VZCZCXRO3309
RR RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0111/01 0171401
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 171401Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2084
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0898
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0732
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 0345
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0780

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 000111 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PKAO HA
SUBJECT: WHA/DAS DUDDY'S VISIT TO HAITI, JANUARY 10-11 
 
REF: PAP 29 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Timothy M. Carney for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d) 
 
 ¶1.  (C) Summary:  WHA/DAS Patrick Duddy during his visit to 
Port-au-Prince on January 10-11 urged the IGOH, political 
parties, and UN and OAS officials to hold to the most recent 
electoral calendar, take action to improve the security 
environment, and encourage Haitians to participate in the 
elections.  DAS Duddy emphasized to SRSG Valdes the 
international community's firm expectation that MINUSTAH 
would address insecurity in Cite Soleil.  Valdes detailed 
plans to increase enforcement activities but stated that 
MINUSTAH would be unable to conduct major operations to 
disarm and detain gang members before the first round of 
elections on February 7. 
 
¶2. (C) Summary continued: DAS Duddy assured political party 
representatives that the US and international community 
remained committed to Haiti's development, but that 
successful elections must be the first step in that process. 
The parties expressed concerns regarding various logistical 
aspects of elections preparations and highlighted the need 
for improved security to create more confidence among the 
population.  The PM asked for a public statement from the USG 
in support of the new electoral calendar.  Post reports on 
DAS Duddy's discussion with the PM regarding the imprisonment 
of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and Gerald Jean-Juste 
(septel).  DAS Duddy's trip highlighted reassuring 
developments regarding elections preparations, but also made 
clear that elections authorities still need to undertake an 
intensive public information campaign, and that MINUSTAH must 
immediately take steps to improve the security climate.  End 
Summary. 
 
Meeting with MINUSTAH Leadership 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) In his meeting with SRSG Valdes on January 10, DAS 
Duddy stressed that the international community has given 
MINUSTAH a vote of confidence in renewing its mandate and 
urged MINUSTAH to take action in Cite Soleil to merit this 
endorsement.  Valdes responded that MINUSTAH could not 
undertake a large-scale operation against gangs inside Cite 
Soleil before the first round of elections.   The Jordanian 
contingent's incapacity guaranteed that widespread civilian 
casualties would result, and MINUSTAH still lacks specific 
intelligence to conduct more targeted operations.  Valdes 
claimed that the Jordanians had been in a difficult situation 
for too long, had suffered too many casualties, and become 
frustrated.  Rotating in another contingent before February 7 
would be "complicated," at best.  Instead, he would focus on 
securing Route National One, the main artery leading to Cite 
Soleil, and the access points into and out of the area. 
Valdes added that he also plans to strengthen and increase 
the number of  MINUSTAH/HNP joint patrols throughout 
Port-au-Prince, requiring increased cooperation among 
MINUSTAH military and police forces and the HNP.  With 
control of Route National One and Cite Soleil secured by 
MINUSTAH, Valdes expected that the HNP could then "do 
something" to act against the gangs, adding that  HNP 
Director Mario Andresol had assisted in developing this plan. 
 
¶4. (C) Reporting on a recent meeting with Andresol regarding 
kidnappings, Valdes related that Andresol believes that 
former Lavalas senator and presidential candidate Dany 
Toussaint was behind half of the kidnappings in December, 
which had risen from 69 the previous month to 240.  According 
to Andresol, Toussaint controls a band of former and current 
policemen who wear police uniforms, communicate by radio, 
speak English and operate with precision.  Thus, Valdes 
emphasized, the crime problem is not restricted to Cite 
Soleil. 
 
¶5. (C) DAS Duddy requested that MINUSTAH provide security for 
election observers deployed to the more volatile parts of 
Haiti.  Valdes said  MINUSTAH forces would be stretched to 
the limit in securing voting centers, but agreed to 
re-examine the issue, noting that "observers will be 
 
PORT AU PR 00000111  002 OF 003 
 
 
necessary to ensure the credibly of the elections.8  At that 
moment, however, acting MINUSTAH Force Commander General 
Aldunate shook his head no, signaling that MINUSTAH security 
for international observers would not be possible. Valdes, 
however, acknowledged that protecting observers deployed to 
difficult areas would have to be considered. 
 
Meeting with Political Parties 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) DAS Duddy met with Victor Benoit, Secretary General of 
FUSION, Dr. Gerard Blot, secretary general of Tet Ansamn; 
Chavannes Jean Baptiste, PPM chief and campaign manager for 
Charles Henri Baker; and Robert Manuel, campaign manager for 
Rene Preval, at the DCM's dinner January 10.  DAS Duddy 
reassured everyone that the IGOH and the CEP had determined 
the new electoral calendar; the international community had 
not imposed the new dates.  He went on to characterize the 
current atmosphere of high-level international attention 
focused on Haiti as "unprecedented," and stressed that donor 
countries expect elections to take place on schedule.  He 
urged parties to participate to fully support the process, 
help ensure that the elections were free and fare, and to 
behave democratically in accepting the results. 
 
¶7. (C) All present expressed serious concern about the 
location of voting centers and the absence of clear 
communication from election authorities about electoral 
procedures.  Blot related stories of candidates not being 
able to vote for themselves due to registration mistakes and 
a lack of voting centers in rural communities.  Baptiste 
highlighted the lack of communication from the government: 
parties and voters had too little information about the 
location of voting centers and transport arrangements. 
Manuel, representing the acknowledged front-runner, called on 
all the parties to work together and support the process, but 
agreed with his colleagues that better communication is 
necessary on the part of the CEP and IGOH.  The group 
expressed serious concern regarding MINUSTAH's failure to 
take visible actions to reassure voters that security would 
be in place. 
 
Meeting with PM Gerard Latortue 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) DAS Duddy opened his January 10 meeting with the PM by 
 congratulating him on the government's announcement of the 
electoral calendar.  Latortue reiterated that his government 
had chosen the new dates based on the consensus reached by 
the CEP.  He provided DAS Duddy with a copy of the 
government's official &Moniteur8 publication legalizing the 
new calendar (septel).  The PM noted that the Canadians and 
French had congratulated the government in the press, but 
that the USG had said nothing publicly.  He requested that 
the Department issue a public statement welcoming and 
supporting the new calendar.  DAS Duddy accepted that a 
statement would give greater weight to respect for the dates 
among Haitians and agreed to pass the request to the 
Department. 
 
¶9. (C) The PM said that he is aware that some political 
parties and even members of his cabinet are trying to further 
delay elections because of their opposition to Rene Preval. 
Latortue stressed that if elections did not take place on 
February 7 he would resign to spare himself from further 
international embarrassment.  He hoped that election results 
would be a true reflection of the electorate's will and 
stated that those who truly want to see democracy in Haiti 
need to support the current dates rather than interfere with 
the process on the basis of polling results.  Latortue 
pledged full cooperation in addressing the medical conditions 
of Yvon Neptune and Gerald Jean-Juste (septel). 
 
Meeting with CEP, UN and OAS Election Officials 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶10. (C) DAS Daddy met over lunch on January 11 with UN 
elections Chief Gerard LeChevallier, OAS Elections Chief 
Elizabeth Spehar, and CEP Director General Jacques Bernard, 
lauding their efforts to meet the new deadlines and overcome 
 
PORT AU PR 00000111  003 OF 003 
 
 
technical obstacles.  Bernard stated that his team had nearly 
completed logistical preparations, and that he would take 
final decisions in the coming days on issues such as voting 
centers and transportation. Spehar confirmed that all 
national ID cards are in the country and that OAS staff had 
distributed over 2.2 million cards. The OAS would issue cards 
at distribution centers until January 21, at which point the 
OAS would transfer cards to BEDs and BECs for further pickup. 
 While the number of registrants seeking IDs had  slackened, 
she expected that the announcement of this deadline and an 
increased public information campaign would lead to an 
increase in card distribution. 
 
¶11. (C) Bernard said he would begin holding regular press 
conferences in the coming days to better inform the public of 
these and other CEP arrangements, stating that he was best 
able to provide the kind of detailed information necessary to 
reassure the public.  Asked about key challenges remaining, 
Spehar suggested that many actors are prepared to challenge 
the results if they do not approve of the outcome. 
LeChevallier claimed that there are not enough partisan poll 
watchers, and suggested that the CEP provide further funding 
to the parties for this purpose.  Bernard questioned whether 
security arrangements were sufficient, noting that the 
international community had subjected him to intense scrutiny 
over logistical preparations, but that he did not see the 
same attention devoted to security matters.  The DCM 
explained that the international community and the IGOH 
address security issues in other fora, but noted that the USG 
continued to press MINUSTAH to take more action to ensure a 
more stable environment generally, and not focus exclusively 
on election-day security. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (C)  DAS Duddy's meetings provided reassurance that 
elections organizers have nearly completed organizational 
tasks and are on schedule to hold the first round on February 
¶7.  At the same time, however, the trip highlighted the 
inadequacy of efforts to inform and reassure both the public 
and the political parties that elections preparations are on 
track.  Bernard's decision to take on primary responsibility 
for informing the public is welcome news.  Since coming on 
board in November, Bernard has performed extraordinarily well 
and will be the best possible spokesperson for the electoral 
process. 
 
¶13. (C)  The continued wave of violence and kidnapping in 
Port-au-Prince stems principally from criminals exploiting 
the lawless atmosphere, rather than actors with political 
motives.  Regardless of its root causes, the insecurity is 
nevertheless sowing uncertainty among the electorate 
regarding their safety on election day.  MINUSTAH and the HNP 
must immediately take visible measures to establish more 
control.  We agree that current and former police officers 
are behind many of the kidnappings, though we question the 
level than can be attributed to Danny Toussaint.  In any 
case, Cite Soleil is the core area from which violence and 
crime emanate, and we will press Valdes to meet the 
commitments made to DAS Duddy. 
TCARNEY