VZCZCXRO4341
OO RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHFR #0179/01 0471737
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 161737Z FEB 10 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8318
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000179 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2020 
TAGS: PREL KPKO EUN HA XL MO SG BR FR
SUBJECT: WHA A/S VALENZUELA COORDINATES WITH FRENCH 
PRESIDENCY AND MFA ON HAITI 
 
PARIS 00000179  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Acting Minister Counselor for Political Affairs Andrew Y 
oung, Reasons 1.4(b),(d). 
 
¶1.  (C/NF) SUMMARY: In a series of meetings with WHA 
Assistant Secretary Arturo Valenzuela on February 4, the 
Elysee and MFA pledged to send more than the 100 already 
promised gendarmes to Haiti and said that France would 
consider approaching other "Francophone" countries in Morocco 
and Senegal to increase troop contributions to MINUSTAH.  The 
MFA committed to supporting and strengthening Haitian state 
ministries and institutions by training government officials 
at public administration schools in France.  The GOF promised 
to include regional actors, with particular emphasis on a 
larger role for Brazil, in donor and coordination meetings on 
Haiti and was sensitive to the need to include the Dominican 
Republic and other Caribbean countries in the long-term 
rebuilding of Haiti.  END SUMMARY. 
 
FUTURE FRENCH ASSISTANCE TO HAITI 
--------------------------------- 
¶2.  (C/NF) On February 4, Assistant Secretary for Western 
Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) Arturo Valenzuela met with 
Presidential advisor for the Americas Damien Loras to discuss 
the future of Haiti reconstruction and to thank the French 
for their close coordination with the U.S. in the relief 
effort.  Noting that President Sarkozy is scheduled to travel 
to Haiti on February 17, Loras indicated that the Presidency 
would not only focus on rebuilding the country but would also 
emphasize investing in future generations of Haitians.  Loras 
said France is fully committed to strengthening Haitian 
government ministries and public institutions through 
exchange programs for government officials at elite public 
administration schools in France such as ENA and other 
"grandes ecoles."  Stressing the need for Haitians to feel 
ownership in the reconstruction process, Loras and Valenzuela 
agreed that the U.S. and France must focus on the same theme 
of inclusion in their respective roles.  However, Loras 
indicated that Paris was not optimistic about reforming the 
Haitian government, as efforts to curb the corruption were 
made and failed long before the earthquake.  Also in a 
February 4 meeting, MFA Assistant Secretary-equivalent for 
the Americas Elisabeth Beton-Delegue said that the GOF plans 
to invest heavily in a new political generation in Haiti. 
Director General of Internationalization at the Direction for 
Global Economy and Development Strategy, Cyrille Pierre added 
that France has recently launched a project in the 
countryside to provide jobs for Haitians in the hopes of 
rebalancing the pre-existing inequalities between the urban 
and rural sectors.  Deputy to Secretary of State for 
Cooperation Alain Joyandet, Rene Troccaz, noted that Haiti 
currently has over 400,000 internally displaced persons and 
the international community must take action to stimulate 
growth with cash incentives and economic programs to redress 
this situation. 
 
¶3.  (C/NF) A/S Valenzuela described the Secretary's 
priorities in Haiti as first focused on the immediate 
recovery period, followed by the stabilization phase, and 
finally the long-term development and reconstruction of the 
country in the aftermath of the earthquake.  Drawing from his 
previous experience as NSC advisor for WHA under the Clinton 
administration, Valenzuela stressed the current challenge of 
managing international assistance in the absence of a state 
and the presence of over 10,000 NGOs threatening to virtually 
replace the government.  The Assistant Secretary noted that 
the tragedy presented a unique opportunity to try and change 
the mentality of Haitians in regards to the historical 
resentment against incorporating the Haitian Diaspora into 
the rebuilding of a state authority.  When asked by the MFA 
about his impression of Haitian Prime Minister Bellerive, 
Valenzuela described Bellerive's management of the situation 
in Haiti and his speech at the January 25 meeting in Montreal 
as "impressive" and in stark contrast to the nearly silent 
Haitian President Rene Preval.  Valenzuela pointed out that 
Parliament must be given a chance to operate again, even if 
they were to struggle, and said the immediate focus should be 
on the proliferation of tent cities and the urgent need to 
develop regional areas and local governments, like 
Cap-Haitien, that were not destroyed. 
 
FRANCE TO SEND OVER 100 GENDARMES TO BOLSTER MINUSTAH 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶4.  (C/NF) In response to Valenzuela's request for additional 
troops to support the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti 
(MINUSTAH), Loras said France would likely contribute more 
than the 100 police and gendarmes that they have already 
committed to Haiti.  In his meeting with the MFA, the 
Assistant Secretary reiterated the need for additional police 
in Haiti and raised the issue of approaching Morocco and 
Senegal with the idea of increasing the number of police to 
bolster the MINUSTAH force in Haiti.  Beton-Delegue agreed to 
 
PARIS 00000179  002.3 OF 003 
 
 
reach out to Francophone countries with the capacity to send 
troops to encourage them to support MINUSTAH.  Valenzuela 
noted that the Brazilians represent the largest force in UN 
stabilization mission, with 1,300 troops, closely followed by 
Uruguay, with 1,200. 
 
FRENCH PROPOSE PREPARATORY MEETING BEFORE DONORS' CONFERENCE 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
¶5.  (C/NF) Cooperation Ministry Deputy Troccaz previewed that 
Ambassador for Reconstruction Pierre Dusquene plans to 
organize a working-level conference on Haiti in Santo Domingo 
before the March or April summit.  The prepatory meeting 
would be focused on the experience of civil servants already 
on the ground in Haiti.  Although he did not respond directly 
to the prepatory meeting proposal, Valenzuela stressed that 
the U.S. did not wish to hold a group meeting comprised only 
of countries from the North but preferred more inclusive and 
global meetings set in the South. 
 
CALL FOR A REGIONAL RESPONSE TO HAITI 
------------------------------------- 
¶6.  (C/NF) At a lunch hosted by the DCM with French think 
tanks specializing in Latin America on February 4, Valenzuela 
focused on the need for a regional response to Haiti. 
Reiterating the need to rebuild Haiti in a process that 
heavily involved regional actors and the Caribbean countries 
at a speech at the Institut des Ameriques (IDA) on February 
5, the Assistant Secretary judged that the long-term process 
of reconstruction would take at least 10 years and would 
require working with the UN to manage the aid donations while 
implementing state building in conjunction with Haitian 
officials.  Valenzuela remarked to the MFA that U.S. policy 
before the disaster was centered on a strategic plan aimed at 
reforming Haitian political structures while the current 
approach represents a shift in focus on developing the 
Caribbean as a whole, to include the Dominican Republic and 
Jamaica in the discussion.  Valenzuela spoke of the need to 
align the respective roles for the international community 
with what they could do, distinguishing between large donor 
countries like Japan, who has already pledged $70 million, 
with others who are more capable of supplying human 
resources.  A/S Valenzuela said he would also promote roles 
for the Inter-American Development Bank as well as the 
Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM). 
 
SARKOZY: BETTING ON BRAZIL 
-------------------------- 
¶7.  (C/NF) In discussions of a regional approach to 
reconstruction, Loras said France would like to see a larger 
role for Brazil, even at the expense of France's role at the 
table. Loras stressed that the GOF wants to encourage Brazil 
to take on more action on the international stage and become 
more of a global stakeholder.  Calling Brazilian diplomacy a 
mirror of old South versus North foreign policy values, Loras 
emphasized that the western world needs to be "united" among 
emerging countries in the face of growing influence by the 
Chinese.  Loras suggested that Lula is eager to join the U.S. 
and France on many multilateral issues but is being "lured" 
by China, which in 2009 was Brazil's leading trade partner. 
Highlighting the strong personal chemistry between the two 
presidents, Loras said that Sarkozy has "bet on Brazil" and 
succeeded in sowing the roots of a lasting Franco-Brazilian 
relationship, making him confident that France's closest ties 
in Latin America would continue regardless of who succeeded 
Lula.  Loras indicated that the GOF was disappointed by 
Brazil's decision to host an Ahmadinejad visit but were not 
surprised, as Lula does not fully understand the internal 
issues in Iran and believed that he could act as mediator as 
he has done with Palestine.  Loras added that there is a 
faction in Brasilia that wants Brazil to have nuclear power 
and wishes to leave their options open, with an eye to a 
possible arms race with Argentina.  Valenzuela recognized the 
enormous progress in Brazil under Lula, who has succeeded in 
consolidating reforms by turning them into a national 
project.  However, he raised concerns and frustration on 
climate change and Brazil's naive decision to engage with 
Iran.  Both Valenzuela and Loras concurred that the ground is 
set for discussion and potential persuasion of Brazil to 
align more closely with the U.S. and France. 
 
¶8.  (C/NF) COMMENT: Although the MFA was eager to meet with 
and coordinate the relief and reconstruction effort with A/S 
Valenzuela, his French interlocutors could only provide a 
general idea of the GOF's plans in the rebuilding of Haiti, 
relying heavily on Valenzuela to provide insight from the 
U.S. perspective on how best to proceed. (Note: Secretary of 
State for Cooperation and the lead for the French emergency 
response Alain Joyandet was campaigning and Ambassador for 
Reconstruction Pierre Dusquene was in Haiti at the time of 
the visit.)  The controversy over Joyandet's heated remarks 
regarding the U.S. response to Haiti were completely absent 
 
PARIS 00000179  003.3 OF 003 
 
 
in the bilateral discussions and press availabilities, 
demonstrating that the concerted efforts at the highest 
levels of the French government to quell the gaffe were 
indeed successful.  Even though Sarkozy initially announced 
an international conference led by the U.S., France, Canada, 
and Brazil, it appears that the Elysee may now be backing off 
from inserting France into such a prominent role in the 
donors' conference, instead choosing to rally behind Lula and 
placing their closest ally in the region in the international 
spotlight.  Although Sarkozy may still attend the summit on 
Haiti, France is likely to try to position themselves in a 
key background role over the next few months.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶9.  (U) A/S Valenzuela has cleared this cable. 
 
RIVKIN