RELIGION AND SUPPORT FOR LAVALAS IN HINCHE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001668

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 PHUM PREL HA
SUBJECT: RELIGION AND SUPPORT FOR LAVALAS IN HINCHE

REF: PORT-AU-PRINCE 1507

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Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson, Reasons E.O. 12958 1.4(B)
AND (D).


1. (C) Summary. Local leaders in the central plateau town
of Hinche believe that Lavalas remains a dangerous political
force that may win seats in upcoming Senate elections. Some
of Hinche's political class fear and detest Lavalas because
they were once victims of attacks by Lavalas partisans.
Opposition to Lavalas in clerical circles also arises from
principled opposition to overt political activity by Catholic
clergy and by a perceived connection between Aristide and
voodoo. At the same time, certain Hinche Catholic-peasant
activists admit to a continuing personal relationship with
ex-President Aristide and a readiness to work with Lavalas.
End summary.

Bishop Kebreau's Struggle Against Lavalas Continues
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2. (C) Poloff on August 28 interviewed Bishop Louis
Kebreau, the bishop of Hinche diocese, at his Hinche
residence. Kebreau began by pointing to deep political
fissures in Hinche. Chavanne Jean-Baptiste, the leader of
the peasant self-help organization Peasant Movement of Papaye
(MPP),and Brother Armand Franklin, leader of an
agricultural/peasant NGO called Pandiasou, compete with each
other for peasant support. The bishop claimed that both
groups once supported ex-President Jean Bertrand Aristide,
but that only Brother Franklin does now. (Note:
Jean-Baptiste acknowledged his past political relationship
with Aristide in another interview. See reftel. End note.)
The bishop said that Brother Franklin assumed oversight of a
Port-au-Prince orphanage at Aristide's personal request, and
remains a Lavalas partisan who tries to hide this
affiliation.


3. (C) Even though Lavalas appears to have splintered into
competing factions, Kebreau insists that a dangerous,
pro-Aristide Lavalas is very much alive nationwide and is led
by Annette Auguste (aka So Anne). He claimed that the
Haitian National Police (HNP) in Port-au-Prince told him a
year ago that Lavalas-affiliated bandits in Cite Soleil had a
contract to assassinate him. The Bishop was then assigned a
bodyguard from UDMO (riot police, part of the Haitian
National police). Kebreau opined that Lavalas considered him
an obstacle, but would not elaborate further. He claimed to
have been kidnapped by Lavalas partisans at some point in the
past. The Bishop declared that the word "Lavalas" has a
second Haitian meaning besides "flash flood", "tidal wave" or
"tsunami": it is the name of a local violent voodoo spirit
associated with Port Salut, a spirit with a strong affinity
for human blood sacrifce. (Note: Aristide is from Port
Salut, locate in the southeast near Les Cayes. End note.)
Kebeau implied that Lavalas adherents are motivated t
violence by the voodoo loa (spirit) that they wrship.


4. (C) Bishop Kebreau recalled his ownlong and turblent
personal relationship with Jen Betrand Aristide. Kebreau
claimed to have met he former president while Aristide was
training o become a Salesian priest. Kebreau was Aristide'
superior on numerous occasions. (Note: The Saesian Order
is an order of Catholic priests who take vows of poverty and
learn a vocational trade to help support their ministries.
End note.) Kebreau claimed that he never supported Aristide
politically because Salesian priests disavow political
involvement. Aristide's political activity eventually got
him expelled from the Salesian order. Aristide never again
visited the bishop, even though Kebreau said that Aristide
sought a rapprochement by offering him a gift of land, which
Kebreau says he refused.


5. (C) The Bishop believes there is a strong undercurrent
of support for Lavalas in Haiti that lead many to fear that
upcoming senatorial elections will result in the victory of
numerous Lavalas candidates. He reasoned that citizens who
had voted for President Rene Preval had done so because of
his previous affiliation with Lavalas and Aristide, not out
of support for the president's party Lespwa. Kebreau

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expected that voters will react to Preval's tepid policies by
voting in the future for the more radical Lavalas. Against
the background of this threat, and due to the need for
greater border security, Kebreau advocates the
re-establishment of the Haitian army.

The Price for Brother Franklin's Relationship with Aristide
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6. (C) Poloff on August 29 interviewed Brother Jeff (last
name unknown) at a compound just outside of Hinche belonging
to "Pandiasou," a religious-based organization dedicated to
supporting peasants and their way of life. Pandisou has
schools, a hospital, potable water projects, and agricultural
projects in every department except the North and Northwest
Departments. (Note: Pandiasou leader Brother Armand
Franklin was unavailable for an interview. End note.)
Brother Jeff explained that Pandiasou receives its funding
from several international donors, primarily the European
Union and Japan. Jeff noted that Pandiasou's demand that the
government not "treat peasants as animals" has caused
perennial problems with the government. Brother Jeff
affirmed that the Haitian political class initially regarded
Brother Armand Franklin and Pandiasou as Lavalas
sympathizers. When Aristide left Haiti the first time in
1991, anti-Lavalas partisans and the army persecuted the
group. When Aristide returned in 1994, Aristide came to
believe that Pandiasou was anti-Aristide, so he in turn
embarked on persecuting Pandiasou. Brother Jeff claimed the
period immediately following Aristide's 2004 departure was
the worst time for their organization, when former army
members ransacked the compound and destroyed many projects.


7. (C) Brother Jeff claimed that Brother Franklin has a
continuing but complicated personal and political
relationship with Aristide, which began when they were
teenagers in a Salesian order school. Brother Franklin
opposed Aristide when he first declared his candidacy for
presidency. (Note: This would logically flow from
Franklin's membership in the Salesian Order, which forbids
political activity by the clergy. End note.) On the other
hand, Jeff would not rule out that Franklin will work with
Aristide in the future, declaring that Pandiasou wants to
work with all organizations committed to helping peasants and
the dispossessed in a transparent, non-political way.
Brother Jeff believes that the Catholic Church views
Pandiasou both as a comparative benchmark to assess its own
projects, as well as a competitor. (Note: The other
prominent pro-peasant organization in the Hinche area, the
Peasant Movement of Papaye - MPP - headed by Chavanne
Jean-Baptiste, opposes Lavalas. Formerly an Aristide
supporter, Jean Baptiste later was a victim of physical
attacks by Lavalas partisans, see reftel. End note)

Comment
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8. (C) MPP and Pandiasou are influential NGOs that compete
for the peasants' support by promoting their welfare and
interests. Pandiasou has a religious component not present
in MPP. The Catholic Church, although influential in the
department, does not overtly court peasant support. All have
a complicated history with Aristide and Lavalas that
continues to resonate in Hinche. Bishop Kebreau's opposition
to Aristide appears to be fundamental, based on the church's
(and the Salesian Order's) opposition to overt political
activity by Catholic clergy, the church's rejection of
liberation theology, and Aristide's perceived embrace of
voodoo. Physical attacks on the Bishop by Lavalas supporters
only deepened his antagonism to Aristide and Lavalas. On the
other hand, similar Lavalas attacks on Brother Franklin
appear not to have terminated his relationship with Aristide.
(Note: Many in Port-au-Prince believe Franklin actually
supports Aristide and will use his orphanage as the basis of
a movement similar to Aristide's Selavie youth group. End
note.) Kebreau, Franklin and Jean-Baptiste still accept
Aristide's programmatic premise that the dispossessed,
whether peasant or urban, must be politically and
economically empowered. The Bishop and MPP leader
Jean-Baptiste, however, reject Aristide and Lavalas as

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vehicles to bring about this empowerment. Brother Franklin's
residual tacit support for Lavalas, despite his personal
suffering at the hands of Lavalas supporters, indicates a
certain continuing reverance for the figure of Aristide. It
is difficult to assess the degree to which that reverance may
express itself in peasant support for Lavalas candidates in
future elections.
SANDERSON