US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA803

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000803 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/PD, WHA/CCA, WHA/PPC, AND WHA/CEN 
STATE FOR DRL, DRL/MLA, IO, INR, AND IIP/G/WHA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KPAO, PHUM, PREL, KDEM, CU, HO, CHR-1 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON UNCHR RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
IN CUBA, APRIL 2, 2004 
 
 
1. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El 
Heraldo" on 4/3 entitled "The resolution."  "President 
Maduro and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have stated that 
in the Cuba affair Honduras is acting as a sovereign state, 
in accordance with the U.N. Charter." 
 
"We're going to take their word on this issue, and we're 
assuming that the resolution only intends to encourage the 
Castro regime to admit a representative of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Human Rights." 
 
"The Cuban people, to whom we as Hondurans are grateful for 
their generosity and solidarity, shouldn't feel betrayed by 
Honduras.  On the contrary, they should take advantage of 
any opportunity to help them ensure their freedom, the most 
fundamental right of any human being." 
 
2. Op-ed by Ramon Villeda Bermudez (Liberal Party 
Congressman and member of the External Affairs Committee in 
Congress) in Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" on 
4/3 entitled "The Passion of Castro."  "As we approach Holy 
Week, the government has finally acknowledged that it will 
table an initiative, which isn't ours, to stick our nose 
into Cuba." 
 
"There's an evident duality in a government where the 
President allows his wife to ask for assistance from the 
same government he's condemning.  Although I'm not 
sympathetic to Fidel Castro and his regime, I'm aware that 
the Honduran people are very grateful for the aid we've 
received from Cuba." 
 
"Looking at the wording of the resolution, the proposal 
looks fine, expressing its concern with the human rights 
situation in Cuba, which is good.  However, other experts 
have seen this `initiative' as another attack by the U.S. on 
the Castro regime, using another puppet." 
 
"We all want Cuba to comply with respect for human rights, 
but we also want the government of the National Party to 
respect the dignity of all Hondurans." 
 
"This year, the obedient Honduran government has replaced 
the Passion of Christ with the Passion against Castro." 
 
3. Article in San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "Tiempo" on 
4/3 entitled "Congressmen outraged by resolution to condemn 
Cuba."  "Some Congressmen expressed their indignation and 
outrage as a result of the Honduran resolution against Cuba. 
National Party deputy Oswaldo Ramos Soto said, `I'm 
surprised by this attitude: I've talked to deputies of other 
parties and they don't agree with the decision of the Maduro 
administration.  I'm just another Honduran and a 
Nationalist, but I don't agree with the position of my 
party'." 
 
"Liberal Party deputy Omar Cerna said, `I'm outraged by what 
the government is doing.  we should go out on the streets to 
protest against the government's ominous external policy by 
getting involved in issues of other countries'." 
 
4. Article in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" 
on 4/3 entitled "Honduras hasn't asked for a condemnation of 
Cuba."  "In a joint press conference with the President of 
Congress Porfirio Lobo, President Maduro said, `Our proposal 
doesn't condemn Cuba, it's only a resolution to request that 
Cuba admit a representative from the U.N. Commissioner for 
Human Rights, as we have done twice before.  we aren't 
trying to insult a government that has been a friend to us 
for quite some time'.  Lobo said, `There's nothing wrong 
with the resolution. I think Cuba should admit a 
representative of the U.N..  Honduras hasn't betrayed Cuba, 
which has an opportunity to show its compliance with respect 
for human rights'." 
 
5. Article in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" 
on 4/3 entitled "First Lady Aguas Ocana received only 
support and appreciation in Cuba."  "After returning from an 
official visit to Cuba, First Lady Ocana abstained from 
making any comment on the political tension between Honduras 
and Cuba.  She said, `We appreciate the help we've gotten 
from Cuba.  they were very open to our requests, and they 
plan to help us to establish new shelters for abused women 
and children'." 
 
6. Article in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" 
on 4/4 entitled "Resolution was written in Spanish." 
"Leonidas Rosa Bautista, Honduran Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, said, `The text of the resolution was written in 
Honduras.  we wrote it in the Spanish of Cervantes, and it 
was later translated into English, and that has led the 
Cuban government and others to believe that the U.S. gave it 
to us'." 
 
7. On 4/4, the Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" 
published an interview with the Minister of Government and 
former Ambassador, Jorge Ramon Hernandez Alcerro, in which 
he said, `The Maduro government has had a consistent foreign 
policy in support of the protection of human rights, 
considering our own principles and goals.  the government of 
Honduras will defend the freedom of people in Honduras, 
Cuba, or anywhere in the world'." 
 
8. Article in Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" 
on 4/4 entitled "ASONOG criticizes Honduran position on 
Cuba."  "In a press release, ASONOG, a Honduran NGO, 
criticized the Honduran government for presenting a 
resolution on Cuba, saying that, `The Honduran state doesn't 
have a moral right to demand respect for human rights from 
Cuba, when it's been unable to resolve the internal problems 
related to poverty which affect almost 80% of the Honduran 
people, denying them their utmost human right: their right 
to lead a life with dignity'." 
 
9. Article in San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "Tiempo" on 
4/4 entitled "Tense relationship between Honduras and Cuba". 
"About 600 Hondurans, who have been granted a scholarship 
from the Cuban government, released a public letter saying 
that, `we're proud of being Hondurans, but we're ashamed by 
the unscrupulous decision taken by our president.  Maduro 
has betrayed our country, because he went against the will 
of most of our people, selling our dignity for a few dollars 
more'." 
 
10. Article in Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" 
on 4/5 entitled "Hondurans in the U.S. pleased with Honduran 
resolution to the U.N."  "In a letter to President Maduro, 
the Miami-based organization of Honduran immigrants in the 
U.S., Unidad Hondurena, said, `The resolution should be more 
vigorous, and it should ask for the immediate release of 
more than a hundred political prisoners.  It's a step in the 
right direction, but it won't be that effective if we don't 
make a strong condemnation of human right violations of the 
Castro regime'." 
 
Palmer