HAITI MONTHLY: APRIL 2008

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000625 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: 04/29/2018 TAGS: HA PREL PGOV ECON SUBJECT: HAITI MONTHLY: APRIL 2008 PORT AU PR 00000625 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ). ¶1. (U) Summary: This is a monthly report on various topics of interest which do not merit a full reporting cable. End summary. ¶2. (C) FANMI LAVALAS CLAIMS POLITICAL MARGINALIZATION: Fanmi Lavalas (FL) Senator Rudy Heriveaux (West) on April 23 voiced the party's frustration at their continuous exclusion from the political decision-making process by President Preval. Herivaux told POLOFF that Preval's failure to consult any elected FL officials or recognize FL representatives in the selection process for a new Prime Minister is indicative of Preval's continued ploy to discredit the party and curb its increasing popularity. Heriveaux termed Preval's decision to meet with Yves Christalin as the FL representative "insulting" to a party that has a "clearly defined" leadership structure. (Note: Yves Chritalin is the Administrative Director at the GOH Ministry of the Interior and is a founding member of FL. The party has never endorsed him as a party representative nor has he attended any previous government functions in a FL representative capacity. End note.) Preval's failure to consult recognized FL representatives in the selection process might haunt him when his candidate comes before parliament for ratification, where FL has strong representation. ¶3. (SBU) SMALL DISTURBANCE IN LES CAYES: Division Commissar Henrio Toussaint, HNP's Department Director for the South, told emboff that on April 28 some "trouble-makers" attempted to erect a barricade on the 'La Ravine du Sud' bridge just outside of Les Cayes, on the pretense that a boat-load of rice was turned away by President Preval and sold instead to the Dominican Republic. (Note: The same rumors had circulated in Port au Prince during the weekend of April 25-27. End note.) Toussaint said that the police and UNPOL quickly reacted, dismantled the barricades and re-opened traffic. Alarmed, a few schools closed upon hearing the news on the radio, but they re-opened after the barricades were dismantled. No demonstrations were reported. ¶4. (SBU) NINE SENATORS TO LOSE SEATS MAY 8: The terms of ten two-year senators end on May 8, but elections to fill the seats are still pending. Taking into account the death of one senator over a year ago and the removal from office of two others (one of whom is a two-year senator),the 30-member body (which currently has 27 seated Senators) will be reduced to 18 members. MINUSTAH had speculated the Senate would vote to reduce the requirement for a quorum from 16 to 10 senators in order to make it easier for the upper house to continue functioning until the arrival of new senators. However, Senate Vice President Andris Riche (OPL, Grand'Anse) told Poloff April 25 that the five-member executive bureau of the Senate opposed reducing the quorum, and that the remaining senators would have to fill the void with more frequent attendance at Senate sessions. Regardless of the final decision, the deficiency will confuse Senate operations at least temporarily. 5.(SBU) PARLIAMENT DEBATING ELECTORAL LAW: Parliament's bi-cameral commission charged with studying the electoral law, submitted its report to the full Parliament on April 16. The full Chamber of Deputies is now in the process of voting on each individual article of the proposed law, as is common practice, and had reached article 96 of 261 as of April 28. The Chamber has not yet addressed some of the more controversial elements added to the legislation by the bi-cameral commission, such as the requirement that each communal section have two voting centers, and the expanded role given to the Electoral Guarantee Commission (CGE),an elections oversight body. The Senate will vote on the law following the Deputies before it goes the Presidency for official publication. ¶6. (SBU) SENATOR BOULOS SAGA CONTINUES: Former Senator Roudolph Boulos, whom a March 18 Senate resolution declared unqualified to sit in the Senate by dint of holding dual nationality, filed a libel suit April 25 against Joseph PORT AU PR 00000625 002.2 OF 002 Guyler Delva, president of an independent commission supporting investigations of murders of journalists. The suit alleges that Delva (who was the first to publish accusations that Boulos was a dual citizen) in early April accused Boulos publicly of having lied in the course of an investigation of the murder of journalist Jean Leopold Dominique. (Note: Speculation connects the Boulos family to this murder because Dominique figured in journalistic investigations into the death of children who allegedly took contaminated medicine sold by a Boulos family company. End note.) Boulos remains outside Haiti after departing the country immediately following the March 18 Senate session, claiming that his security was threatened. The irony is that Delva himself left Haiti in late 2007, citing threats to his life, but has since returned. ¶7. (U) HAITI OUTLAWS RICE EXPORTS: Haiti Director General of Customs Jean Jacques Valentin announced the week of April 21 that Haiti had banned the export of rice. This follows President Preval's promise of subsidies to reduce the price of rice, following the early April rioting. It is questionable whether Haiti's meager police forces deployed along the border can enforce this ban, but it is clearly meant to deter smuggling of cheaper Haitian rice into the Dominican Republic for resale at world prices. SANDERSON