HAITI: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF USNS COMFORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PORT AU PRINCE 000372 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD, LCDR HOBBS STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL HA SUBJECT: HAITI: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF USNS COMFORT PORT AU PR 00000372 001.2 OF 004 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The government and people of Haiti will warmly welcome the visit of the USNS Comfort. The medical services you will provide are badly needed in this, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where a large portion of the population has virtually no access to medical services. Your visit also comes at a time when democratic consolidation and economic progress in Haiti have stalled, and as the Haitian President and his new Prime Minister face difficult challenges in responding to the devastating 2008 hurricane season. The security situation has improved significantly since the presidential and legislative elections in 2006, thanks in large part to the UN Mission's clampdown on gangs and improved capability and initiative by the Haitian National Police (HNP). Haiti will hold national elections for one-third of the Senate on April 19. The electoral authority's disqualification of all candidates of the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has the potential to cause instability, although the UN Mission and the Haitian National Police are prepared to put down attempts at disruption. Haiti remains inordinately dependent on international assistance. Visits in March by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon with former President Bill Clinton and by UN Security Council members have focused U.S. and international attention on Haiti just as it heads toward an April 13-14 conference of donor countries in Washington DC. End summary. Health in Haiti, and U.S. Assistance -------------- ¶2. (U) The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti's social and health indicators are those of a poor developing country. With a life expectancy of less than 60 years, the population growth rate is 2.5 percent, lower than last year's post-hurricane economic growth rate of 1.5 percent. Haiti has a very young and very uneducated population, with just over 40 percent aged 15 years and younger, and over 50 percent of adults illiterate. Unemployment stands at over 60 percent. Over 75 percent of the population lives on less than USD 2 per day; just over 50 percent lives on less than USD 1 per day. HIV prevalence among adults is 2.2 percent, with approximately 120,000 of Haiti's 8.9 million people living with HIV. ¶3. (U) The vast majority of the population has completely inadequate access to health care. Most of the countryside has virtually no health services. Maternal mortality stands at approximately 650 per 100,000 live births. Infant mortality is approximately 60 per 1,000 live births. ¶4. (U) Health is a major focus of U.S. assistance to Haiti. USG-funded basic health programs help increase access to essential health services in 72 public sector clinics and 80 NGO clinics. Nearly 50 percent of Haiti's population receives at least some health services financed by the USG. Haiti has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the Western Hemisphere. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will provide just short of USD 100 million in FY 2009 to prevent infections and place HIV-positive persons into treatment. Implemented by USAID and CDC, PEPFAR programs target HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, but also benefit large parts of Haiti's health care system. The PEPFAR program in Haiti is the largest in the hemisphere. The U.S. has the largest bilateral health assistance program in the country. Other major donor countries include Canada and the EU. Cuba has over 400 doctors working in Haiti, and gives scholarships to hundreds of Haitian students to study medicine in Cuba. PORT AU PR 00000372 002.2 OF 004 ¶5. (U) Other USG assistance efforts in Haiti -- financed by USAID, CDC, the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL/NAS),and the U.S. Coast Guard -- seek to implement reforms, build public institutions, improve law enforcement and corrections capability, and help deliver basic services. Our programs focus on rule of law/good governance, humanitarian aid, education, economic growth, building up the HNP, and improving and humanizing the corrections system. Following the 2008 hurricanes, USAID contributed USD 45 million in emergency food aid and another USD 14 million for post-hurricane recovery. USAID is continuing its programs to build disaster early warning, response and mitigation capacity. POLITICAL BACKGROUND: PROGRESS INTERRUPTED BY RIOTS, FLOODS -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In addition to being the poorest, Haiti is arguably the hemisphere's most politically troubled country. After the collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, Haiti has experienced a succession of military governments; a popularly elected president overthrown by a military coup and then returned to power by U.S. military intervention (Jean-Bertrand Aristide, returned to power in 1994); and elected regimes, primarily Aristide's, that have used violence against opponents and failed to hold constitutionally mandated elections. All these factors have exacerbated political instability and economic stagnation. ¶7. (SBU) Following the departure of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, the UN Security Council approved a peacekeeping mission for Haiti known as MINUSTAH, which now has 7,000 troops and 2,000 police from predominantly Latin American countries. In late 2006, MINUSTAH forces finally subdued criminal gangs that the Aristide regime had used for political purposes. Although the two years following MINUSTAH's initial deployment were marked by political violence, the government that resulted from the presidential and legislative elections of 2006 gave Haiti a new chance to consolidate political stability and stimulate investment and economic growth. However, food and energy inflation leading to the rioting in April 2008 brought political progress to a halt. While there was genuine social grievance behind the April protests, much of the associated violence was organized by political forces seeking to oust then-Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis and capitalize on the resulting instability. ¶8. (SBU) The Senate voted to dismiss PM Alexis on April 12, ¶2008. In the five months following his dismissal, the Haitian government was paralyzed by political gridlock. Parliament rejected two Prime Ministerial candidates on specious grounds. Preval finally lobbied hard for his third nominee, Michele Pierre-Louis, and made promises of party representation in the cabinet and in ministries. ¶9. (SBU) In the midst of political turmoil, a series of hurricanes and floods in August and September dealt the economy a heavy blow. The flooding killed almost 800 people, left hundreds of thousands without homes or livelihoods, crippled the country's transportation infrastructure, and devastated livestock and crops. The storms caused close to USD one billion in damage. In the face of strong public pressure to confirm a government able to respond to the hurricane damage, Parliament confirmed Pierre-Louis on September 5. ECONOMY STAGNATING -------------- ¶10. (SBU) The two decades of political instability following PORT AU PR 00000372 003.2 OF 004 the collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship caused economic regression and stagnation to the point that Haitian GDP per capita, today around USD 700 per year, is barely higher than it was in the late 1950s. More than 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty level, and at least 60 percent of the population is unemployed or underemployed. The Preval government has focused primarily on security but has done little to facilitate foreign and domestic investment and create jobs. Current perceptions of security levels, inadequate infrastructure, and an inhospitable business climate deter investment in Haiti today. The August storms reduced the 2008 growth rate to 1.3 percent, below the 2.5 percent population growth rate. Projected growth for 2009 is barely 2 percent. In 2008, the U.S. Congress renewed for ten years the Haiti Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE 2),a trade preference bill that allows many types of textiles manufactured in Haiti duty-free access to U.S. markets. That program thus far has created less than 10,000 jobs, but has the potential to create ten times that many. MINUSTAH: CRUCIAL GUARANTOR OF HAITI'S SECURITY -------------- -- ¶11. (SBU) MINUSTAH is the product of unprecedented hemispheric security cooperation among regional partners of the U.S. Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru contribute over half of MINUSTAH's 7,000 troops and a portion of its 2,000 police. The mission is a strong security plus for the U.S., and we strongly support it. Under the leadership of SRSG Hedi Annabi (Tunisia) and Force Commander Major General Floriano Peixoto Veira Neto (Brazil), the MINUSTAH presence remains critical to maintaining the minimal security Haiti needs, filling the gap left by inadequate force levels and capabilities of the HNP. In MINUSTAH's UN police operations pillar, Formed Police Units (gendarmerie-type police units from individual contributor countries) aid the HNP with security riot control operations, such as during the April 2008 disturbances. UN Police (UNPOL) advisors from various countries, including the United States, provide support to HNP operations. The UNPOL development pillar works with the HNP to develop its capabilities. LONG-DELAYED ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR APRIL -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Amidst the country's rebuilding efforts, Haitian authorities are preparing to hold elections for the 12 vacant seats in the 30-member Senate, a void that has made it difficult for that body to muster a quorum. Haiti's electoral authority, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), is organizing the April 19 balloting. The USG has already made USD 4 million available to help fund the elections, and international donors will contribute approximately USD 11 million of the budgeted USD 16 million in election-related expenses. The terms of another third of the Senate, along with the entire Chamber of Deputies, will expire in January 2010, necessitating yet another round of elections in November of this year. ¶13. (SBU) The April elections have generated considerable controversy, primarily because the CEP disallowed the candidacies of all applicants from Fanmi Lavalas, the fractured political party of former President Aristide. CEP officials announced February 5 that Lavalas candidates had all failed to provide an explicit authorization by Aristide to represent the party in the coming elections. Aristide, currently in exile in South Africa, declined to provide explicit authorization for any candidate, or to formally delegate that authority to any of the Lavalas leaders present in Haiti. The fact that two competing factions of Fanmi Lavalas presented competing lists of candidates further PORT AU PR 00000372 004.2 OF 004 undermined the party's case. The CEP has not relented to calls from the major international donors to make the elections more inclusive. Protests organized by Lavalas activists have so far failed to inspire significant grassroots support. DONOR CONFERENCE SET FOR APRIL -------------- ¶14. (SBU) A donor conference is scheduled for April 13-14 in Washington DC to help Haiti address the damage from the 2008 hurricane season, and to shore up state finances in a difficult budget year for the government. Haiti owes about USD 1 billion in external debt, largely owed to multilateral institutions, and President Preval argues that money currently spent on debt service would be better spent on repairing Haiti's damaged agricultural sector and transportation infrastructure. Observers expect the IMF to determine that Haiti has reached Highly Indebted Poor Country "completion point" status by July, freeing up as much as USD 5 million per month for other purposes. TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS REVISITED -------------- ¶15. (SBU) In addition, the issue of U.S. immigration policy and deportations from the United States has been on President Preval's agenda in recent weeks. Then-DHS Secretary Chertoff in late 2008 denied Preval's request for Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals illegally in the United States. We have not seen a formal GOH renewal of that request to the Obama Administration. Recent press reports that some 30,000 Haitians in the U.S. are under deportation orders have again brought U.S. immigration policy into focus here. However, the GOH agreed to resume criminal deportation flights as soon as April 15, after a seven-month U.S. suspension due to the 2008 hurricanes. SANDERSON