VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #0243/01 0231835
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231835Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3254
INFO RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE 4078

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000243 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, INR/IAA, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: DR PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: WHA DAS DUDDY VISITS THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC JAN 
11-12 
 
REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 00171 
     ¶B. SANTO DOMINGO 0238 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Following his visit to Port au Prince, WHA 
DAS Patrick Duddy visited the Dominican Republic January 
11-12 where he met President Fernandez (ref a), the 
congressional leadership, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs 
(ref b) and several other cabinet -level officials.  Much of 
the discussion concerned the Dominican-Haitian relationship. 
Other important topics  of conversation were CAFTA-DR , 
border security and drug trafficking.  DAS Duddy emphasized 
to interlocutors that he left Haiti optimistic that elections 
will take place on February 7.  He assured government 
officials that the United States and the international 
community have not abandoned Haiti and stressed USG desire 
for close coordination on CAFTA-DR implementation.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U)  WHA DAS Patrick Duddy visited the Dominican Republic 
January 11-12,  where he met President Fernandez, the 
congressional leadership, and several cabinet -level 
officials.  In a meeting covered by the press, Senate 
President Andres Bautista and House of Representatives 
President Alfredo Pacheco received Duddy during a recess in 
budget discussions.  Both presidents had invited 
spokespersons from all parties to attend the meeting. 
Discussion was brief, with DAS Duddy commenting on his recent 
trip to Port au Prince and expressing optimism about the 
scheduled Haitian elections.  The fact that congressional 
leaders took an evening break in budget discussion to meet 
with Duddy indicated the strength of Dominican congressional 
interest in the United States. 
 
¶3.  (U) On January 12 during an hour-long discussion of 
DR-CAFTA which included CAFTA-DR team leader Vilma Arbaje, 
AmCham VP Bill Malamud stressed the importance of U.S. 
assistance in the form of trade capacity building and asked 
for more.  Leading attorney Luis Heredia Bonetti commented 
that the country,s dilemma is how to deal simultaneously 
with Haiti, energy, illegal drugs, other criminal activity 
and DR-CAFTA in a system lacking proper institutions to do 
so. 
 
¶4. (U) DAS Duddy,s visit received considerable press 
coverage and he gave separate interviews to leading Dominican 
dailies Hoy and Listin Diario. 
 
Discussion with Cabinet Officials 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (SBU) During  lunch at the Ambassador,s residence, DAS 
Duddy provided senior Dominican officials his readout of his 
recent visit to Haiti and election preparations.  Among those 
attending were the ministers of interior & police, foreign 
affairs, health, and the armed forces, as well as the 
ambassadors of the United Kingdom and Italy.   After trading 
impressions of the political prospects for Haiti, the 
Dominicans described the difficulties the country faces 
vis-a-vis that country.  Health Minister Rojas said that in 
many rural hospitals half of the beds are occupied by 
Haitians; he estimated that 19 percent of the health budget 
is spent on non-Dominicans.  Malaria outbreaks are associated 
with the presence of Haitians.  For malaria and dengue fever, 
typically half the cases are Haitian. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Historian Frank Moya Pons commented on the growth of 
the Haitian population resident in the Dominican Republic.  A 
1983 census had found 27,000; currently there are no reliable 
estimates.  The Dominican community is divided over the 
approach to the issue of Haitian migration; measures to 
deport Haitians prompt protests from abroad.  The issue has 
profound social and ecological impacts, especially in the 
absence of a well defined policy.   MFA Haitian affairs 
coordinator Amb. Inocencio Garcia spoke of the sharp rise in 
migration in recent years due in large part to deterioration 
of the Haitian economy. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Migration Director Amarante Baret said that the 
Haitian presence offers both positive and negative aspects 
but the two populations share an island that is separated by 
a fragile frontier. Migration has "exploded" since the 
1980's.  He offered the example of the tourist area of Bavaro 
on the eastern coast -- of the 10,000 inhabitants of this 
previously relatively barren area, 7,500 are Haitians.  He 
said that the presence of Haitians is associated with crime 
and disease, and they make tourists uncomfortable, leading to 
a tourism repeat rate of 23 percent, compared to 66 percent 
for the Mexican resort of Cancun.  "The government will have 
to exert control, and I hope the U.S. government will 
 
understand." 
 
¶8.  (SBU) After a brief exchange over the probable timetable 
for CAFTA-DR implementation, the talk turned to labor and 
again to the role of Haitian workers in the Dominican 
economy.  Migration Director Amarante said that the 
government intends to move against employers who disregard 
the rule that 80 percent of the workforce must be Dominican. 
Interior Minister Almeyda said that draft implementing 
regulations for the 2004 Migration Law, following a period 
for public comment, are now with the President awaiting 
signature.  Almeyda asked for USG understanding and said the 
government intends to handle the issue in a responsible 
manner.  The census authorized with the regulations will 
provide the information necessary to manage the issue.  The 
Migration Council's suggestion of permanent residency for 
foreigners in the country for more than ten years has 
provoked debate.  Almeyda considers that such cases make up a 
"minority."  The government needs to resolve quickly the 
question of its general approach, so as to prevent an 
"uncontrollable increase."  Dominicans and Haitians are 
different peoples, he stressed, with different cultures. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Dominican participants in the lunch were frank 
about their misgivings about the issue of Haitian migration, 
but they approached the theme mostly with generalities and in 
the abstract.  No one mentioned the headlined investigation 
underway of the deaths of 24 would-be immigrants, all of them 
Haitians asphyxiated in an unventilated closed cargo van. 
Only Moya Pons, from the previous administration, mentioned 
the highly sensitive topic of protests from abroad concerning 
Dominican handling of Haitian repatriations. By accepting the 
invitation, however, the ministers and other notables were in 
effect delivering the same message to DAS Duddy: a stiff but 
emphatic request for understanding of the domestic and 
international difficulties they face in dealing with 
migration. 
HERTELL