TED9128
ACTION WHA-00   

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      TEDE-00  INR-00   IO-00    LAB-01   MOFM-00  MOF-00   M-00     
      VCIE-00  NSAE-00  NIMA-00  PC-01    PM-00    GIWI-00  DOHS-00  
      FMPC-00  IRM-00   SSO-00   SS-00    EPAE-00  SCRS-00  PMB-00   
      DSCC-00  PRM-00   DRL-00   NFAT-00  SAS-00   FA-00    SWCI-00  
      (EEB-00   AID-00   DEAE-00  L-00     NSCE-00  STR-00   
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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). 
 
¶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