VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #0777/01 0622258
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 032258Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PRIORITY 4148
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3855
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000777 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL DR HA
SUBJECT: HAITI'S PRESIDENT-ELECT WARMLY WELCOMED BY 
DOMINICANS 
 
¶1.  Summary. The visit of Haitian President-elect Rene Preval 
to Santo Domingo has been a media success and a generally 
feel-good event, including the reinvigoration of the dormant 
Dominican-Haitian Binational Commission.  The press carries 
little of substance from the busy 24-hour visit.  Embassy 
expects a fuller readout next week from Haitian ambassador to 
Santo Domingo Fritz Cineas.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  Haitian President-elect Rene Preval received an 
enthusiastic and full protocolar welcome for his March 2-3 
visit to Santo Domingo.  His busy schedule will stretch 
somewhat beyond the planned 24 hours, according to the 
Dominican presidential spokesman, as Preval and his 
delegation are adding meetings this afternoon, Friday. 
 
¶3.  Preval's delegation included Rene Momplaisir, John Joel 
Joseph, Consuelo Coicou (interpreter) and businessmen Bernard 
Craan and Philippe Armand.  Haitian ambassador Fritz Cineas 
met them upon their arrival via private jet at Santo 
Domingo's Las Americas international airport, and the party 
transferred to a private helicopter for the flight to 
downtown Santo Domingo, escorted by two military helicopters. 
The delegation was based at the Hotel Santo Domingo, in close 
proximity to the Foreign Ministry, the Congress, and the 
Embassy of Haiti. The president-elect received full security 
protection, including the presence at the hotel of a 
black-garbed SWAT team, but there was in fact relatively 
little control over those who sought to attend hotel events. 
 
¶4.  Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso offered them 
lunch at the ministry and in the afternoon Preval received 
Haitian students at the hotel.  The event began with the 
national hymns of both countries, and Preval invited "those 
of you who know the Dominican anthem" to sing along. 
Communication was in French and in Creole, and the atmosphere 
quickly relaxed. Bernard Craan related his experiences as a 
student in Madrid and assured students of opening 
opportunities in Haiti. A student spokesman listed the 
difficulties of life in the Dominican Republic, much as was 
done in their recent meeting with President Fernandez and 
Haitian ambassador Cineas. and added complaints about the 
inability of the Haitian authorities to assure security and 
educational opportunity at home.  Preval sympathized and 
offered encouraging words, and the excited students offered 
him a round of applause.  A more formal diplomatic reception 
took place immediately afterward, with a good turnout in 
relatively disorganized circumstances. 
 
¶5.  Preval proceeded to the palace for a photo op with 
Fernandez, in front of a portrait of Dominican independence 
hero Juan Pablo Duarte, and after an hour's meeting in the 
presidential office, the party attended a formal dinner 
offered by Fernandez and Vice-President Albuquerque.  The 
Dominican side included FM Morales Tronocoso, presidential 
chief of staff Danilo Medina, Armed Forces Secretary Pared 
Perez, Interior Secretary Almeyda, Technical Secretary of the 
presidency Montas, Health Minister Rojas Gomez, Environment 
Secretary Max Puig, and Migration Director Amarente Baret. 
 
SIPDIS 
Ambassador to Haiti Serulle Ramia also attended. 
 
¶6.  On Friday, February 3, Preval called on former president 
Hipolito Mejia and the leadership of the opposition PRD. 
Following the hour-long meeting he commented that he was 
extremely lucky to have good friends both in the presidential 
palace and heading the opposition.  He and his party were 
scheduled for a number of private meetings and a noontime 
press conference and departure, but the departure time has 
reportedly been pushed back to late afternoon. 
 
A Very Public Event 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.  MFA Haitian affairs director Amb. Inocencio Garcia told 
political officer on March 2 that the Dominican authorities 
are "very happy" with the visit, as an opening to better 
communication and cooperation.  Preval's "good will gesture" 
of a visit to Santo Domingo was much appreciated; he 
described one of his motives as "making amends" for the 
chaotic reception of Fernandez in Port-au-Prince on December 
¶12. 
 
¶8.  The events had a very high public relations profile, but 
neither side had much of substance to share with the press. 
Preval's public comments were positive but anodyne: "My 
presence in the Dominican Republic is a demonstration of the 
interest of our two countries in marching together to find 
solutions for our common problems; it is highly significant 
that the Dominican Republic is the first country I am 
visiting after winning the election.  This is a way of 
 
telling you, President Fernandez, how convinced we are of our 
friendship."  He reportedly invited Fernandez to the 
inauguration.  Much was made of the fact that the 
presidential dinner served in effect as an initial meeting of 
a reinvigorated binational commission, an arrangement set up 
by the two but fallen into disuse during the Mejia years. 
 
¶9. In the celebratory atmosphere, hard topics were easy to 
avoid.  Foreign Minister Morales Tronocos told journalists 
that the administration had not raised migration issues, for 
those would await the formation of a new government in Haiti. 
 The FM spoke of "a friendly encounter to confirm friendship 
and solidarity."  One newspaper headlined Morales' comment 
that he had spoken with the president-elect about the 
potential of generating employment in Haiti in connection the 
CAFTA-DR free trade agreement. 
 
Comment 
- - - - 
 
¶10.  Turning the elegant and affable Preval into something of 
a media star, the visit dramatized the high expectations of 
Dominicans and the administration's pleasure that it will 
have counterparts in Port au Prince.  Haitian ambassador 
Fritz Cineas has agreed to give the Embassy a fuller read out 
next week.  We would be surprised if he admits that there 
were any points of friction.  Since he told the Ambassador in 
a courtesy call last month that his appointment had been 
cleared in advance with leading presidential candidates, 
Cineas will probably have a good deal of time to work on the 
less glossy aspects of the bilateral relationship. 
KUBISKE