US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE1214

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001214 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
EB/IFD/OMA 
EB/IFD/ODF 
WHA/EPSC 
INR/IAA/MAC 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR LAC/CAR 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAN/WH/OLAC/ (SMITH, S.) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, EFIN, PGOV, HA 
SUBJECT: AmCham meeting:  Corruption and Security 
 
1.  SUMMARY: At the Ambassador's meeting with the AmCham 
Board of Directors, Haitian business leaders raised the lack 
of security, particularly the threat of kidnapping, as the 
top economic and business issue they face, and argued for a 
much tougher law enforcement response, including arms from 
the United States for the police.  They also decried the 
pervasive corruption in the country and lamented that the 
Interim Government had not made ambitious reform proposals. 
They concluded with a request for the USG to consider 
sending U.S. troops to Haiti to help with security during 
upcoming elections.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Security is Paramount 
--------------------- 
2.  On April 27, the Ambassador hosted the Board of 
Directors of the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce, to 
review the AmCham's activities for the year and to discuss 
the state of the economy and activity in the business 
sector.  However, the main issue on the minds of these 
Haitian business leaders was security.  There was unanimous 
agreement that until the security situation in Port-au- 
Prince improves the economy will continue to stagnate.  The 
inability of the IGOH to stem criminal and political 
violence is the main impediment to growth, not just 
structural weaknesses and slow aid disbursements. Of 
particular concern to these leaders were kidnappings, a 
subject that strikes close to home to these generally 
wealthy business elites. 
 
3.  Their solution to the kidnapping problem was much 
tougher law enforcement.  Unfortunately, the police are 
outgunned and not up to the task.  The President of the 
AmCham, Philippe Armand, made a plea for more arms for the 
police, noting that the 60-man Haitian swat team has only 12 
automatic weapons, while the gangs in Cite Soleil had 500. 
He strongly urged the USG to approve the sale of weapons and 
ammunition to the Haitian police; there was unanimous 
agreement around the table on that point. 
 
Corruption Must be Tackled as Well 
---------------------------------- 
4.  A second concern raised by the group was the pervasive 
corruption in Haiti.  Top-to-bottom corruption is making 
doing business in Haiti an expensive, slow and difficult 
endeavor, as everyone looks for their cut.  The Customs 
Bureau is particularly egregious.  One member of the AmCham, 
one of the country's major importers, supplied calculations 
showing that outside of Port-au-Prince only about two 
percent of customs duties that could be collected actually 
are, contributing to lack of respect for the law and 
exacerbating Haiti's already difficult financial situation. 
 
5.  The members of AmCham agreed that officials at the top 
of the interim government were honest and had not been 
corrupted.  However, these officials, including Finance 
Minister Bazin specifically, have not taken action to fire 
corrupt officials in their Ministries.  Bazin and other 
Ministers, some felt, were reluctant to take action against 
their employees for fear of being accused of going on a 
witch hunt against Lavalas party members or provoking more 
strikes at the ports.  Several members gave a withering 
critique of Prime Minister LaTortue's weaknesses.  They 
bemoaned the missed opportunity of this government.  It 
could have taken courageous reforms since none of the 
ministers are facing elections. 
 
We Want U.S. Troops 
------------------- 
6.  Finally, the group made a pitch for U.S. troops to be 
deployed to Haiti during the election.  U.S. troops are 
needed to provide security during voting and would give the 
people of Haiti confidence to go to the polls, confidence 
currently lacking with MINUSTAH provided security. 
 
7.  COMMENT:  There are a myriad of problems that have to be 
tackled to get the economy going again, but the AmCham Board 
of Directors is correct, security and corruption must be at 
the very top of the list.  Security may come with elections 
that produce a legitimate winner, accepted by all segments 
of society, but fighting corruption will be a long-term, 
difficult battle.  Security and corruption are two themes 
that invariably come up in any conversation with a 
businessperson here.  END COMMENT.