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P 311759Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9079
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 2105
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 0259
RUEHMT/AMCONSUL MONTREAL 0349
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 1290
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001533 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS USAID FOR LAC 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2018 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI EAID HA
SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER MEETS WITH CORE FOUR AMBASSADORS 
 
REF: A. (A) PAP 1517 
     ¶B. (B)PAP 1510 
 
PORT AU PR 00001533  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson, reason 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) At our request, Haitian Prime Minister Michele 
Pierre-Louis (MPL) met with the Brazilian, Canadian, French 
and U.S. Ambassadors, as well as UNSRSG Hedi Annabi, on 
October 27.  The PM acknowledged that she has yet to 
satisfactorily organize her office, and remains very much a 
prisoner of her schedule; these meetings will help her 
structure her contacts with the international community to 
better effect. This session addressed issues relating to 
judicial reform, prisons, a rumored cabinet change pushed by 
the president, hurricane reconstruction, the long delayed 
senatorial elections, and her thoughts on a donors conference 
and coordination. Although very welcoming, the PM is clearly 
burdened by the many issues on her agenda. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) At our request, Haitian Prime Minister Michele 
Pierre-Louis (MPL) met with the Brazilian, Canadian, French 
and U.S. Ambassadors, as well as UNSRSG Hedi Annabi, on 
October 27.  This meeting, we hope, will be the first in a 
series of biweekly encounters with the new PM. The PM 
welcomed the initiative and agreed that we would structure 
our discussions around priority issues, including elections, 
donor coordination, and reconstruction efforts. We also hope 
to highlight critical donor programs, including justice, 
police reform, good governance and health, on a rotating 
basis.  The PM acknowledged that she has yet to 
satisfactorily organize her office, and remains very much a 
prisoner of her schedule; these meetings will help her 
structure her contacts with the international community to 
better effect. 
 
¶3. (C) Justice Reform.  The Core 4 stressed the need for 
quick action on justice and penitentiary reform.  Given the 
press of Prime Ministerial business, we suggested that a 
quick decision on a new Justice Minister would be very 
welcome. MPL agreed, saying that she had told President 
Preval that she could not longer carry the Justice portfolio. 
 She announced that Preval would soon name Jean Joseph Exume, 
former Minister of Justice under Preval I, to the position 
again. She is, she noted, very comfortable with the decision. 
 Former Minister of Justice Rene Magloire will remain engaged 
on 3 critical judicial issues: drugs, money laundering, and 
tracking financial assets of the Duvaliers and "the gentleman 
from South Africa." Furthermore, he has asked to explore the 
re-establishment of the moribund pre-trial detention 
commission. 
 
¶4. (C)  Prison Reform. The Prime Minister said that she had 
visited all three Port-au-Prince prisons during the weekend 
and said that she was "sickened" by what she saw. The 
conditions were "unimaginable and shameful"; no Haitian 
should be expected to live in such an environment. 
Pierre-Louis pledged that she would make prison reform a top 
priority of her government and welcomed assistance from the 
US and Canada to improve conditions. We agreed to provide her 
with briefings on our efforts underway as soon as possible. 
 
¶5. (C) Rumored Cabinet Reshuffle. Pierre-Louis said that she 
had had a "very frank talk" with President Preval, telling 
him that a Cabinet reshuffle at this point, as he proposed, 
was unacceptable. Clearly unhappy by the President's desire 
to drop Foreign Minister Alrich who was, she pointed out, her 
only choice in the cabinet, the PM said that there will no 
changes.  She did not indicate how long she believes she can 
stave off Preval's meddling in the Cabinet, but indicated 
that the two had exchanged strong words on the subject. 
 
¶6. (C) Senatorial Elections. Pierre-Louis expressed 
frustration with the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), 
suggesting that it is more interested in perks than moving 
towards elections. She has now held two meetings with the CEP 
and the members continue to insist that they are handicapped 
by a lack of resources. They continue to tell her that it 
will take 120 days from the point of finishing preparations 
to hold the elections, suggesting that the election will not 
be held before June, 2009. (Note. Subsequent to this meeting, 
the CEP publicly announced April 19 as the date for the 
elections.  End Note.)  She acknowledged that holding the 
 
PORT AU PR 00001533  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
election is problematic in the wake of the summer's 
destructive storms, particularly in the city of Gonaives. The 
GOH estimates that 200,000 or so voters have lost their 
paperwork and other identification documents as a result of 
the storms and will need to be accommodated. 
 
¶7. (C) Gonaives and other reconstruction efforts. 
Pierre-Louis agreed that the relief effort in Gonaives has 
slowed, due in large part to a lack of coordination and poor 
local and governmental organization.  (As an aside, she noted 
that UNDP Rep Joel Boutroue believes that the work and 
coordination in the city is working very well, which was 
certainly not our impression from our visit there last week.) 
 The President and PM will call together major players, both 
in the government and the private sector and will name a 
special coordinator to exercise greater control over the 
process later in the week. Pierre-Louis expressed great 
concern about growing reports that assistance is being 
diverted to politicians in Gonaives, noting that three recent 
arrests have been made in such instances, and asked donor 
assistance in verifying these reports. 
 
¶8. (C)  Coordination Efforts and Proposed Donors Meeting. 
Stressing that "leadership must come from us", Pierre-Louis 
pressed strongly for improved donor/GOH coordination. She 
recognizes, she said, that the GOH has a long way to go in 
its oversight and engagement of programs. It has often not 
been able to do what needs to be done. But the donors too 
bear a certain responsibility to get it right and she urged 
that we "re-articulate" a global vision of Haiti's future 
together. To her mind, the appropriate vehicle is the DSNCPR, 
the Strategy Document on Growth and Poverty Reduction 
documents, prepared by her predecessor's government. It is 
critical, Pierre Louis stated, to address the issue of 
coordination within this framework in a rational, 
straightforward manner.  She is eager to move forward with a 
donors conference, most likely towards the end of January, 
2009 and before the February Carnival. A final decision on 
the date will be made within the week, she pledged. 
 
¶9. (C)  Comment. Pierre-Louis's offer to hold this meeting 
every two weeks is a welcome one; we hope that she holds to 
it, although it is clear that she is heavily burdened. As her 
comments indicate, the PM is finding her early days in office 
challenging. And Rene Preval is bird-dogging her every move. 
Her inability, as of yet, to organize an office which could 
support her effectively is an additional handicap that we 
hope she will address shortly. That being said, Pierre-Louis' 
intentions, as she indicates here, are all for the good. Now 
she has to deliver, always a challenge in Haiti. 
SANDERSON