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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 000038 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: PREVAL ON INDEPENDENCE DAY: "PATIENCE, PLEASE" 
 
REF: A. 07 PORT AU PRINCE 42 
 
     ¶B. 07 PORT AU PRINCE 1294 
     ¶C. 07 PORT AU PRINCE 1812 
     ¶D. 07 PORT AU PRINCE 1989 
 
PORT AU PR 00000038  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U)  This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶2. (U)  President Rene Preval's annual January 1 Independence 
Day speech calling for patience and unity has met with a 
mixed reaction, some welcoming his recognition of the threat 
of unemployment and inflation, others criticizing him for 
lack of economic and development vision.  Preval 
congratulated various government departments - police, 
customs, disarmament and justice - for their achievements in 
bolstering domestic security, increasing government revenue, 
and fighting corruption.  For the first time in public, 
Preval acknowledged unemployment and the high cost of living 
as enduring challenges.  He proposed a public-private 
partnership in rural small enterprises to remedy these ills. 
Preval concluded by appealing for national unity in Haiti's 
quest for political stability and economic development, and 
emphasized that these goals would take time to achieve. 
Political and civil society reaction to the speech has been 
largely negative, criticizing the lack of vision and the need 
for a concrete economic program.  Business sources privately 
are more positive, welcoming his support for partnering with 
the private sector.  The fact remains that Preval's 
overriding focus on domestic security and corruption has yet 
to be accompanied by a solid macroeconomic strategy.  End 
summary. 
 
Successes of 2007: Security, Justice and Anti-Corruption 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶3. (U)  Respecting past tradition, President Preval delivered 
his Independence Day speech in Gonaives, where Haitian 
independence was declared in 1804.  A significant presence at 
the speech was visiting French Secretary of State for 
Cooperation Jean-Marie Bockel.  Preval started by 
spotlighting Haiti's deliverance from the general insecurity 
and lawlessness it had suffered since 2004.  The Haitian 
National Police and MINUSTAH had dispersed armed gangs and 
improved the security situation of all Haitians.  He singled 
out Haitian National Police Director Mario Andresol for his 
decisive role in that effort.  Preval also congratulated the 
National Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration 
Commission (CNDDR) and ''Artistes pour le Paix'' (Artists for 
Peace) for their contributions to peace and security.  Citing 
ongoing kidnappings around the capital, he announced plans to 
build up the capacity of the HNP's anti-kidnapping unit. 
 
¶4. (U)  Turning to his second main policy priority, the fight 
against corruption and smuggling, Preval spotlighted 
additional government officials for praise.  For the advance 
in combating smuggling and increasing GoH revenues, Preval 
congratulated Director of Customs Jean Jacques Valentin and 
the DGI (General Direction of Taxes) director Jean Frantz 
Richard.  Preval announced GoH plans to present to Parliament 
in January a new law criminalizing tax evasion in an effort 
to help DGI increase tax revenue. Preval then thanked 
Port-au-Prince Chief Prosecutor Claudy Gassant for his 
efforts in the fight against corruption.  He congratulated 
the Ministry of Justice, the Presidential Commission for 
Justice Reform, and the Parliament on the passage of justice 
reform legislation (ref B).  He also thanked the Presidential 
Commission -- composed of several journalists -- charged with 
helping the government bring to justice those responsibile 
for past murders of journalists. 
 
Challenges for 2008: Unemployment and High Cost of Living 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶5. (U)  Preval then turned to the challenges, identifying 
unemployment as the ''biggest'' problem in Haiti.  Despite 
increased state revenue and ongoing international assistance, 
 
PORT AU PR 00000038  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Preval conceded that the GoH in 2007 did not spend as much as 
it should have and asked Ministries to make a greater effort 
to disburse funds.  However, he also blamed the private 
sector for the government's inability to follow through on 
projects.  He particularly noted private construction firms' 
lack of capacity to complete GoH-funded projects.  (Note: 
Lack of capacity in government ministries is another 
contributing factor in government failure to disburse 
available funds.  End note.)  Preval declared that ''national 
production'' is the answer to unemployment.  He proposed 
small enterprise initiatives, including clothing 
manufacturing, fruit juice production, and fish farming using 
artificial lakes -- all with government financing.  He also 
encouraged citizens to use state-owned land to construct 
cultural and sporting centers, claiming that parliamentarians 
would be happy to fund such projects.  (Note:  Here, Preval 
perpetuates the common belief that parliamentarians' 
principal role is to fund projects in their districts.  End 
note.) 
 
¶6. (U)  Preval acknowledged inflation as another major public 
preoccupation.  He laid inflation at the door of lack of 
jobs, rising world market prices, limited local competition, 
high Haitian port fees, and the lack of adequate electricity 
supplies.  He said the GoH should consider allowing "other 
investors" (note: not clear whether he meant foreign or 
domestic - end note) to enter the market and import goods, 
causing both profit margins and prices to drop.  (Note: 
Preval has made similar statements that high profit margins 
are behind high prices, angering some in the private sector. 
End note.)  To lessen the impact of high prices, Preval urged 
the private sector to increase employee salaries, as the GoH 
has already done for state employees.  He also chastised the 
National Port Authority (APN), saying APN must decrease the 
unreasonably high fees on imported goods in order to reduce 
the final selling price of those goods.  The audience 
applauded this last comment.  Finally, the President promised 
that the soon-to-be-completed generators under construction 
in Port au Prince, Gonaives, and Cap Haitien would reduce the 
cost and increase the reliability of electricity. (Note: 
These are financed by the Government of Venezuela and being 
built with the help of Cuban technicians -- see ref D.  End 
note.) 
 
Closing Message: Unity and Patience 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U)  Preval's address concluded with an appeal to the 
Haitian people not to allow unemployment, hunger and high 
prices to break the peace that ''returned to Haiti in 2007.'' 
 Declaring that the government and the parliament recognized 
the problems, he promised they would work to do better.  He 
reminded the audience that there were no miracles ''except 
from God,'' and that progress would be gradual.  ''Haitian 
people, these things are not easy,'' he said.  Preval thanked 
Parliament, the private sector, unions, the political class 
and the Haitian people for their unity, asking them to 
continue their dialogue in the coming year. 
 
Reactions Mixed 
--------------- 
 
¶8. (U)  Political and public reactions have been largely 
negative, highlighting Preval's lack of vision and of a 
strategic economic plan.  Senator Youri Latortue (a native of 
Gonaives and leader of the ''Artibonite in Action'' political 
party who has presidential ambitions) said the President's 
speech merely promoted a few commercial products, while he 
should have better exposed the sorry state of the nation, 
particularly its dilapidated road network.  "Alyans" deputy 
Noel Eliphete said the call for patience was unacceptable 
given the level of poverty, and urged the President to 
reshuffle his cabinet.  Civil Society Initiative Executive 
Director Rosny Desroches decried the GoH's lack of vision, 
and called on the government and the President to ''be more 
dynamic'' in helping the private sector establish 
partnerships abroad.  He believed the GoH should support the 
agricultural sector, especially rice production, at all 
costs.  Political party leaders were also vocal in their 
 
PORT AU PR 00000038  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
criticism.  ''Union'' leader Chavannes Jeune demanded a 
''government action plan'' instead of vague hopes for the 
future.  ''Fusion'' spokesperson Micha Gaillard demanded the 
President define an economic development program.  Evans Paul 
of ''Alyans'' asked the government to propose solutions to 
increase national production and allow the nation to produce 
its own foodstuffs. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Private sector reactions, all expressed in private, 
were more nuanced.  American Chamber of Commerce President 
Bernard Fils-Aime (protect) told PolCouns the speech was a 
simple, honest assessment of where Haiti is and ought to go. 
Preval was justified in highlighting his government's 
achievements and persons responsible for them.  Fils-Aime 
praised the President for honestly identifying the critical 
economic issues, thereby implicitly criticizing his own 
government.  But Fils-Aime conceded the speech was short on 
economic policy recommendations, and passed over gaping 
shortcomings in education and health care.  AmCham member 
Rene Max Auguste (protect) assessed the President's address 
as a fair, direct, and honest assessment -- although raising 
private sector wages was not the answer to rising prices. 
Prominent entrepreneur Reginald Boulos (protect), 
traditionally more critical of Preval than Fils-Aime, praised 
the President's call for unity and supported Preval's idea of 
a public-private sector partnership in job creation. 
Nevertheless, Boulos decried the "lack of substance" in the 
President's speech, and criticized as "demagoguery" the 
singling out of particular officials for praise.  HOPE 
Commission Executive Director George Sassine was critical of 
the President's urging the private sector to follow the 
government's example and raise wages. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Critics are correct that the President's speech 
failed to offer an economic vision or strategy. 
Nevertheless, this was the first time that Preval publicly 
acknowledged the threat of unemployment and inflation, ills 
that have increasingly intruded into political debate and 
that could become a factor in the upcoming Senate elections. 
After the successes on the domestic security front, the 
government must move to address economic development more 
directly, aggressively, and publicly.  Without a more focused 
economic policy, calls for patience and unity will only feed 
further criticism of the type this Independence Day speech 
provoked. 
SANDERSON