Since Sunday, over 200,000 confidential diplomatic notes were released by the controversial WikiLeaks website. These diplomatic correspondence between the embassies and diplomats around the world, allow to learn, among other things, how some political leaders or their policy are perceived, and what is said behind the scenes on these leaders. Thus, the correspondence from the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince, allows us to learn more about President Rene Preval without making major revelations about the man.

For the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, the outgoing president of Haiti, Rene Preval, is an ally, but his "personality" pose problem. The difficulty stems from its "world vision, his personality and his leadership style enclosed" and a "character chameleon". In fact, the President "Preval did not trust nor its advisers nor his ministers to make decisions, and even to apply them", "Preval is very few inclined to delegate power and the most insignificant details come even on his desk," says a memo of 2009.

Haitian President accepts rarely the "divergent opinions". Its decision-making "unilateral" accompanied by a vision "cynical" of the Haitian politics "Stubborn and suspicious," Rene Preval remains "skeptical of the commitments of the international community" "Preval is essentially a nationalist" "Suspicious of foreign intentions and convinced that nobody understands Haiti as well as he" "He admits he does not read or listen the news, local or international."

"Sometimes determined, sometimes distracted, Preval is often reluctant to use the levers of power of the presidency" About the exercise of power, the 2007 memo had already mentioned the "weaknesses" of the President and even a "general apathy".

HL/ HaitiLibre