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RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1275
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 002169 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
DRL 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) 
TREASURY FOR JEFFREY LEVINE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2011 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SNARR MARR KJUS ASEC KCRM HA
SUBJECT: A/S PATTERSON PUSHES FOR COOPERATION WITH GOH 
 
Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 
1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  INL A/S Anne W. Patterson urged increased 
cooperation on law enforcement and intelligence gathering to 
combat narcotics trafficking through Haiti during her 
meetings on November 3 with President Preval and senior GoH 
and MINUSTAH officials.   Repeatedly referring to the 1997 
illicit maritime drug traffic agreement between the U.S. and 
Haiti, Preval indicated that he expected the U.S. to prevent 
drugs entering Haiti and evinced impatience with and 
less-than-thorough understanding of the need for bilateral 
cooperation to conduct interdictions.  A/S Patterson 
re-iterated that  successful international counter-narcotics 
efforts were the result of painstaking and long-term 
collaboration.  She also urged the GoH to consider ways to 
remove Haitian narcotics trafficking suspects to the U.S. in 
the absence of a legal instrument to extradite Haitian 
nationals from Haiti.  The Minister of Justice replied that 
the matter was "under consideration."  The director general 
of the Haitian National Police (HNP), Mario Andresol, 
reported that he had initiated a process to "certify" the 
identity of each HNP officer in the field; UN-led vetting and 
certification of HNP officers would begin with the completion 
of that process, starting with himself.  He explained that 
HNP special units accompany MINUSTAH forces on patrol in Cite 
Soleil, but estimated that he needed 250 officers stationed 
in Cite Soleil to maintain a permanent presence.  MINUSTAH 
officials thanked A/S Patterson for assistance to UNPol and 
the HNP and asked her to provide more Creole speaking 
American UNPol officers.  The generally good news A/S 
Patterson received on the security front, from preparations 
for upcoming elections to the improving situation in Cite 
Soleil, reflects progress made by the HNP under Andresol and 
the indispensable impact of our INL programs.  The disjointed 
exchange with Preval, however, illustrates the need for 
determined diplomacy at the highest levels of the GoH to 
provide a realistic picture of how meaningful 
counter-narcotics cooperation must proceed.   End Summary. 
 
President Preval 
----------- 
 
¶2. (C)  A/S Patterson, accompanied by the Ambassador, 
Polcouns, and post's Senior Police Advisor,  met on November 
3 with President Preval, Prime Minister Alexis, and Minister 
of Justice Magloire at the presidential palace.  A/S 
Patterson highlighted the importance of the USG assistance to 
the police and praised the leadership of DG Andresol.  She 
stressed the importance of proceeding with vetting of HNP 
officers, and argued for closer cooperation among the GoH, 
the HNP, and DEA and U.S. law enforcement to develop 
intelligence against powerful trafficking organizations 
within Haiti.  To that end, she urged the GoH to consider 
ways to transfer Haitian nationals indicted in the U.S. to 
face U.S. justice, not only to remove the threat they posed 
to Haiti, but to develop further intelligence to use against 
other traffickers.  A/S Patterson stressed that the U.S. 
could not by itself shut down the transshipment of narcotics 
through Haiti and that progress could only be achieved 
through painstaking law-enforcement collaboration. 
 
¶3. (C)  President Preval cited "frustration" regarding the 
continued problem of narcotics transiting Haiti.  Citing the 
1997 cooperation agreement, which he signed during his first 
administration and allows U.S. forces to pursue, search, and 
seize, vessels suspected of transporting narcotics in Haitian 
territorial waters, Preval asked why the U.S. had not made 
more progress in interdicting narcotics arriving in Haiti. 
(Comment: This has become a theme in Preval's discourse 
regarding the U.S.  In another setting he recently noted that 
the U.S. was "good at catching the boats with people, but 
didn't seem to care about the boats with drugs."  End 
Comment.)  Interrupting the justice minister's discussion of 
the extradition/removal issue at one point, Preval 
rhetorically asked his minister what good changing Haitian 
law would be if the U.S. could not increase interdictions. 
He expressed skepticism that the HNP could effectively 
challenge narcotics trafficking within Haiti, downplaying the 
 
PORT AU PR 00002169  002 OF 003 
 
 
role of the anti-kidnapping unit, and referring to 
allegations against the HNP's second ranking officer.  (Note: 
 Post will report the details of charges against 
investigative police director Michael Lucius and his ongoing 
dispute with judicial authorities septel.  End Note.) 
 
¶4. (C) Minister of Justice Magloire expressed his 
appreciation for U.S. law-enforcement assistance, 
particularly support for the Haitian coast guard.   Magloire 
outlined plans to establish an inter-ministerial task force 
to better combat illicit trafficking and control the ports 
and border with the Dominican Republic and his intention to 
re-establish a special intelligence unit to police the 
international airport in Port-au-Prince.  He indicated his 
ministry was "considering" the issue of removing Haitian 
nationals to the United States for prosecutions, noting the 
Haitian constitution prohibited the extradition of Haitian 
nationals.  In the meantime, he hoped to establish 
specialized courts and judges to deal with the most serious 
trafficking offenses.  Magloire raised the issue of 
deportations, claiming that criminal deportees from the 
United States seriously contributed to criminality in Haiti. 
 
Police Chief Andresol 
---------- 
 
¶5. (C) HNP Director General Andresol reported that the HNP 
was completing a registration of HNP officers throughout 
Haiti in advance of the vetting process, which would begin 
shortly, starting with himself and other senior officers.  He 
pronounced himself satisfied with the HNP reform plan drafted 
in conjunction with MINUSTAH, and pointed to better relations 
with MINUSTAH since the arrival of Deputy UNPol Commissioner 
for Reform Richard Warren.   Implementation of the reform 
plan, he stated, was a chance to create a "professional 
police force," which Haiti had never had and an opportunity 
remove many unprofessional officers from its ranks. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Andresol accepted A/S Patterson's congratulations on 
the improvement of HNP performance and his own leadership. 
Andresol responded that progress was slow and cited a myriad 
of difficulties in improving HNP performance.  Officers were 
under equipped and stations were understaffed.  The HNP's 
special units, crowd control (CIMO) and SWAT, were coming 
under increasing pressure to perform a variety of tasks as 
they were his most reliable and best-equipped units. CIMO and 
SWAT patrolled with MINUSTAH in Cite Soleil as they were the 
only units with armored vehicles.  In order to maintain a 
permanent presence in Cite Soleil, he would require roughly 
250 fully equipped regular officers, which he did not have. 
In the meantime, he had to divert CIMO and SWAT units from 
their regular responsibilities. 
 
MINUSTAH 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Acting SRSG David Wilmhurst, accompanied by 
MINUSTAH political chief Gerardo Lechevalier, provided A/S 
Patterson a list of concerns on the security front that they 
asked the USG take into account in formulating its 
assistance.  Wilmhurst highlighted the contribution of 
Creole-speaking UNPol officers within the U.S. contingent and 
asked that the U.S. increase their number.  He pointed to 
Haitian lack of capacity to control its ports and borders, 
citing the arrival the previous day of a cargo ship from 
Boston in the port of St. Marc that had unloaded its cargo 
without any government inspection.  He also asked for more 
information sharing between MINUSTAH, the GoH, and the U.S. 
to better monitor this kind of traffic.  Wilmhurst underlined 
the enormous impact kidnapping had on the security climate, 
leading A/S Patterson to agree that kidnapping had a 
particularly adverse impact on foreign investment and tourism. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  In a separate meeting, senior members of the U.S. 
UNPol contingent told A/S Patterson that they had witnessed 
progress related on a number of fronts.  Security cooperation 
with the HNP for the first two rounds of elections worked 
well and they expected and the security plan for the third 
round on December 3 was well along.  A trainer reported that 
 
PORT AU PR 00002169  003 OF 003 
 
 
INL-funded in-service training in Cap Haitien and Les Cayes 
concluded successfully.  HNP  officers were motivated and 
eager to improve their capacity.  An officer advising CIMO 
reported that the specialized units comprised dedicated 
officers and that on the whole the HNP had mostly capable 
officers. 
 
Comment 
---------- 
 
¶9. (C)  A/S Patterson's visit underscored both the progress 
and remaining challenges in rebuilding the HNP.  On the verge 
of disintegration in the aftermath of Aristide's departure in 
February 2004,  the HNP is now present on the streets of 
Port-au-Prince and directly contributing to the improved 
security atmosphere as a direct result of our training and 
assistance.  Though MINUSTAH efforts to mentor and implement 
reform have been more halting,  MINUSTAH has also achieved 
significant successes, particularly in training the HNP's 
specialized units.  The challenge to closer cooperation 
remains with senior government officials, beginning with the 
president.  Preval witnessed first-hand the destruction of 
the HNP as an institution under Lavalas leadership and is 
still skeptical that they will ever have the capacity or be 
sufficiently rid of corruption to tackle powerful criminal 
interests in Haiti.  We need to continue to impress on Preval 
that his government must allocate sufficient resources to the 
HNP to make it self-sustaining, and to support and encourage 
the honest officers within its ranks.  Most importantly, we 
need to make clear to Preval and his security team that 
neither the U.S. nor any other international partner can help 
address narcotics, arms and other trans-national crime in 
Haiti without functioning Haitian law-enforcement 
institutions and pro-active collaboration of GoH officials. 
Cooperation on the removal of Haitian nationals to the U.S. 
to face criminal charges is one of the most important 
benchmarks of that collaboration, and post will follow-on A/S 
Patterson's visit to attempt to secure GoH cooperation. 
 
 
SANDERSON