BIOGRAPHIES OF NEW CABINET MINISTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001245 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/EX, WHA/CAR, S/CRS, AND INR/IAA DEPT PLEASE ALSO PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAR DEPT ALSO FOR INR/B WHA/EX PLEASE PASS TO USOAS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL HA SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHIES OF NEW CABINET MINISTERS REF: A. PORT AU PRINCE 1208 ¶B. PORT AU PRINCE 913 PORT AU PR 00001245 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Amb. Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: As previously reported (ref A),the cabinet of new Prime Minister Michele Duvivier Pierre-Louis was announced on August 26. Eight Ministers from former Prime Minister Jean-Jacques Alexis' government (including one Acting Minister) will continue in office. President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Pierre-Louis chose most of the ten remaining ministers from the various political parties represented in the Senate, although they in some cases chose close associates rather than the candidates proposed by the political parties themselves. The government was approved by the Senate early in the morning on September 5 (septel) and is scheduled to be formally installed in office shortly. End summary. PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The decree announcing the composition of Prime Minister Pierre-Louis's cabinet stipulates that she will hold the position of Minister of Justice on an ad interim basis, probably indicating that Preval and Pierre-Louis decided to postpone discussion of this politically sensitive portfolio until after the installation of the government. Biographical reporting on Pierre-Louis is available in ref B. MINISTER OF INTERIOR -------------- ¶3. (C) Paul Antoine BIEN-AIME, a member of President Preval's Lespwa coalition, will retain his post as Minister of Interior. A brother-in-law of former PM Alexis, Bien-Aime was Minister of Education, Youth, and Sports from 1999 to ¶2001. Under Bien-Aime, the Ministry of Interior has made little progress on one of its chief goals -- the decentralization of the Haitian state. Bien Aime has oversight of a loose collection of Ministry representatives around the country which he is trying, with limited success, to develop into a more formal intelligence network. MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS -------------- ¶4. (C) Alrich NICOLAS, a former employee of the Haitian Embassy in Germany, was named Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is listed on the webpage of the UN Development Program's Haiti office as a UNDP economic specialist. He has no known party affiliation but is close to PM Pierre-Louis. According to the PM, Preval "gave" her this position, allowing her to select her own to candidate. However, Preval has reportedly fenced off Haiti's relations with Cuba and Venuzeula for the palace. MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND FINANCE -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Daniel DORSAINVIL, a former advisor to President Preval, was retained as Minister of Economy and Finance. He is an economist by training who received his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996 and was a professor at Georgetown University in 1996-97, according to his curriculum vitae. Deputies and Senators widely criticized Dorsainvil during the Alexis government for his conservative fiscal policy and reluctance to disburse funds for various state projects, but he has been an accessible interlocutor for Haiti's international donors and is widely respected in the business community. Personally close to Preval, at one time he was touted as a PM candidate, but refused to put his name forward. MINISTER OF PLANNING AND EXTERNAL COOPERATION -------------- ¶6. (C) Jean-Max BELLERIVE will again serve as Minister of PORT AU PR 00001245 002.2 OF 003 Planning. He was a senior advisor to a number of former Prime Ministers, including Cherestal, Neptune, and Interim Prime Minister Latortue. While often associated with Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas (FL) party, FL leaders did not press for his inclusion in the current government. He enjoys strong support in the lower house of Parliament, and his name was floated as a potential successor to former PM Alexis before Pierre-Louis was chosen. He left Haiti as an infant and grew up in Brussels, Geneva, and Paris, where his father worked as a physician for the World Health Organization. He is fluent in both English and Spanish, according to a press report. He was born on March 21, 1958. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Formerly Secretary of State for Agriculture (2006-08) and acting Minister, Joanas GUE will be officially promoted to Minister. When Secretary of State for Agriculture, Gue negotiated concessional purchases of fertilizer from the Government of Venezuela following the April 2008 food riots. An agronomist by training, he is a member of the Lespwa coalition. He often works directly with the president. MINISTER OF WOMEN'S AFFAIRS -------------- ¶8. (C) Marie-Laurence JOCELYN LASSEGUE, a former official of Lespwa component Parti Louvri Barye, will retain her post as Minister for Women's Affairs and Women's Rights. Before becoming Minister, she was a prominent activist for women's issues and also a former advisor to Rene Preval from 1996 to ¶2001. She was a Minister of Information under Aristide but her subsequent run for the Senate in 1997 earned his wrath. According to her curriculum vitae, she studied literature at the Faculte de Lettres in Besancon, France (1979-83) and at the Faculte de Lettres et Sciences Humaines in Strasbourg (1975-78). She was born on March 1, 1955 and suffers from mulitple sclerois, for which she is treated in Montreal. MINISTER OF TOURISM -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Patrick DELATOUR, an architect by training once employed by the Institute for the Preservation of National Patrimony, will remain Minister of Tourism. His late brother, Leslie Delatour, was married to Preval confidante Elizabeth Delatour. MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Marie Josee GARNIER, who is affiliated with the Pont political party, will serve as Minister of Commerce and Industry. According to a press report, she previously worked in the Ministry of Planning and was once Chief of Staff to the Minister of Commerce. She is reputed to be close to former PM Alexis. MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Gerald JEAN-BAPTISTE will replace the controversial Frantz Verella as Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications. An engineer by training, he is the former Director General of the Municipal Water System. According to business community sources, he holds a foreign passport which will likely disqualify him for service in accordance with Haiti's ban on double nationality. MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Jean-Marie Claude GERMAIN, a member of the Union party and unsuccessful candidate for the Senate in 2006, will remain Minister of Environment. Under Germain, the Ministry of Environment launched a highly visible campaign for PORT AU PR 00001245 003.2 OF 003 environmental protection and restoration, although results to date have been modest. Germain is an engineer by profession. MINISTER OF EDUCATION -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Joel Desrosiers JEAN-PIERRE will serve as Minister of Education and Professional Training. Jean-Pierre, a lawyer by training and a former Deputy, is a member of President Preval's Lespwa coalition. He served in the Ministry of Education when former prime minister Alexis was Education Minister in Preval I. MINISTER OF HAITIANS LIVING ABROAD -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Charles MANIGAT, a member of the Unified Party of Haitian Communists (French acronym PUCH),was named Minister of Haitians Living Abroad. According to a press report, he is a respected dentist from Cap-Haitien who earned his dental degree from New York University. MINISTER OF YOUTH AND SPORT -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Evans LESCOUFLAIR will serve as Minister of Youth, Sports, and Civic Action. A member of the Komba party, he held the same position from 1996 to 2000, during Preval's first presidential term and is considered to be close to the president. MINISTER OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS -------------- ¶16. (SBU) Gabrielle Previlon BAUDIN, the former Director of the Institute of Social Well-Being and Research, will be promoted to Minister of Social Affairs. According to press reports, she is a friend of Pierre-Louis and was hand-picked by the PM to lead the ministry. Beaudin's sister is married to former Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. MINISTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH -------------- ¶17. (SBU) The doctor Alex LARSEN will head the Ministry of Public Health and Population. An official of the Fusion party, he earned a reputation as tough on corruption as Director of the Ministry of Health's Office of Employment and Maternity Insurance. MINISTER OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION -------------- ¶18. (SBU) Olsen JEAN-JULIEN, former Chief of Staff to the Minister of Culture and Communication, will be promoted to Minister. He studied historical preservation at Columbia University and, according to a press report, worked for a European Union project on the preservation of Haiti's architectural heritage. MINISTER FOR PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS -------------- ¶19. (C) Longtime Preval associate and Lespwa official Joseph JASMIN will again serve as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. Jasmin is a lawyer by profession and, according to press reports, a former member of the Parliament's lower house. He was particularly unimpressive in his handling of the portfolio in the past, earning disdain from some key parliamentarians about his lack of responsivenss. SANDERSON