US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE1793

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001793 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/WHA 
DS/DSS/ITA 
DSERCC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, HA 
SUBJECT: HAITIAN STUDENT MOVEMENT DIVIDED BUT YOUTH 
GENERALLY SUPPORT TRANSITION 
 
REF: 04 PAP 244 
 
1. (U) Summary: In the year since Aristide's departure, 
university student groups and other youth-oriented 
organizations have shifted their focus from grassroots 
political activism (the "shock-troops" of the anti-Aristide 
movement - reftel) and returned for the most part to their 
founding principles -- academic reforms, employment, and 
socio-economic development. The transition/election process 
has also afforded an opportunity for student and youth 
organizations to broaden their portfolio to include civic 
education, national dialogue and support for the political 
process. Student groups, once courageous and united in their 
opposition to Aristide, are now divided -- and fearful -- and 
represent little threat to the IGOH, despite their 
dissatisfaction with it (see septel summary of the divided 
student movement). Youth groups in general are bitter that 
their efforts to rid Haiti of Aristide have gone unrewarded, 
and they bristle at being marginalized from the transition 
process. Post is seeking to engage and support those groups 
that seek to play a peaceful role in political and social 
development. End summary. 
 
 
Student support strong for elections; weak for the IGOH 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
2. (SBU) Students at first praised the transparency of the 
IGOH but soon began to criticize the lack of tangible results 
and the absence of any engagement with the youth movement. 
Students believe that they were responsible for bringing down 
Aristide and installing the IGOH and begrudge the IGOH for 
ignoring them over the course of the last year. They long for 
a consultative role on issues and are frustrated that they 
have not received any benefits from the IGOH that they 
believe they brought to power. They often say, though with 
little conviction, that they could "rise again" at any moment 
if the IGOH does not respond to their requests for inclusion. 
 
3. (SBU) The IGOH's loss of credibility among the students 
has damaged student faith in elections as well. One ex-leader 
of the CdC told Poloff that the IGOH had proven itself 
incapable of organizing anything, and it was only the 
international community that gave Haiti an "appearance of a 
State" and kept the bandits from taking power. Others claim 
the lack of any "new blood" among the politicians has 
dampened student enthusiasm. Above all, students are 
resentful that they have not been included in elections 
preparations efforts, and say they are uniquely qualified, 
uncommonly energetic, and ideally placed to help the CEP and 
the international community to implement the registration, 
civic education and voting process, if only the IGOH and the 
UN would let them play a role. 
 
 
Students divided, less mobilized 
-------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) There were few instances in the past year where 
students have taken to the streets in a show of force. For 
the most part, students have the same complaints regarding 
the IGOH as the population at large (all talk and no action, 
lack of transparency and inclusion, inept and ineffective) 
but they are more emotional in their hostility. But students 
are more divided -- by ideology and interests -- than before 
and this discord has hindered action. Many students simply 
want to get a job or get out of the country, while their 
leaders seek to join Haiti's insular political class. Leaders 
often inflate scandals and spark crises in order to attract 
press and enter the political conscience. Many old student 
leaders try to prevent new leaders from emerging, and rumors 
are rife that the IGOH (and specifically Youri Latortue) is 
building an "intelligence cell" within the student movement 
for political ends. 
 
5. (SBU) In this estranged environment, most student displays 
of force have been confused, small-scale rallies focused on 
narrow student interests and/or were staged to enhance the 
political image of student leaders: a sit-in at the Primature 
that mobilized no more than 50 backers of Saintilus; a hunger 
strike at the Faculty of Business that mixed its protest over 
the expulsion of a dozen students with a call for the 
overthrow of the IGOH; or a shouting match between 
private-sector backed GRAFNEH (see septel for group 
descriptions) and the more radical Faculty of Social Sciences 
on the security situation and role of MINUSTAH. To date, the 
primary student and youth groups have voiced their 
displeasure with the IGOH mostly in private, and at this 
stage are basically resigned to the idea of replacing the 
government via fall elections. 
 
 
Non-student youth organizations 
------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) The disruption of Aristide's patronage system that 
produced bands of "chimere" youth in targeted neighborhoods 
had two effects. Without viable alternatives, many of those 
who benefited from the handouts reconstituted themselves as 
the soldiers of the organized criminal gangs bent on 
destabilizing the country and living off the spoils of 
lawlessness. On the other hand, according to one organization 
leader, community groups that were passed over by Aristide's 
focus on loyalty rather than ideas, were liberated by the 
dissolution of the patronage system to pursue more 
socio-economic -- rather than political -- goals. Desperate 
to play a role in the transition process, these groups claim 
an existent network on the ground they say is perfectly 
placed to assist the IGOH and the international community 
with anything from disarmament talks to elections 
registration to trash cleanup. 
 
7. (SBU) As with students, however, many of these 
organizations complain the IGOH and international donors have 
ignored their offers, and assert persuasively that 
initiatives from dialogue to disarmament have failed because 
the government and the UN have attempted to impose solutions 
from above without engaging the population to help solve 
Haiti's problems themselves. They also bemoan Haiti's 
"antiquated" political class and argue that elections would 
be meaningless without a new cadre of modern politicians. 
Although almost unanimous in their reproach of the IGOH (and 
often MINUSTAH) and skepticism of political parties, they 
retain a sense of hope and interest in elections. 
 
8. (SBU) During a roundtable with the Ambassador on June 7, 
group leaders from the poorer neighborhoods appealed to the 
international community (and the United States in particular) 
to intervene in the neighborhoods and "provide youth with 
alternatives to joining gangs." Jean Enock Joseph from 
Collectif des Notables de Cite Soleil (CONOCS) called for an 
aggressive, organized social policy to fight against misery 
and lawlessness, saying residents were "desperate, but not 
hopeless." Belgarde Berton, who represents over 300 popular 
organizations in the Group of 184, called for the 
international community to work together with local 
organizations to ensure investment goes to the people who 
need it, rather than to a clique of local interests. Carlot 
Paulemon, leader of Rassemblement Nationale des Citoyens 
Organises pour le Development d'Haiti (RANCODHA), an umbrella 
organization of neighborhood organizations, pointed to the 
recent success of a June 4th Community Forum in Cite Soleil 
as a model of "bottom-up" reconciliation unmatched by IGOH 
promises of a grand National Dialogue. (Note: the Community 
Forum was funded in part by USAID via a grant from NDI. End 
note). The groups sent a clear demand for more micro-oriented 
projects and social reintegration on a local scale. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
9. (SBU) Divided and simply scared off the streets by the 
threat of chimere revenge, student groups are unlikely to 
mobilize in a mass, public display of anger against the IGOH. 
Most have by now accepted the inevitability of elections and 
are juggling bids from political parties for support. Without 
a new political personality to motivate them, the diverse 
groups are likely to remain as splintered politically as the 
numerous political parties themselves. It is unfortunate, 
however, that student energy could not be harnessed for good, 
as their support for elections and eagerness to play a role 
have the potential to stimulate greater public enthusiasm. A 
unified and public youth movement for elections and against 
violence would help grant the transition process the public 
relations momentum it needs to overcome the public's 
obsession with security concerns. 
 
10. (SBU) We have already pointed to the need to introduce 
flexible, quick-start development projects in Bel Air and 
Cite Soleil if and when the security environment permits it. 
Post is making a considerable effort to engage and support 
student and other peaceful, non-political "base movements" in 
these areas to provide a hopeful alternative to the gangs 
that dominate their neighborhoods. But much more could, and 
should, be done. We stand ready to work both independently 
and in cooperation with others to fulfill our pledge if 
MINUSTAH fulfills theirs to pacify the slums. 
 
GRIFFITHS