US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA759

S E C R E T TEGUCIGALPA 000759 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CCA, WHA/CEN, AND WHA/PPC 
STATE FOR DRL, DRL/MLA, IO, AND INR/AN/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PINR, KDEM, CU, HO, CHR-1 
SUBJECT: HONDURAS RELEASES TEXT OF UNCHR CUBA RESOLUTION; 
PRESIDENT MADURO EMPHASIZES IMPORTANCE OF DEMOCRACY 
 
REF: A. PALMER/LINDWALL/PIERCE E-MAILS 3/31 AND 4/1 
 
     B. TEGUCIGALPA 741 
     C. TEGUCIGALPA 738 
     D. GENEVA 885 
     E. STATE 68031 
     F. STATE 65652 
     G. STATE 62815 
     H. TEGUCIGALPA 595 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Larry Palmer; 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (U) Honduran Foreign Minister Leonidas Rosa Bautista 
called Ambassador just prior to 11:00 a.m. to inform 
Ambassador that the MFA had released the text of the UN 
Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) Cuba Resolution.  The text 
was included in a press release that laid out the GOH's 
reasons for sponsoring the resolution.  The Honduran Embassy 
in Washington sent the press release, under cover of a 
diplomatic note, to WHA/CEN prior to the document being 
released.  The MFA subsequently faxed the press release to 
the Embassy.  Post will send an informal translation of the 
press release by septel. 
 
2. (S) Post had learned a short time earlier that, at 9:00 
a.m., the Director of Protocol at the MFA, Ambassador Ricardo 
Flores, who has traveled to Cuba on several occasions, had 
delivered the text of the resolution to Cuban Ambassador 
Gonzalez Polanco.  Gonzalez told Flores that Cuba viewed the 
resolution as a hostile act against Cuba, ordered by 
Honduras' "superiors."  He said the resolution represented 
interference in internal Cuban affairs, with no legal or 
moral basis.  He added that he was saddened by the language 
which the "Yanquis" had given to the Hondurans.  As Flores 
left, Gonzalez gave him three copies of the book "The 
Dissidents."  There was no commentary on how the Honduran 
action would affect Cuban-Honduran bilateral relations. 
 
3. (C) Post understands that the GOH waited to issue the 
press release until after First Lady Aguas Ocana de Maduro 
had left Cuba at the conclusion of her March 28 - April 1 
trip to seek Cuban assistance for centers for abused women 
and children in Honduras. 
 
4. (U) When asked by reporters March 31 about whether or not 
the U.S. had asked Honduras to draft a resolution, President 
Ricardo Maduro stated that "We are not talking about where a 
request originated, we are talking about certain principles. 
In the last two years, since my administration assumed 
office, I have been a very clear defender of democracy, 
political pluralism, and freedom of expression.  Hondurans 
feel profoundly proud of what we have done in the last 23 
years since the adoption of a new constitution in 1981, with 
respect to democratization and participation."  Maduro noted 
that the GOH for the last two years had supported UNCHR Cuba 
resolutions that had called on Cuba to receive a 
representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 
something Cuba had yet to do.  "This is what it is about, 
principles, democracy, and I will act based on that.  This is 
what I do internationally, what the country does, it is an 
extension of the principles which Hondurans live with 
internally and that we have fought for and will continue to 
fight for in the future, nothing more, nothing less." 
 
Criticism Expands from Cubans in Press 
-------------------------------------- 
 
5. (U) The Honduran press continued to report Cuban criticism 
of the GOH's actions.  After the GOH issued the press 
release, the GOH was sharply criticized by some TV and radio 
commentators.  Post will send septel reporting on media 
reaction in more detail. 
PALMER