Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PORTAUPRINCE1718
2007-10-25 11:52:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

HAITI SCENESETTER FOR CODEL BINGAMAN-CORKER-HARKIN

Tags:  OREP AMGT PREL HA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPU #1718/01 2981152
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251152Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7104
UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001718 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE


STATE FOR WHA/CAR, H; DEPARTMENT PASS TO BINGAMAN STAFFER
CHRIS STONE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OREP AMGT PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI SCENESETTER FOR CODEL BINGAMAN-CORKER-HARKIN

REF: STATE 146441

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001718

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE


STATE FOR WHA/CAR, H; DEPARTMENT PASS TO BINGAMAN STAFFER
CHRIS STONE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OREP AMGT PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI SCENESETTER FOR CODEL BINGAMAN-CORKER-HARKIN

REF: STATE 146441


1. This cable is sensitive but unclassified -- please protect
accordingly.

Consolidation of Haiti Democratic Institutions
-------------- -


2. (SBU) Haiti is still consolidating basic institutions of
democratic governance that were undermined in the period
following 1991-2004 under the unstable rule of the Jean
Bertrand Aristide and his allies. The current government was
chosen in Presidential and legislative elections 2005-06
judged largely free and fair by the international community.
Sub-municipal and municipal councils and assemblies were
chosen in local elections in early 2007. However, President
Preval has thus far not called the constitutionally-mandated
sequence of ''indirect'' elections in which these local
assemblies designate regional assemblies and these in turn
department assemblies, culminating in an ''interdepartmental
Council'' that sits alongside the Prime Minister and Cabinet
of Ministers. He has also thus far not set a date for
elections to replace one-third of the Senate (one-third of
which is elected every two years for six-year terms).


3. (U) All Haitian political institutions are weak, lack
capacity, and are vulnerable to corruption. Most of Haiti's
Senators and deputies, elected in May, 2006, have no
parliamentary or other government experience. Only the
Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies have
offices and a small staff in the parliament; none of their
colleagues have staff, computers, internet access, or and
most of the time, electricity. Many senators and deputies
nevertheless take pride in their institution and want the
legislature to play its constitutional role as counterweight
to the Executive. Most of the judiciary lacks proper
training and is vulnerable to corruption. Prosecutors are
susceptible to political influence and abuse of power. The
court system is overloaded and struggles under enormous case
backlogs. The Haitian National Police (HNP) has an effective
force of 8,000 out of a target force size of 14,000. The
overwhelming bulk of its presence is in the capital, leaving
most of the rest of the country bereft of law enforcement.


Security
--------------


4. (U) Security has been the number one threat to stability
and democratic consolidation. Haiti has turned a corner
since the military and police units of MINUSTAH, acting
jointly with (HNP),took decisive action against urban gangs
in the Port au Prince slum of Cite Soleil last December that
produced a quantum increase in the general security
environment in the capital. Nevertheless, gangs continue to
pose a threat in other slum areas of the capital. Security
gains that have been made are fragile and by no means
irreversible. The other systemic threat to Haitian security
is drug trafficking. Haiti is a transshipment point for
Latin American drugs transiting to the U.S. and Europe.
There is a tendency at upper GOH levels to look to the U.S.
to fix this problem for Haiti. President Preval emphatically
supports working with DEA and other USG law enforcement
against drug traffickers and smugglers, and he appears to
have the support of the Haitian public in this area.

U.S. Assistance to Haiti
--------------


5. (U) USG assistance to Haiti amounted to approximately USD
200 million in FY07--of that, for FY07, USD 83 million is
directed toward HIV/AIDS, primarily through the PEPFAR
program, jointly implemented by USAID and the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC). PEPFAR is by far the largest
anti-AIDS effort in Haiti, now providing 13,000 patients with
anti-retroviral medication, and providing HIV care for over
70,000 patients. CDC is also setting up systems that gather
HIV data for the Government of Haiti and provide technical
expertise in care and treatment, prevention, and development
of laboratory infrastructure. Other USG health assistance
funds a network of health service providers that gives 40
percent of the country's population access to basic health
care.


6. (U) Other USG assistance focuses on strengthening
democracy and governance by providing financial and technical
assistance to the electoral process, political party
building, media strengthening, and building up the judiciary.
The USG also underwrites the training and equipping of the
Haitian National Police. Additional USG programs target
small agricultural producers and small business, and
supporting labor-intensive public works programs.

Current Controversy over Elections and the Constitution
-------------- --------------


7. (U) President Preval continues to promise he will set a
date for Senate elections, but that they must be held in
''good conditions'' that make the results ''legitimate.''
The principal obstacles the President points to are divisions
in the CEP and accusations of corruption within its ranks.
There appears to be a consensus emerging among the President,
political parties and much of the private sector -- not civil
society -- that the CEP must be reconstituted. No agreement,
however, has emerged on how to choose new members. This
debate will further delay Senate elections and increase the
probability of a gap arising in the ranks of the Senate.


8. (SBU) The issue of Senate elections has become entangled
in the debate over amending the 1987 constitution. President
Preval considers the constitution imbalanced in favor of the
legislative branch, and has long wanted to amend it.
However, he surprised many Haitians and international
observers when, in an October 17 speech, he labeled the 1987
constitution as the major source of the political instability
Haiti has experienced over the last twenty years, and called
for a new constitutional ''architecture.'' The level of
domestic support for Preval's position on the constitution is
questionable. While many agree that the constitution should
be amended, many oppose amending the constitution outside of
the constitution's prescribed procedures, as in a
constitutional convention. Senate President Joseph Lambert
has already supported the President's idea, albeit gingerly,
but we doubt the President now has a majority in either house
of the legislature, or in society at large, to change the
constitution in an extra-constitutional fashion.


Your Meeting with the President
--------------


9. (U) President Preval appears to ''get it'' that market
reform and attracting foreign investment is the foundation
for economic growth, job creation, and Haiti's overall
development. He is serious about pursuing corruption,
although he has yet to demonstrate the same doggedness in
pursuing violators in his own bureaucracy as he has shown in
pursuing high-profile businessmen.


10. (SBU) Preval also understands that security is an
absolute precondition to Haiti's progress. Security will be
the top agenda item for Preval in his meetings with you. He
will stress the USG joint responsibility with Haiti in
ensuring security and fighting crime. He will impress upon
you his concern that Haiti is becoming a Caribbean
transshipment point for drugs, arms and possibly terrorists.
He will insist on the need for greater U.S. cooperation in
nabbing top drug traffickers. While an August operation in
the north of Haiti, with USG participation, netted several
high level traffickers, Preval may remind you that the top
target of that raid, Guy Phillipe, is still at large.
Prompted by a September visit by an ATF team, he will ask for
greater cooperation in fighting arms trafficking. I
recommend that you express support for continued and expanded
U.S. law enforcement cooperation across the board with Haiti.



11. (U) Even though the USG has no direct role in Haiti's
constitutional issue, President Preval will reiterate the
weaknesses of the 1987 constitution and the need to amend it.
He will also defend his position on the need to reconstitute
the Provisional Electoral Council. I recommend that you
simply support the holding of all constitutionally-mandated
elections on time, in particular both the Senate elections
and the indirect elections for local government. We support
elections because they are the best guarantee of Haiti's
political stability and future development. Although the
President gives less attention to health and environment
issues, he will be appreciative that you are showing
attention to Haiti's human needs, be it HIV/AIDS, job
creation, or land management.
SANDERSON