THE SECRETARY'S VISIT TO HAITI

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000404

SIPDIS

FOR S/S, ALSO FOR WHA FROM THE AMBASSADOR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2019
TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL OVIP CLINTON HILLARY HA
SUBJECT: THE SECRETARY'S VISIT TO HAITI

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


1. (C) Summary. As the first Secretary of State to travel to
Port-au-Prince since 2005, your visit on Thursday sends
Haitians a clear signal of continued, indeed intensified,
U.S. support for a neighbor and friend in need. Haitians,
both within the government and without, will respond
positively to this mark of personal engagement at the start
of your tenure as Secretary of State. They will see your
visit as a link between the promises of the Donors Conference
and the potential progress of tomorrow. Haiti is going
through a difficult period now and the pledge of increased
U.S. support, coupled with our strong leadership in the
international community, will help get Haiti moving again.
It will give its people and its government space and time to
rebuild and focus once again on broader development and
political goals so critical to the country,s future. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) Haiti made important and credible steps forward in
2006-2007, improving the security environment, building a
solid macroeconomic base for growth, creating democratic
institutions, and starting to address the many political and
social challenges that had undermined stability and progress
in Haiti for so many years. The United States, along with
our partners in the hemisphere, were critical to those steps
forward, both on a bilateral basis and through contributions
to, and support for MINUSTAH. Forward movement during that
period, although modest, was visible and encouraging.


3. (C) The events of 2008, however, brought these efforts to
an abrupt halt. The "food riots" in April ushered in a period
of political turmoil and economic upheaval. A spike in fuel
prices undermined economic activity and in August, four
successive tropical storms swept across the country and
caused more than a billion dollars in damage. Lives,
livelihoods and hope disappeared. The riots and the storms
played havoc with economic growth and the international
economic crisis weakened financial support for Haiti, both in
the Diaspora (which sends remittances amounting to almost 20
percent of Haiti's GDP) and among some donors. In the face
of the government's tepid response to the hurricanes and the
economic downturn, the political consensus which brought
Prime Minister Pierre Louis to office has frayed badly. The
government now faces widespread popular and parliamentary
criticism; at the same time, it grapples with a major budget
deficit and lagging economic growth. These factors have
contributed to the sense here that much of the hard-won
progress of the 2006-2007 and, indeed the country's vision of
its future, has been swept away by rioting, hurricanes, and
political infighting.


4. (C) Haiti's leaders are working to restore a sense of
purpose and direction, but it is a daunting task. There are
foundations on which to build: an improving security
environment, a relatively successful macroeconomic program
(despite the recent economic shocks),significant and newly
re-energized international support, and a government
committed to more accountability. It is time to take those
assets and use them to move Haiti forward. You heard first
hand in February from President Preval his concerns about
jobs, the budget, and the pervasive influence of drugs here.
Those themes will mark his Thursday meeting with you; he has
refined and refocused his arguments, and he will welcome your
commitment to work with Haiti on addressing these pressing
matters. He knows that the times demand effective and
concerted action; the challenge for his government is to
realize those goals. The Prime Minister argues that getting
Haiti over this short term crisis of funding and hurricane
recovery will enable her government to focus on the longer
term goal of building the country back. Whatever the
perspective, the two leaders hope that the Donors Conference
will prove to be the first step in getting Haiti back to work
and that the conference, and your visit here, will be the
means to recommit the international community to Haiti,s
future. That is, I believe, an objective that we share.



5. (C) What Haitians are looking for now is a strong USG
commitment to help them over this period. The augmented
assistance package that you announced today, coupled with our
strong leadership, will be a critical component in that
regard. Preval may argue that the results of the conference,
while encouraging, will not be sufficient to address the
country,s longer term needs. I would suggest that one of
your key messages here is to convey that the Conference and
the partnership we are undertaking is not only about
maximizing donor dollars, although that is indeed important -
but also about using the conference and the renewed
international engagement in Haiti that it signifies as a
launching pad for a coherent, comprehensive program of
economic and social development, strongly supported and
endorsed by Haiti,s friends. The plans are in place to do
so, thanks to the hard work of the government and the donors
in the lead up to the Donors, Conference.


6. (C) Preval argues, with justification, that Haiti's future
flows from its economic success. The United States has been
generous. But Haiti must do its part. In addition to our
voluminous and increasing assistance, the U.S. has passed
preferential trade legislation (HOPE 2) that allows duty-free
access for large classes of textiles assembled in Haiti for
the next nine years. Another key message will be to
underscore the importance of ensuring that industrial space
and infrastructure for investors be made available and that
the overall business and investment climate improve so that
more investors will take advantage of the opportunity of HOPE
2 - a unique program in the hemisphere outside of CAFTA-DR.
We are examining a variety of ways to help in this regard,
but much of the heavy lifting has to come from the Haitians
themselves. Improving the business and investment climate
requires that the government redouble its effort to pursue
the gamut of deficits in government - in the judiciary,
parliament, and local government - which are the focal point
of U.S. non-economic assistance. We share Preval,s concerns
about the nexus of drugs and corruption and their impact on
the fragile state; our additional assistance will help begin
the process of addressing this issue.


7. (C) You will also visit two sites in the Cite Soleil
district of Port au Prince. Your presence there will
spotlight the central U.S. role in rehabilitating a slum
district that once epitomized the poverty, violence and
anarchy that wracked Haiti 2000-2005. During 2004-2006, the
gangs drove all Government of Haiti police and civilians out
of the area, and then used the district as a safe haven from
which to carry out kidnappings for ransom and other criminal
enterprises. Cite Soleil now symbolizes how far Haiti has
recovered and what can be done with a strategic program that
links security and development. With the help of vigorous
MINUSTAH intervention in 2006 and the DOD-funded 20 million
Haiti Stabilization Initiative (HSI),Cite Soleil today is
largely free of gang rule, and kidnappings have dropped
sharply. HSI and Department of State programs are rebuilding
infrastructure and putting people to work. Haitian National
Police are returning to the area. Cite Soleil was quiet
during the April 2008 rioting, and remains so during the
ongoing election campaign.


8. (C) While in Cite Soleil, you will visit the temporary
clinic run by staff of the U.S. hospital ship USNS Comfort
under Operation "Continuing Promise," a four-month tour of
Caribbean nations. The ship is in Haiti April 9-19, where it
will treat thousands of Haitian patients at this and another
onshore clinic, and take patients on board for non-ambulatory
operative procedures. Your tour of this clinic with USNS
Comfort's Mission Commander, Commodore Bob "Linus" Lineberry,
will demonstrate U.S. commitment to humanitarian assistance
to the population chronically deprived of health services.


9. (C) Just prior to touring the clinic, you will meet with
the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Haiti,
Hedi Annabi (Tunisia),and the commander of UN military
forces in Haiti, Major General Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto
(Brazil). Annabi heads the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH),which has 7,000 military, 2,000 police, and a
number of civilian administrators and assistance personnel.
Your meeting is an opportunity to express strong U.S. support
for MINUSTAH. This peacekeeping mission is an unprecedented
cooperative effort in hemispheric security, and a significant
security plus for the U.S. Brazil, Chile, Uruguay,
Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador and Paraguay
contribute the great majority of the mission's troops and
police. Brazil, which provides the MINUSTAH Force Commander,
has been a MINUSTAH linchpin. This UN mission provides the
ultimate security backup for Haiti's still-developing
national police, and is the indispensable security umbrella
for the political and economic reconstruction efforts that
the U.S. and other donors are undertaking. It is also a
partner of the U.S. in providing humanitarian, disaster, and
development assistance. We expect MINUSTAH to remain in
Haiti at least until 2011-12, when Haiti's police is
programmed to reach force levels barely adequate to assure
security.


10. (C) You will also visit a humanitarian assistance site in
Cite Soleil funded by USAID. Your visit will serve two
purposes: 1) spotlight U.S. humanitarian assistance to a
particularly vulnerable population, and 2) provide a backdrop
for your public announcement of increased U.S. food
assistance to Haiti.


11. (SBU) On a personal note, we are honored that you will
have the time to briefly meet with the Embassy community.
This is a remarkable group of people. They worked tirelessly
under extremely difficult, occasionally dangerous, conditions
in the wake of the storms that hit Haiti last year to bring
aid and comfort to Haitians in dire need. They reached out
to our large American community in Haiti to assure their
safety. And they even managed to move Embassy operations to
our new Embassy compound during the April food demonstrations
without missing a beat. I am very proud of them and I am
certain you will be as well.
TIGHE