US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA2049

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002049 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IIP/T/GIC (CLACOVEY); WHA/PDA (OHILTON) 
STATE FOR G/TIP, INL/LP, AND DRL/PHD 
STATE FOR WHA/PPC AND WHA/CEN 
DOL FOR ILAB 
DOJ FOR CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION 
EMBASSIES FOR PAO/CAO AND TIP OFFICER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KPAO, OEXC, PHUM, SMIG, ELAB, KCRM, KWMN, HO 
SUBJECT: EVALUATION OF U.S. SPEAKER ON TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS: MARIA JOSE T. FLETCHER, TRACKER NO. 21830 
 
REF:  Tegucigalpa 00926 
 
A.  Name of Speaker/Date of Program: Maria Jose T. Fletcher, 
supervising attorney in the Florida Immigration Advocacy 
Center (FIAC) and the director of LUCHA: A Women's Legal 
Project, returned to Honduras August 18-21, 2004, for a 
second series of seminars on trafficking in persons (TIP), 
sponsored by the Office of the Honduran Delegate to the OAS 
Inter-American Commission of Women (ICW). 
 
B.  Summary of Topics/Venues/Audiences:  Post invited Dr. 
Fletcher to return as the keynote speaker at the seminars on 
"Prevention of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation and 
Trafficking of Children and Adolescents in Honduras" 
organized by the Office of the Honduran Delegate to the OAS 
Inter-American Commission of Women, Ambassador Soledad de 
Ramirez.  The seminars were held at hotels in the northern 
cities of Puerto Cortes, Central America's main port on the 
Caribbean, and Tela, a mayor tourist area.  Both cities are 
vulnerable areas with relatively high levels of commercial 
sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and women. 
Approximately 80 participants attended the seminar in each 
city and included representatives from the local, 
departmental and national government, the Honduran Congress, 
NGOs working in this area, law enforcement, tourism sector, 
civil society, and the media.  PAS arranged several press 
events for Dr. Fletcher before, during, and after the 
seminars, which provided an opportunity for the Honduran 
authorities and public to understand of the importance the 
USG puts on fighting this transnational crime. 
 
During her presentations, Dr. Fletcher discussed the 
difference among illegal immigration, TIP, and alien 
smuggling, and drew on her own experience in dealing with a 
number of cases.  She discussed how the U.S. system works, 
from identifying the victims to protecting and treating them 
to penalizing the criminals, always stressing the need for 
networking among all players.  Throughout her program, Dr. 
Fletcher called attention to the need for Honduras to work 
on stronger legislation and better implementation of the law 
to control traffickers, as well as the need to better health 
and education programs. 
 
Dr. Fletcher noted that Honduras was named as a Tier Two 
Watch List country in the Department of State's 2004 TIP 
report, and therefore that it needs to take action sooner 
rather than later to avoid sanctions.  She encouraged 
Honduran authorities, the private sector, NGOs, and the 
press to address the issues pointed out in the TIP report 
and to work together to produce positive changes.  She 
called for better application of the laws, networking with 
the NGOs to identify and register places where CSEC takes 
place, and the creation of databases to share information. 
 
The Post distributed the section on Honduras of the 2004 TIP 
Report, as well as a handout on generic mechanisms that 
should be taken to effectively combat TIP, and other IIP 
materials. 
 
C.  Effectiveness of Speaker:  Dr. Fletcher is an 
undisputable expert in her field who reaches her audience 
with simple and concrete information on the tragedy of this 
crime.  Her day-to-day contact with the victims and deep 
knowledge of the legal aspects of TIP, along with her 
excellent bilingual skills and warm personality, connect her 
immediately with her audience.  She is a forceful speaker 
who calls on her audience to overcome the obstacles that 
prevent the different sectors from working together to fight 
this abominable transnational crime. 
 
D.  Quality of IIP Support:  Excellent.  IIP/T/GIC Cindy 
LaCovey fully supported the Post to secure Maria Jose 
Fletcher for this program. 
 
E.  Results/Impact:  Outstanding.  TIP Speaker Maria Jose 
Fletcher's program enabled the Post to continue raising 
awareness among the Honduran audiences on the crime of TIP 
and to encourage effective coordination between the public 
and private sectors, civil society and the media on anti-TIP 
efforts.  Key GOH officials in the fight against TIP 
remembered her fondly from her last visit and greatly valued 
the opportunity to discuss TIP issues with her.  Post works 
closely with Ambassador Soledad de Ramirez to keep the TIP 
issue on the agenda. 
 
The program supported the MPP themes of Human Rights, 
Illegal Drugs, Economic Development, Regional Stability and 
Mutual Understanding.  The program drew the attention of the 
public and local authorities to the urgent need to combat 
TIP. 
 
Palmer