CUBA COURTS MARC BAZIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000510 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PAS AID FOR LAC/CAR TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON HA CU SUBJECT: CUBA COURTS MARC BAZIN Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson. Reason: E.O. 12958 1.4 (b),(d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Former Prime Minister Marc Bazin volunteered to Embassy his account of a one-week early-March visit to Cuba that he and a handful of his political party colleagues undertook as guests of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. Bazin believes that the departure of Fidel Castro is moving the Cuban regime to cultivate relations with groups in Haiti it previously shunned, such as himself and his democracy and market economy-oriented political party. Bazin concludes that some in the Cuban government are beginning to doubt that Cuba's relationship with Haiti and President Preval is paying off. End summary. Cubans Cultivate New Haiti Contact -------------- ¶2. (C) Marc Bazin was Minister of Finance under Jean Claude Duvalier, Prime Minister in the Interim Government that followed the 1991 ouster of Jean Betrand Aristide, Minister of Planning during Aristide's second term and a far-back also-ran candidate for President in 2006. He portrayed himself and his political party, the Movement for the Establishment of Democracy in Haiti, as solidly pro-democracy and pro-market economy. He told Poloff February 18 that given his political background, he was surprised when the Cuban Embassy in Port-au-Prince approached him about one year ago and broached the idea of him traveling to Cuba. This was the first time in his life the Cubans (or any foreign communists) had ever contacted him. The ''approach'' included several exploratory conversations over a full year before the Cuban Embassy passed him a formal invitation from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba to visit Cuba March 2-9. Bazin and a party delegation including Josseline Fethiere, Vice President for Women's Organizations; Patrick Michel, Secretary General; and Marie-Yolene Bazin, from the party's Association for National Development, which is in charge of the party's social work. ¶3. (C) Bazin said that their Cuban hosts housed the group in an isolated villa several kilometers outside Havana, intensely and continuously chaperoned them during the visit except for one evening, and paid all their visit expenses. Their most politically interesting encounter was a meeting with the Communist Party official in charge of external relations, a Mr. Arbesu. That official declared that the ''human rights'' situation in Cuba was undergoing an ''evolution.'' Bazin asked whether Cuba would continue under Raul Castro as before. Arbesu in response portrayed Raul as a ''pragmatist'' who envisaged a gradual economic reform that would eventually make the Cuban currency ''equal'' in value to the hard currency-linked peso. Arbesu emphasized repeatedly that Cuba was ready to make an ''exchange'' with the U.S. for the several persons recently convicted in the U.S. of espionage for Cuba. ¶4. (C) Bazin recounted another long dinner at which Assembly Speaker Ricardo Alarcon had appeared although he was not on the guest list. Alarcon made several oblique inquiries to Bazin about Haitian President Preval, which led Bazin to conclude that Cuba was considering whether it had perhaps ''bet the wrong way'' on Preval. Alarcon was also concerned about the blowup between Colombia and both Venezuela and Ecuador, following the Colombian attack on a FARC camp in Ecuador. Alarcon argued to the Haitian delegation that they should not ''blame Chavez,'' since he had a volatile temperament. Bazin Eager to Share -------------- ¶5. (C) Bazin notified the Embassy in writing of the impending visit prior to his departure, and reached out to Embassy following his return. He speculated that the Cuban outreach PORT AU PR 00000510 002 OF 002 to him was the product of internal changes in Cuba following Fidel Castro's departure. He quoted another Cuban official he met on the visit, Ricardo Garcia Napolis, saying that Cuba viewed him as the only prominent Haitian ''with an economic view.'' (Note: Although Bazin was educated in the law, he worked for the World Bank for many years, and now writes an economic column in the Haitian daily ''Le Nouvelliste.'' End note.) Bazin Views on Things Haitian -------------- ¶6. (C) When asked for his views of the Government of Haiti, Bazin criticized President Preval for immersing himself in details but lacking a sense direction for the country. He described the government's recently finalized ''Strategy Document on Growth and Poverty Reduction'' as incorporating all the elements of a typical ''structural adjustment'' strategy, promising to do all the things Haiti should already be doing in exchange for alleviating external debt. The ideas of the document were correct, but all would depend on implementation, where he was not optimistic. He lamented that Haiti's outlays for health and education were a lower percentage of the budget than many West African countries. ¶7. (C) Bazin believed that former President Aristide retained the potential to destabilize Haiti. He asserted that Aristide was behind the current wave of kidnappings in Haiti, and that Aristide hoped Haiti's constitution could be amended to allow dual nationality so that his American citizen-wife could run for the Presidency of Haiti. Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) Bazin believes Cuba's post-Fidel soul-searching is behind that government's outreach to a pro-U.S. and pro-market economy political representative like himself. His account of the visit also indicates the Cubans see him as a critical observer of President Preval. Embassy maintains periodic contact with Bazin and will report back any further significant contact he has with Cuba. SANDERSON