PRESIDENT PREVAL'S FOCUS AT UNGA AND BEYOND:

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001357

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AEMR EAID ECON HA
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT PREVAL'S FOCUS AT UNGA AND BEYOND:
DISASTER RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION

PORT AU PR 00001357 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please
handle accordingly.


2. (SBU) Summary: The recent series of hurricanes that
devastated Haiti has boiled down the political agenda of
President Preval to a single point: disaster relief and
reconstruction, and rallying the international community to
finance it. Preval and his new Prime Minister are trying to
turn this crisis into an opportunity by using post-hurricane
reconstruction of infrastructure and agriculture to jump
start long-stalled development. He will use UNGA as a
platform to rally the international community to support this
effort. In upcoming months, partners of Haiti should expect
to hear virtually nothing else from the President and other
GOH leaders. End Summary.


3. (SBU) Before the four tropical storms and hurricanes that
hit Haiti in August and early September, Haitian President
Rene Preval's agenda was relatively diffuse. His highest
priority remained fighting drugs and corruption to
consolidate domestic security gains made since late 2006.
Secondary goals were reforming the justice system and law
enforcement, changing the constitution, and reforming the
economy to stimulate investment and create jobs. The
government's National Strategy Document on Growth and Poverty
Reduction, approved last November, was to serve as a national
development plan once the new government of Prime Minister
Michele Duvivier Pierre-Louis was confirmed. The April riots
produced a short-lived subsidy program for rice and
fertilizer, plus a series of measures promised by Preval to
get Haitian agriculture back on its feet that had not begun
to be implemented when the first of the storms struck in
August. Preval's message to UNGA this year would have been
that Haiti was continuing its recovery, but needed continued
international assistance and the presence of MINUSTAH to
consolidate gains in security and boost economic growth.


4. (SBU) The August-September hurricane chain forced Preval
to boil down domestic and foreign priorities to a single
item: disaster relief and reconstruction -- and rallying
donor countries to cough up the funds. Since early
September, flood damage and relief efforts completely
dominate local media reporting. The government of Michele
Duvivier Pierre-Louis that took office September 5
immediately made disaster response its sole priority. All
public appearances by the President and the Prime Minister
highlight disaster relief and follow-on reconstruction
efforts. The Prime Minister has said that Haiti should use
this crisis as an opportunity to rebuild. In private
meetings, as with visiting USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore
September 16, President Preval urged the U.S. to continue our
efforts for immediate relief for disaster victims, and to
extend aid to quickly rebuild damaged roads and bridges, and
to help relaunch agriculture.


5. (SBU) At UNGA and other upcoming international meetings,
President Preval will want to discuss one thing alone:
helping Haiti and other countries of the region cope with
hurricane damage. Presidential Chief of Staff Fritz
Longchamp told Polcouns September 18 that pursuing disaster
relief and reconstruction was the only reason Preval would
attend the September 24 Haiti Key Players Group meeting.
This would also be the President's uppermost talking point at
the Secretary's September 25 meeting with CARICOM and
regional heads of government. Longchamp hinted strongly that
Preval's September 26 address to UNGA would feature
prominently an appeal for help. So would his appearance at
the Francophonie Summit in Quebec City October 17-19.


6. (SBU) Comment: President Preval and the Pierre-Louis
government appear to be trying to turn this natural disaster
into an opportunity to focus sympathetic international
attention on Haiti, to ramp up donor countries'
contributions, and to use disaster reconstruction to
jump-start Haiti's neglected economy. For at least the next
several months, all international partners meeting with

PORT AU PR 00001357 002.2 OF 002


Government of Haiti leaders should expect to hear almost
nothing else from Haitian leaders except pleas for increased
assistance. The requests will focus on disaster relief,
reconstruction of infrastructure, and jump-starting Haiti's
economy, especially agriculture.
TIGHE