VZCZCXRO9246
RR RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1141/01 1741913
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231913Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3368
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1084
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0929
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 0494
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0919

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001141 
 
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: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KHLS SMIG PINR HA
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES DEPORTEES WITH INTERIOR 
MINISTER 
 
¶1. Summary: The Ambassador called on the Minister of Interior 
Paul Antoine Bien-Aime on June 22.  They discussed the 
Minister's priorities, the deportation and rendition 
programs, and ways to further US-Haitian law enforcement and 
security collaboration.  Bien-Aime stated that internal 
security, decentralization, immigration and migration, and 
functional democracy were his priorities.  He would like to 
continue collaborative efforts in these areas, but urged the 
Ambassador to delay the current deportee program for one 
month to allow the ministries of interior and justice to 
review the program.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. Bien-Aime stated that security was at the top of the 
agenda for him and the new Preval administration.  In light 
of security, he raised the question of deportees.  Haiti will 
accept them back, he said, but the issue of deportees creates 
a special challenge for the GoH and that the ministries of 
interior and justice need time to prepare to implement the 
program.  He relied on the often quoted but unsubstantiated 
theory that returned deportees come back to Haiti and resume 
their "professional criminal lifestyle," which created 
internal instability.  The Ambassador acknowledged the 
minister's concerns but stressed the GoH,s legal 
responsibility to accept its citizens.  She noted that US law 
provided for visa sanctions if a country did not meet its 
legal obligations.  Bien-Aime understood but asked for a one 
month delay before the next flight arrived in order to 
improve the re-entry process, concluding that &you have 
prisoners, but we have no prisons.8  He repeated that Haiti 
would accept the deportees, but the new government needs a 
little time to get all involved parties together in order to 
avoid the mistakes of last month's deportation flight.  The 
Ambassador advised the minister that the program had been 
suspended before and stressed that she did not want this 
issue to become a point of debate in US)Haitian relations. 
The government must understand, she stressed, the great 
importance the USG attaches to resolving this issue now. 
Bien-Aime replied that he understood. 
 
¶4.    Bien-Aime told the Ambassador that his priorities were 
internal security, decentralization, immigration and 
migration, and functional democracy.  He discussed stronger 
control along the Haitian-Dominican Republic border, 
continued co-operation with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) 
and the Coast Guard, and economic development of border 
communities to reduce migration into the Dominican Republic. 
 
¶5.    The Ambassador agreed that US collaborative efforts 
were essential and would continue in the areas of drug 
enforcement and migration.  She also mentioned the GoH's 
cooperation in the past on renditions.  She noted that 
several individuals accused of kidnapping an American-citizen 
had been extradited to the United States.  This cooperation 
was very important given that almost 30,000 Americans reside 
in Haiti. 
 
¶6.    The Ambassador concluding the meeting, stating that the 
GoH and the USG had the same objective: to create a stable, 
developed Haiti.  Both promised to keep the lines of 
communication open and noted that their respective staffs 
were at the disposal of one another. 
 
¶7.     Biographical Information: Minister Bien-Aime was a 
former Minister of Education and believes that his role in 
the Ministry of Interior is similar to that in the Ministry 
of Education -- teaching Haitians how to be good citizens and 
respecting the rights of others.  Although not a man of 
politics, Bien-Aime became interested in reform politics 
while working with the poor during the Duvalier era.  He is a 
former priest who has been involved in the reform of the 
Haitian school system.  He worked for the National Institute 
for Teaching Techniques under the Minister of National 
Education Jospeh Bernard, a key reformer of the Haitian 
educational system in the late 1970,s and 1980,s.  The 
Bernard reform advocated teaching children in Creole, the 
native tongue of all Haitians and gradually introducing them 
to French (as a foreign language) through a series of special 
teaching techniques.  Bien-Aime holds a PhD from the 
University of Montreal and was a student in France, where he 
 
PORT AU PR 00001141  002 OF 002 
 
 
studied sociology and psychology.  The Minister has traveled 
to Miami and Nebraska for religious purposes.  He is able to 
speak English.  His fluency is unknown to the Embassy. 
SANDERSON