Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09PORTAUPRINCE109
2009-02-02 15:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

PRESIDENT PREVAL'S TRIP TO WASHINGTON

Tags:  PGOV EAID HA OVIP RENE PREVAL 
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TED9128
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O 021551Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9466
INFO NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000109 


DEPARTMENT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, ALSO FOR S/S-0
DEPARTMENT PASS AID FOR LAC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2019
TAGS: PGOV EAID HA OVIP RENE PREVAL
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT PREVAL'S TRIP TO WASHINGTON

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000109


DEPARTMENT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, ALSO FOR S/S-0
DEPARTMENT PASS AID FOR LAC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2019
TAGS: PGOV EAID HA OVIP RENE PREVAL
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT PREVAL'S TRIP TO WASHINGTON

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


1. (C) Rene Preval's hasty decision to attend the National
Prayer Breakfast in Washington February 5 is an effort to
keep Haiti high on the new Administration's international
agenda as it takes office. Although no encounters with USG
principals have been confirmed, he hopes that his presence in
Washington this early in the Adminstration will lead to a
broader, deeper engagement with Haiti (and his presidency)
than he believes we have demonstrated heretofore. Despite
some important progress in the first 18 months of Preval's
tenure, Haiti still faces enormous challenges which threaten
its future and our own interests here. Badly wounded by last
year's tropical storms, unnerved by the April food riots, and
dealing with a crumbling infrastructure, social and economic
dislocations, and a highly dysfunctional political system,
Haiti is floundering - and Rene Preval along with it.


2. (C) Preval is famously skeptical about the intentions of
Haiti's international friends, despite the enormous US and
international financial and political effort here, and has
been known to chastise foreign interlocutors for their
perceived lack of support. However, he appreciates that Haiti
cannot go it alone. So he comes to Washington with high
expectations, even though he has been repeatedly reminded
that this visit is a private one. Nonetheless, should he have
the chance to see either the President or the Secretary,
however briefly, his agenda likely will include inter-related
themes of development, security, and stability:

-- Drugs. Preval argues, and we agree, that the flow of
narcotics transiting Haiti corrupts the political process and
is undermining the country's fragile democracy. A number of
politicians, police, and judges are believed to be involved
in, or profiting from, drugs; Guy Philippe, indicted in the
U.S. for trafficking, is running for the Senate. However, we
diverge on how best to handle the problem. Terming
trafficking "an American problem," Preval dismisses any
suggestion that the GOH needs to develop its own
counternarcotics capacity. He has demanded that significantly
more USG resources be devoted to drug interdiction, noting

that we spend more money on stopping illegal migrants from
Haiti sailing to the U.S. than we do to stop the flow of
drugs to Haiti. We have had some modest success here in Haiti
on the drug front, but remain constrained by local capacity,
very limited resources, and a difficult operating
environment.

-- April Donors' Conference. The long-delayed donors'
conference will be held in Washington April 6-7. Last
year's' hurricanes and the world financial crisis have
adversely impacted Haiti's national budget, development
plans, and remittance flows. Preval was originally reluctant
to hold the conference, believing that if it doesn't produce
more assistance, Haitians will deem it - and him - a failure.
We have urged him to look upon this meeting as a beginning,
rather than an end, and use it to lay out the government's
priorities for the remainder of his presidency, but he
remains skeptical. He wants, I have been told, a signal that
we are willing to ensure the Conference's success, perhaps
through additional assistance, and he will suggest that we
intercede on Haiti's behalf with non-traditional donors, such
as the Arab Gulf states.

-- Elections and Constitutional Reform. Preval belatedly
came to the realization that the oft-postponed partial
senatorial elections had to take place before he could launch
a national debate on constitutional reform. Although he has
yet to frame the terms of that debate, he is looking to the
U.S. to support his call for constitutional reform. He
argues, with some justification, that the 1987 Constitution
is unworkable, expensive, and contradictory. But his proposal
is controversial; many in the political class suspect the
president's motives. It is critical that Haiti get back on
the electoral calendar (the full Chamber of Deputies and the
second third of the Senate are up later in the year) and hold
a successful election.

-- TPS. Prodded by the Haitian Diaspora and struggling to
deal with the economic impact of the hurricanes, Preval
requested that the USG grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
to illegal Haitian migrants in the US. Angered by the
December, 2008 rejection of that request, Preval will again
raise this issue with the new Administration, arguing that
Haiti cannot absorb any returned migrants in the wake of the
hurricanes. With unemployment hovering around 70 percent,
concerns about food shortages again this year, and large
swaths of the country still impacted by hurricanes, Preval
argues, with some justification that Haiti cannot absorb any
returnees at this time. At the same time, we are seeing a
spike in people taking to the sea in often vain attempts to
reach U.S. shores as well as some foot dragging by the GOH in
accepting deportees. Preval shares the widely held view here
that a policy change on TPS and other migration issues is in
the works.


3. (C) Should the opportunity present itself, I recommend
that we use Preval's visit to reiterate our long-term support
for Haiti while highlighting our concerns about the direction
in which the country is headed. There is an urgent need here
for a coherent vision of Haiti's future and a renewed effort
to develop credible Haitian political institutions and
processes to realize that future. Even if Preval fails to
implement broad political change during his tenure, as now
seems likely, he can leave a strong legacy by promoting
political consensus and empowering the government by giving
his Prime Minister, an old friend, the space to govern.
Preval is not a strategic thinker, however, and he has never
fully articulated what he hoped his presidency would bring.
Yet his legacy is critical to Haiti's democratic and economic
transition. Haiti's success - and our own here - will
depend in large part on how Preval conducts himself during
the next two years and how effectively he prepares the way to
a peaceful, democratic handover of presidential power in 2011.


4. (C) Preval will deem his visit to Washington a success if
he can lay the groundwork, however tentative, for a personal
relationship with the new Administration. He clearly expects
us to be forward leaning on his agenda, although he will only
offer modest promises in return. While the timing of his
visit may be premature, it represents an opportunity to
listen to his concerns - and clearly make known our own
expectations about Haiti's future and what he must do to
shape that future.
SANDERSON