VZCZCXRO1588
OO RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1106/01 2141859
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 011859Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8642
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 2012
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1792
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 1215
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1576

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV
SUBJECT: EX-SOLDIERS OCCUPY FORMER ARMY GARRISONS, 
CHALLENGE GOVERNMENT 
 
PORT AU PR 00001106  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  A group led by former soldiers of the 
Haitian Armed Forces (FAHD) occupied former military 
buildings in Cap Haitien (Department of the North) and the 
border town of Ouanaminthe (Department of the Northeast) for 
three days beginning July 29.  The disgruntled former members 
of the army dismantled by former President Jean Bertrand 
Aristide claimed they were excluded from the latest Haitian 
National Police (HNP) re-integration program and are owed 
pensions from the government.  The occupations provoked 
counter-demonstrations by Fanmi Lavalas supporters.  The 
Minister of Interior and the Secretary of State for Public 
Security traveled to the areas and personally negotiated with 
the protesters.  Both protests ended peacefully on July 31. 
Though ex-FAHD members have periodically raised their 
concerns in public, individuals close to President Preval 
speculate that this was a politically manipulated campaign to 
keep up the pressure on President Preval after the April 
riots and during the process of selecting a new government. 
End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) More than one hundred ex-FAHD wearing U.S. style 
army camouflage, stormed into a former Cap-Haitien army 
garrison /prison (now a music school) July 29 declaring they 
would not vacate the premises until their needs were 
addressed by the Haitian government.  The ex-soldiers claimed 
they were not included in the last negotiations between 
ex-FAHD and the HNP to participate in the police 
re-integration program.  They offered to aid in improving the 
security situation in the country, particularly with the 
continuing kidnappings, asserting that the HNP cannot 
adequately secure the country.  They declared that the 
government still owes them pensions.  On the same day, an 
identical group of uniformed ex-FAHD occupied a former army 
barracks in Ouanaminthe, on the border with the Dominican 
Republic.  Secretary of State for Public Security Luc Eucher 
Joseph heard about the standoff just before boarding a plane 
for a counterdrug meeting in Colombia, and cancelled the trip 
to manage the situation. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Cap Haitien HNP Chief of Police (Commissar) 
Johanny Caneus told emboff that on the night of July 30, at 
least 155 ex-FAHD (including 6 women) continued to occupy the 
former Cap Haitien army garrison, and that Interior Minister 
Bien-Aime and ex-FAHD Colonel Jean-Claude Jeudi were engaged 
in discussions with them.  The Archbishop of Cap Haitien, 
Monsignor Louis Kebreau, told emboff on July 30 that he 
witnessed a large crowd of Lavalas party members threatening 
the protesters inside.  UNPOL Contingent Commander and 
Spokesperson Fred Blaise confirmed this to poloff July 31, 
saying that on July 30, approximately 400 angry Lavalas party 
members armed with sticks and stones had surrounded the 
prison, threatening the ex-soldiers who refused to leave the 
facility (Note: Lavalas is the party of former President Jean 
Bertrand Aristide, who disbanded the army in 1995.  The 
concept of re-constituting the army is, for the Lavalas 
party, walking back the policies implemented by Aristide. 
End note.)  MINUSTAH,s primary objective at that point was 
to keep the two groups separated.  Blaise also confirmed that 
some of the ex-soldiers were armed with handguns. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Blaise told poloff July 31 that the protest ended 
peacefully on July 30 with the soldiers agreeing to disperse, 
following nearly 24 hours of negotiations between the 
ex-soldiers and the delegation led by Minister Bien-Aime and 
ex-FAHD Colonel Jeudi.  Reports of numbers arrested differ. 
Blaise reported seven arrests, among them an alleged 
kidnapper and a person carrying an illegal weapon.  MINUSTAH 
Civil Affairs Director Jay Carter reported 6 arrests, that 
many in the Ouanaminthe group were armed, but that only a few 
weapons had been found among the group in Cap Haitien. 
Commissar Caneus reports August 1 that only 38 of 148 persons 
occupying the Cap Haitian building were ex-FAHD, and that 
other 110 have all been arrested.  The press reported July 31 
that the Bien-Aime/Jeudi delegation intends to move from Cap 
Haitien to Ouanaminthe to deal with the protest there which 
is still ongoing.  Commissar Thomas Hillare in Ouanaminthe 
reported to Embassy August 1 that the approximately 100 
Ouanaminthe ex-military also occupying former military 
 
PORT AU PR 00001106  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
barracks, told him they did not want trouble but are waiting 
for the government,s delegation to arrive to tell them when 
they will receive their pensions.  They also conveyed that 
the school year is coming up, there are school fees to pay 
and they need to feed their families.  MINUSTAH was not 
called in formally in either location, but did provide troops 
at the former army garrison in Cap Haitien to maintain 
security.  Blaise confirmed that MINUSTAH believes the 
protest in Ouanaminthe was coordinated with the action in Cap 
Haitien. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Patrick Elie, who heads a Presidential commission 
investigating Haiti,s institutional security needs 
(including whether Haiti needs to reestablish an army) told 
the press July 31 that he believed this action by former 
military was a politically-manipulated effort to pressure 
President Preval in a difficult time when Haiti had been 
without a government since April and is seeking to confirm a 
new Prime Minister.  Fanmi Lavalas activist in Cap Haitien 
Nawoom Marcellus told the press the same day he also 
suspected political forces were behind these ex-military, 
since they had worn crisp new uniforms and were carrying 
'brand new' U.S. currency notes. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comment:  Under the Preval administration, former 
members of Haiti,s disbanded military have maintained 
underground networks, which MINUSTAH regards as a potential 
threat and tries to monitor.  Occasional protests by ex-FAHD 
soldiers are not unusual.  Their main demands are the 
reestablishment of Haiti,s army, the paying of military 
pensions and back pay for the years since the military was 
demobilized, and positions for their members in Haiti,s 
police force.  Embassy notes that those ex-FAHD considered 
acceptable have already been integrated into HNP ranks. 
These demands are coupled with the fervent but vague 
assertion that ex-FAHD can play a role in protecting Haiti,s 
security.  The occupations in Cap Haitien and Ouanaminthe are 
the boldest FAHD public forays in some time.  Many would 
agree with Elie that this coordinated effort was designed to 
keep up the pressure on the President after the April food 
riots, notably on the eve of the Senate,s vote for Prime 
Minister Designate Michele Pierre-Louis. (Note:  Pierre-Louis 
was in fact confirmed by the Parliament late on July 31. End 
note). 
TIGHE