COST OF LIVING PROTESTS CONTINUE IN LES CAYES AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000551 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV HA ECON PHUM SUBJECT: COST OF LIVING PROTESTS CONTINUE IN LES CAYES AND PORT-AU-PRINCE REF: PORT AU PRINCE 544 Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Sporadic protests over the rising cost of living have resumed in Les Cayes and Port au Prince, after the situation in Les Cayes had calmed over the weekend. MINUSTAH sources report a crowd of at least 1,000 protesters re-convened in Les Cayes the morning of April 7. Port au Prince has become the focus of demonstrations April 7, where a number of sporadic demonstrations numbering in the hundreds convened beginning mid-morning to protest cost of living (see reftel). A crowd of several hundred marchers passed by the parliament and the Embassy late morning April 7. Demonstrators have damaged vehicles parked next to the Consulate and the Embassy Public Affairs building and reportedly damaged vehicles next to the Ministry of Commerce. A partially-effective public transport strike is underway in the capital. The government has said nothing since the Prime Minister's April 4 press conference announcing new economic measures, even as protests are now occurring in the capital. The President remains incommunicado. End summary. LES CAYES DEMONSTRATIONS -------------- ¶2. (C) Mid-morning, April 7, MINUSTAH U.S. UNPOL Commander reported to poloff that about 1,000 demonstrators had re-assembled in Les Cayes, reportedly marching once again to MINUSTAH's headquarters, some of them armed with machetes and guns. Press reports say that demonstrators attacked a hotel owned by Senator Gabriel Fortune (Union South Department) as well as his home, apparently angered by his support for the Prime Minister's April 4 statement that criminal elements linked to drug traffickers had infiltrated the April 3-4 demonstrations and caused the violence. ¶3. (C) This occurred after the situation in Les Cayes had calmed over the previous weekend. UNPOL Commander Eddy Lindor, based in Les Cayes, reported to ARSO that on Saturday April 5, the situation in Les Cayes was relatively quiet and that an imposed curfew of 6:00 pm the previous evening had been effective. One UNPOL vehicle was reported stolen by three men who were later arrested, and there was one report of a break-in into an UNPOL officer's house on the night of April 4. ¶4. (C) Commander Lindor also reported that Yves Pierre, the self-proclaimed representative of one of the Les Cayes protest groups, (who apparently came forward on the first day of the protests to demand MINUSTAH leave Haiti) came forward again to discuss the situation with UN commanders, including Officer Lindor. As the commander of UNPOL on the ground, Officer Lindor said he spoke directly with Pierre. Pierre then stated that eight of their protestors had been shot, and he accused MINUSTAH of shooting directly at the unarmed protestors. Officer Lindor denied that UN personnel had been firing directly at unarmed protestors and told Pierre they had every right to protest peacefully, but that if they remained violent and continued to attack UN personnel they would be met with force. Pierre stated that they would continue to protest, but that they would cease doing so in a violent manner. ¶5. (C) Lindor also conveyed to ARSO that he had a "bad feeling" that many of the HNP officers based in Les Cayes were acting suspiciously in recent days, and that he believed they were directly involved in the protests. He expressed concern that the HNP did not appear motivated to go after the more aggressive protesters in earnest. UNPOL has heard multiple but unsubstantiated rumors that known drug-trafficker (on the run),Guy Phillipe, has influenced the demonstrations in his home town of Les Cayes, supplying them with arms and money. Lindor said that he does not trust Henrio Toussaint, Police Commissar for Les Cayes, and believes the man is connected to Guy Phillipe. PORT-AU-PRINCE DEMONSTRATIONS -------------- PORT AU PR 00000551 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) As of 1500 hrs local, several groups demonstrators are marching in various areas of the capital. The afternoon of April 7, a group of several hundred demonstrators filed past the parliament and then the Embassy, with no violence. However, smaller groups of demonstrators stoned the Consulate and the Embassy's Public Diplomacy building the same afternoon, and damaged several cars parked in front of those facilities. Press reports say that demonstrators burned or damaged twenty vehicles in front of the Ministry of Commerce. Sporadic gatherings formed in the neighborhoods of Carrefour, BelAir, and Cite Soleil. Throughout the day April 7, post has received reports from Embassy local guards of demonstrators moving to and from the slums of Cite Soleil and Belair. There is also a partial strike of public transport workers (private route taxis known as "tap taps") which has actually eased traffic in the city. Earlier in the morning of April 7, Embassy heard from several sources of a tire-burning near the Montana Hotel, and some reports of sporadic rock-throwing, but no injuries. ¶7. (C) Ambassador convened an EAC at 1200 hrs local time. EAC decided to circulate the Travel Warning for Haiti as a Warden Notice. EAC reiterated that Embassy officials should exercise heightened caution in their movements around the capital and underscored the need for prudence. ¶8. (C) Comment: There remains the strong possibility that these protests could become larger and more violent. HNP and UNPOL officers say that multiple sources tell them that better organized and larger demonstrations are planned for April 8 in the capital. In the cost of living protests in Port-au-Prince, demonstrators are directing their anger toward the government rather than MINUSTAH. The GOH and MINUSTAH believe that criminals linked to drug-trafficking infiltrated the initially peaceful demonstration in Les Cayes and incited the violence. We do not yet know whether similar criminal or gang elements are at work in the capital. MINUSTAH sources also convey that according to some government officials, some Fanmi Lavalas hardliners have been encouraging anti-government sentiment and unrest in the poorest and densely-populated areas of Port-au-Prince such as Cite Soleil and Bel Air for some time. End comment. SANDERSON