(C) RUMORS RESURFACE ABOUT PREVAL'S HEALTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000084

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2018
TAGS: PINR PGOV HA
SUBJECT: (C) RUMORS RESURFACE ABOUT PREVAL'S HEALTH


Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson, reason 1.5(b) and (d).



1. (C) Port-au-Prince's chattering classes have again
focused on the state of President Rene Preval's health after
a series of events in which the President looked tired and
worn. Preval, who traveled to Havana in December for a
check-up (and apparently meetings with Castro and Chavez),is
frequently rumored to have suffered a recurrance of the
prostate cancer which afflicted him during his first term.
Local diplomats, including our Canadian and Swiss colleagues,
are speculating that his health is failing. More than one
political pundit has the president with one foot in the grave.


2. (C) Preval scoffs at such reports (of which he is well
aware.) In a conversation January 10, the president told me
that he is feeling just fine and that his medical visit to
Cuba went well. He acknowledged being tired by the recent
round of late night meetings which led up to the selection of
the Provisional Electoral Council and the compromise decision
on the senatorial mandates. (reported septel.) He stated
that his Cuban doctors found "nothing worrying" in his latest
check-up and that he is "normal". Preval has brushed aside
suggestions from his aides that he seek a second opinion in
the U.S., noting he was spending too much time in the US at
his dentist's as it was.


3. (C) Preval has stopped sharing information with his
countrymen on his health as he did early last year, so
Preval-watching has become a local sport. He is of course
unlikely to be upfront with me on the state of his health,
even in reponse to a direct question. However, I met with
the president twice in the past week and attended his speech
at the opening of parliament January 14 and saw no physical
signs of ill health at this time. He maintains a fairly
grueling schedule, often working long into the night. He has
not visibly lost weight, nor is there any obvious indication
that he is on pain medication. However, he is clearly tired
and we are not in a position to assess whether that fatigue
stems from a broader medical problem. Given his inability to
delegate and his tendency to micromanage every aspect of
Haitian government, it's hard to see Preval getting away from
the job to recharge his batteries unless (or until) his
health demands it. In the meantime, speculation will continue
unabated about Preval's future -- and thus, Haiti's.
SANDERSON