UN BRINGS IN FORMER HAITIAN PM AS DIALOGUE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000083

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC UN GV
SUBJECT: UN BRINGS IN FORMER HAITIAN PM AS DIALOGUE
FACILITATOR

REF: CONAKRY 0078

Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D


1. (S) SUMMARY. Gerard Latortue, a former prime minister of
Haiti, has been in Conakry for three weeks on an official
United Nations Mission to encourage dialogue. Despite a
professed close friendship with the Guinean PM, Latortue
believes that Kouyate has failed to do his job, and is
quickly losing any political capital he has left. Latortue
also saw the president who he described as engaged and
active, but physically incapacitated. Latortue's initial
visit seems to be more of a fact finding mission. He expects
to be asked to return as early as July, but is unclear as to
what role he might play. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Officially representing the United Nations, Gerard
Latortue is nearing the end of a three-week mission aimed at
helping to facilitate political dialogue in Guinea. Latortue
was prime minister of Haiti from March 2004 to June 2006.
Ambassador Carter and Poloff met with Latortue on April 2
Poloff also met with him separately on March 28 and again on
April 6.

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BIO NOTES
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3. (C) Gerard Latortue (born 06/19/34) was born in Haiti,
but obtained U.S. citizenship in March 2008. He was
appointed prime minister of Haiti and head of a new
provisional government in March 2004 following a coup d'etat
that forced former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide
into exile. According to Latortue, he was appointed
specifically to manage Haiti's transition period and to
organize successful legislative and presidential elections.
Latortue told Poloff that he never had any political
ambitions to be president and when his job was finished, he
stepped down as planned. Prior to his PM appointment,
Latortue worked for more than 20 years with the UN. Since
leaving Haiti, Latortue has worked as an international
consultant. Latortue lives with his American citizen wife in
Boca Raton, Florida. They have three grown daughters who are
also American citizens.

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OLD FRIENDS WITH KOUYATE
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4. (C) Latortue told Ambassador and Poloff that he has known
Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate for several years, through
their mutual employment with the United Nations, and
considers him a friend. He said that he had actually visited
with Kouyate in Geneva a few months after the PM's
appointment. Latortue said that Kouyate had asked him for
advice as to how to carry out his new role. "I told him that
the most important thing is for him to not have any personal
political ambitions and to maintain a close working
relationship with the president," Latortue said. He later
told Poloff that it is impossible to succeed as PM when a
president still holds power if one is unable to effectively
negotiate the necessarily delicate political balance.


5. (SBU) When asked about his current mission in Guinea,
Latortue said that Kouyate personally asked him to come and
help him out as a consultant some months ago. However,
Latortue said it was actually the United Nations who
officially requested his assistance and financed his trip.

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KOUYATE HAS FAILED
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6. (S) Despite his friendly relationship with Kouyate,
Latortue told Poloff that he was disappointed in the Guinean
PM because he had failed to fulfill his mandate. "He let his
personal ambitions get in the way," Latortue said.
Latortue's first meeting in country was with Kouyate, but he
then met with a wide range of Guinea's key political actors
including the president's office, the president of the
National Assembly, the president of the Supreme Court, the
head of the Economic and Social Council, the labor unions,
political parties, civil society, and the religious
community. After talking to these various actors, Latortue's
conclusion was that Kouyate has made a series of errors that
have handicapped his administration and increased the

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likelihood that he will be fired. By the time Poloff saw him
for the third time, Latortue was very worried about Guinea's
current political situation and feared a possible outbreak of
violence before his April 11 departure.

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LATORTUE'S TEN COMMANDMENTS
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7. (U) On April 7, the Lynx newspaper, a satirical weekly
publication, printed an article detailing what it called
"Latortue's Ten Commandments." The article was later picked
up by internet news site Aminata.com. According to the
article, Latortue outlined ten directives to the Guinean
Government, as follows:

- The PM must not have political ambitions.
- The PM may not use his office for influence peddling.
- The PM cannot succeed without the confidence of the
president.
- The PM cannot be bigger than the president.
- The government should not use public money for
international lobbying.
- A transitional PM should avoid unnecessary travel.
- There are trips that do not require the participation
of a member of the government since an expert or
technician would suffice.
- A transitional PM should bring in money, not spend it.
- A PM should not invent conspiracies. He must not worry
anyone.
- The agreement between the unions and the government has
not legal value. It's value is moral and political.
In any circumstance, it cannot violate the
Constitution.
- The PM should avoid getting involved in the awarding of
contracts. It is better to lose time with committees
formed for this purpose, or other existing structures,
than to lose the money when it falls into other
pockets.


8. (SBU) Poloff called Latortue on April 9 to ask about the
article. Latortue laughed and said "it is all a big joke."
According to him, he had mentioned these items as being part
of his own personal mandate when he was prime minister of
Haiti. Latortue said that the journalists naturally
interpreted it as a statement about Guinea because many of
the "commandments" could be applied to the current situation.
He said that the article was intended as political satire
and that no one should take it seriously.

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PM'S DISMISSAL IMMINENT
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9. (S) According to Latortue, the president is on the verge
of firing Kouyate and appointing a new prime minister.
Poloff said that people have been talking about this
possibility for months, but that nothing has happened so far.
Latortue said he had heard from several of his contacts that
the momentum for getting rid of Kouyate is building, and that
the cancellation of the contracts with Libya (reftel) may
have been a "testing of the waters."

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PRESIDENT IS PHYSICALLY ILL, BUT STILL ACTIVE
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10. (S) When Poloff saw Latortue on April 6, the former PM
said that he had seen President Conte on April 9. When asked
about the president's health, Latortue said that Conte was
fully engaged and active, but that he is physically
incapacitated from the waist down. The former PM
specifically mentioned that Conte could not stand or walk
without assistance. He also said that he chatted briefly
with one of the president's physicians who said Conte was
doing well on that particular day, but he sometimes falls in
and out of diabetic comas. The doctor reportedly said that
Conte could continue in his current state for ten days or ten
years.

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COMMENT
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11. (C) This initial visit seems to be more of a fact
finding mission for Latortue. After his various meetings, he

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was not sure what role he could play, but said he is
scheduled to report to the UN in New York to deliver his
analysis. The former PM said he expects to be asked to
return to Guinea for a follow-on mission, probably in July.
Various contacts within civil society, the unions, and the
political parties independently told Poloff that they are
glad Latortue is here because they need an objective third
party mediator that can help facilitate constructive dialogue.


12. (C) Although Latortue shrugged off his "ten
commandments" as a big joke, he had repeatedly mentioned
those same themes during his meetings with Poloff before the
article was published. He may not have intended these ideas
to be made public, but they likely represent the foundation
of his analysis, at least with respect to Kouyate. END
COMMENT.
CARTER