US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA2432

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEGUCIGALPA 002432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TRA, S/CT, WHA/CEN, DS, AND CA/OCS/ACS/WHA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2013 
TAGS: EAIR, PTER, PGOV, ASEC, CASC, HO 
SUBJECT: AIRPORT SECURITY IN HONDURAS: TSA ATTEMPTS TO 
NUDGE GOH ALONG 
 
REF: A. STATE 258046 
     B. TEGUCIGALPA 2302 
 
Classified By: EconCouns Robin Matthewman for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (U) Summary: In recent visits to Honduras, TSA 
Representative Victor Guardia and other TSA inspectors have 
visited or inspected three of Honduras' four international 
airports, and raised several airport security issues with GOH 
officials.  In some areas, particularly the September 
inspection of the airport at San Pedro Sula, Honduras has 
performed well.  However there are certain remaining areas of 
concern, particularly the need to construct a fence to 
enhance the protection of the runway at the Roatan airport, 
and the lack of an adequate, up-to-date national airport 
security plan.  These problems have persisted in part due to 
the lack of strong leadership from the office of the Director 
General of Civil Aviation (DGAC).  TSA and embassy officials 
will continue to push the GOH to take steps to strengthen 
airport security and place a higher priority on this 
important issue.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) Over the past several months, TSA Representative 
Victor Guardia, as well as other TSA inspectors, have made 
several visits to Honduras to conduct airport assessments and 
discuss airport security issues with GOH officials.  TSA 
Representative Guardia visited the island of Roatan in April, 
and had meetings with Ministry of Transportation officials 
and the Director of Civil Aviation in Tegucigalpa in May and 
September.  TSA inspectors conducted a comprehensive 
assessment of the airport in San Pedro Sula in September, and 
are planning to conduct an assessment of the airport in 
Roatan in late October.  EconOff accompanied Guardia in the 
meetings above, and held a separate meeting in September with 
the Vice Minister of Transport (to whom the Director of Civil 
Aviation reports) to discuss certain concerns at a higher 
level. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
San Pedro Sula Airport Receives Good Marks 
------------------------------------------ 
 
3. (SBU) In September, two TSA inspectors performed a 
comprehensive assessment of Ramon Villeda Morales 
International Airport in San Pedro Sula.  The overall sense 
of the inspectors was "very positive", and while the 
inspectors made a few minor recommendations, there were no 
open items to report at the end of their assessment.  Open 
items from the previous assessment, including a proper I.D. 
badge control system and the security of the catering area, 
had been adequately corrected. 
 
4. (C) The inspectors happened to be in the airport when 
information about a security threat (ref a) prompted airport 
authorities to implement their "contingency plan", raising 
their security posture from Level 1 to Level 2.  Note: this 
contingency plan, in accordance with ICAO standards, has four 
levels of operations: Level 1 for normal operations, Level 2 
for increased awareness, Level 3 in response to specific 
intelligence information, and Level 4 for direct threat.  End 
note.  The inspectors were pleased with the organization and 
execution of the exercise, noting that employees seemed to 
know what they were supposed to do and that resources were 
being allocated wisely. 
 
------------------------------ 
But Progress is Slow on Roatan 
------------------------------ 
 
5. (U) The Juan Manuel Galvez airport on the island of Roatan 
presents a less positive example of airport security in 
Honduras.  Fourteen families actually live on the grounds of 
the Roatan airport, and until recently there was nothing at 
all separating their houses from the airport runway.  As a 
result, residents of these houses were able to walk around or 
cross the runway area to the other side where the ocean forms 
the airport's perimeter line. 
 
6. (U) TSA Representative Victor Guardia first observed this 
state of affairs during a visit to Roatan in April 2003, and 
as an immediate, if temporary, solution, recommended that 
guards be stationed between the houses and the runway 24 
hours a day.  These guards were put in place quickly and have 
remained in place ever since.  Guardia then personally 
brought the problem to the attention of the Minister and 
Vice-Minister of Transport and the Director General of Civil 
Aviation (DGAC) during another visit in May. 
 
7. (U) The ideal long-term solution would be to remove the 
families from the airport grounds entirely, but the 
government apparently has neither the financial resources to 
provide compensation, nor the political will to fight the 
legal and public relations battle that this would entail.  As 
a medium-term solution, Guardia recommended the construction 
of an internal fence to separate the residential area from 
the runway and other sensitive parts of the airport. 
InterAirports, the consortium which operates Honduras' four 
international airports, declared their willingness to build 
such a fence, identified the money to pay for the project and 
selected a contractor.  They estimate that construction will 
take 4 to 5 weeks, and since July they have been ready to 
begin building the fence at any time.  However, they have 
requested from the DGAC written authorization to proceed 
before they begin construction.  (Note: Given the problematic 
legal climate in Honduras generally, especially in the Bay 
Islands and especially in matters of property disputes, this 
request seems entirely justified.  End note.) 
 
8. (U) Twice in recent months Civil Aviation Director Cesar 
Vasquez has assured USG officials that written authorization 
would be granted and delivered to InterAirports in a matter 
of days, only to be delayed.  As of early October, the 
authorities on Roatan are apparently unwilling to grant 
written authorization to build the fence without another 
face-to-face meeting with Vasquez.  According to Vice 
Minister of Transport Pavon, the families resident on the 
airport grounds were promised indemnification by the previous 
administration.  They feel that, once the internal fence is 
constructed, the government will forget about the issue 
entirely and ignore the families' claims for compensation. 
The families do not trust the government's promises, and feel 
that allowing the fence to be built would cost them their 
only bargaining chip.  Meanwhile the runway, which services 
direct weekly flights to the United States, remains protected 
by 24-hour guards, but not by any permanent structure. 
 
9. (U) Airport authorities have responded promptly to other 
suggestions made by Guardia to enhance the security of the 
airport perimeter, which as of October is now reportedly 
secure.  Note: TSA is planning to perform a comprehensive 
assessment of the airport on Roatan from October 22-28.  This 
will be the first full assessment of the airport since 1998, 
since for several years there were no direct flights from 
Roatan to the United States.  The inspectors will also 
inspect Sol Air and Taca, the air carriers operating flights 
from Roatan to the U.S.  End note. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
At the National Level: In Need of a Plan, and Leadership 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
10. (C) At the national level, the largest outstanding 
airport security issue is the lack of an adequate National 
Civil Aviation Security Program (NCASP).  The current plan 
has not been revised since 1997, and is in many ways obsolete 
- Director of Civil Aviation Cesar Vasquez himself admits as 
much.  For example, the current NCASP tasks the "airport 
police" with certain security functions, but the "airport 
police" have not existed as a unit since the police and armed 
forces of the country were re-organized in 1999.  The current 
plan also falls short of numerous ICAO standards, such as the 
requirement that regular inspections of the nation's airports 
be carried out, or the need for a formal training program for 
airport employees with security functions. 
 
11. (C) The need for a revised, ICAO-compliant NCASP was 
formally brought to the attention of Director of Civil 
Aviation Vasquez back in August 2002.  As of TSA 
Representative Guardia's most recent visit in September 2003, 
however, very little progress had been made on drafting a new 
plan.  Vasquez could only report that he plans to hire a 
consultant to revise the NCASP, and that the terms of 
reference for this consultant are currently being drafted. 
TSA Representative Guardia stressed that he is willing to 
 
SIPDIS 
assist with the process, and that the essential required 
content of the plan is already clearly defined in the ICAO 
Annex 17. 
 
----------------------------------- 
InterAirports Tries to Fill the Gap 
----------------------------------- 
 
12. (U) In the absence of an adequate NCASP, InterAirports 
wrote their own operational plan, and sent it to the DGAC in 
October 2002 for comments and approval.  The DGAC waited 8 
months before replying, then returned the plan to 
InterAirports in May 2003 without a single change or 
recommendation, and with the Director of Civil Aviation's 
signature back-dated to October 2002 to remove the appearance 
that the DGAC had been slow to respond.  This lack of 
leadership on behalf of the DGAC led the InterAirports 
Operations Manager to comment recently that the company 
"feels like an orphan" when it comes to airport security - 
trying to do the right thing, but without any direction or 
guidance from the GOH's lead agency for airport security. 
(See ref b for more information on InterAirports' current 
relationship with the GOH.) 
 
13. (SBU) Comment: The status quo on airport security appears 
to be workable, but far from perfect.  Embassy plans to work 
closely with TSA to push the GOH to take steps to strengthen 
airport security and raise the profile of this important 
issue.  End comment. 
 
Palmer