CARNIVAL A SMASH SUCCESS

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000344

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
DRL
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ASEC AA
SUBJECT: CARNIVAL A SMASH SUCCESS


1. Haitians on February 21 concluded a Carnival celebration
exponentially larger and more festive than any seen in recent
years. Local media estimates spectators to have numbered
nearly 1 million in Port-au-Prince (roughly one third of the
city's population) over the three- day celebration. The
festivities included roughly 4,500 organized participants
including bands, floats, and costumed formations. In a
marked contrast to recent years, both the government, which
budgeted roughly $2 million, and the private sector, which
spent at least that amount, jointly committed time, money,
and effort to the success of the event. MINUSTAH received
the brunt of the traditional satirical criticism, and
carnival officials awarded the prize for the winning song to
an entry entitled "MINUSTAH vole kabrit" (MINUSTAH steals
goats) that poked fun at MINUSTAH's alleged lack of
performance and neglect/abuse of Haiti's poor. The
unofficial highlight of the event was President Preval's
apparently spontaneous rush from his reviewing stand to the
iron fence of the national palace, where he hung onto the
bars and danced animatedly as his favorite band passed by --
a scene subsequently highlighted on news broadcasts.


2. Media reports and observers also highlighted the
performance of the Haitian National Police (HNP) and
government organizers, which mostly kept the crowds to
designated areas and kept the parade to its planned route.
Celebrations over the three days began in the afternoon and
finished in the early hours of the morning. The final parade
on Tuesday, February 20 concluded at 0600 the following
morning: Embassy officers on the way to work hours later
observed a veritable army of cleanup workers (many USAID
funded) efficiently clearing the debris from downtown. The
media report unconfirmed numbers of roughly 700 injured and
three killed (reportedly from knifings) during the
celebration, historically very low figures by Haitian
standards. Smaller organized celebrations also took place in
Les Cayes, Gonaives, and St. Marc.


3. Comment. Going back to 2004, when Carnival fell two weeks
prior to former President Aristide's resignation, Carnival
has been a desultory affair, variously boycotted by the
private sector and drawing small crowds because of concerns
regarding security and general disorganization. Many
Haitians are taking the success of this year's event as a
promising signal that conditions in the country are beginning
to improve. We do not ascribe undue significance to the
jibes directed at MINUSTAH: they fall squarely within the
Carnival tradition of the lower classes taking aim at the
most convenient target among the powers-that-be. Ironically,
recent MINUSTAH successes -- post will report recent
developments septel -- in clamping down on crime had much to
do with the success of this Carnival.
SANDERSON