pattern that continued under Jean Bertrand Aristide's second presidency (2001-2004). He alleged that Lavalas damaged many MPP buildings and fields during Aristide's second term. Consequently, Jean-Baptiste believes that justice demands that the GoH prosecute these known Lavalas partisans and make restitution to its victims for damaged property. ¶4. (C) Jean-Baptiste declined to name the alleged Lavalas attackers, claiming that Preval and the Ministry of Justice know who they are. Such attacks have continued into the present. Jean-Baptiste claimed that during the week of August 5, Andre Renard, the Mayor of Hinche (Fusion Party), sent thugs to threaten MPP regarding a land dispute over a new airport. (Note: Renard wants to relocate Hinche's airport to a plot of land that MPP owns. MPP has no intention of ceding its land to the Mayor, and says that Mayor Renard has no legal authority to unilaterally relocate PORT AU PR 00001507 002.2 OF 003 the airport. During a meeting on August 29 in Hinche, Emilio Castaneda, MINUSTAH's regional bureau chief for the Center Department, confirmed that Renard does not have the legal authority to unilaterally determine the site of the new airport. End note.) He claimed that ex-President Aristide himself gave MPP the legal title to the property, and that local court decisions support MPP's claim. Jean-Baptiste also claims that the GoH is trying to expropriate lands belonging to peasants in Limonade, (North Department). The nub of his accusation is that Mayor Renard and the GOH are pressuring the MPP and individual peasants on land issues less for political reasons than for personal gain. ¶5. (C) In addition to failing to prosecute Lavalas attackers, Jean-Baptiste accuses the GoH of neglecting the agricultural sector, and failing to formulate a cohesive agricultural policy, build roads in or reforest rural areas, or provide seeds to peasants. Peasants are especially incensed at this government's inaction when they hear parliamentarians on the radio claiming (correctly) that the GoH has yet to spend 47% of its approved budget this fiscal year. Jean-Baptiste complained that economic initiatives such as the HOPE Act are export-driven. He argues that export-driven development encourages the rural exodus to Port-au-Prince, where most of the new jobs are generated, despite the capital's lack of infrastructure to support this population growth. Without an agricultural policy, the peasants in the departments feel ignored by the central government in Port-au-Prince. Campaign Criticizing Government -------------- ¶6. (C) In response to these grievances, the MPP, in coordination with peasant movement organizations in the Artibonite and the Northwest Departments, are planning an opposition campaign against the GoH. The campaign will begin in late September or early October with press statements followed by conferences. If the government fails to respond, Jean-Baptiste said that the peasant movements are prepared to stage public demonstrations. The opposition campaign will not be geared against the government per se, but to spotlight the need to hold Lavalas accountable for past misdeeds, and to goad the government to implement development policies that address the needs of peasants. The opposition campaign will focus on three points: 1) MPP is a victim of successive Lavalas regimes, having sustained personal and property damages estimated at 100 million Haitian gourdes, for which it should be compensated; 2) justice requires that the Lavalas attackers be held accountable for their crimes and the victims compensated; and 3) the GoH must implement development policies that address the needs of the peasants and rural areas. Jean-Baptiste lamented the lack of a true opposition to the GoH, claiming that Parliament attacks the GoH simply to be combative instead of defending national interests or advancing policy. Those outside Parliament, he claimed, spend their time jockeying for government jobs. ¶7. (C) Jean-Baptiste disavowed any interest in a presidential candidacy or in any other elected position. He insisted that MPP is not a political party and will not become one. MPP may endorse particular candidates, but will not field candidates running under the MPP banner. Jean-Baptiste believes that he can be more effective advocating change from outside the government structure. (Note: MPP rules stipulate, claimed Jean-Baptiste, that members who decide to run for office must formally leave the organization. Currently one deputy, Joseph Joel Louis, is a former MPP member who successfully ran for office under the KONBA Party banner. End note.) Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) We note that despite his rupture with the current president, Jean-Baptist was respectful toward Preval but less so toward Aristide. The substantial facilities at the MPP compound, however, would indicate that MPP is able at least to attract funding. Jean-Baptiste's comments echo a PORT AU PR 00001507 003.2 OF 003 sentiment we have heard elsewhere that the GoH is ''missing in action'' in many areas, especially the countryside. Jean-Baptiste would not discuss any operational details, and we lack a sense of the depth of peasant support or the organizational resources his MPP can count on. SANDERSON