US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA2057

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 002057 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, AND INR/B 
DOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, ELAB, EAID, ECON, SOCI, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: UNDER SIEGE FOR MONTHS, HONDURAN MINISTER OF 
EDUCATION FINALLY STEPS DOWN 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1769 
     B. TEGUCIGALPA 1599 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Francisco Palmieri; 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (U) During a national press conference on September 13, 
Honduran President Ricardo Maduro announced the resignation 
of the embattled Minister of Education Carlos Avila Molina. 
Maduro praised Avila's accomplishments and noted that Avila 
was leaving strictly for personal reasons.  Replacing Avila 
will be Roberto Martinez Lozano, General Manager of the 
National Autonomous Water and Sanitation Service (SANAA). 
Avila had been under pressure for months to step down due to 
his controversial stance against Honduras' powerful teachers' 
unions and his inability to successfully negotiate an end to 
the teachers' strike this past July, which was eventually 
resolved by a trio of negotiators (ref B). 
 
2. (SBU)  Martinez's background is very similar to Avila's. 
Both hail from a private business with significant managerial 
experience and neither had a background in education. 
However, a critical difference is that Martinez is a 
well-established political figure who is widely acknowledged 
to be an effective politician.  Maduro broke with past 
tradition in naming a non-educator as Minister of Education, 
preferring someone with solid managerial experience in the 
private sector.  This irritated Honduras' traditionally 
powerful teachers' unions who from the beginning had a poor 
relationship with Avila.  Although Avila was controversial, 
to the point of being named the worst minister in 2002 by the 
Honduran media, Maduro always steadfastly supported him. 
 
3. (SBU) Comment:  Maduro's choice of Martinez to succeed 
Avila seems to reflect his desire to continue pressing for 
educational reform at the expense of entrenched interests in 
education.  (Note:  Although per capita spending on education 
in Honduras is high for regional standards, and was actually 
increased under Avila, Honduras continues to demonstrate poor 
results.  The teachers' unions reluctance to reform education 
policy or renegotiate their high remuneration package are a 
considerable part of the problem (ref A).  End Note.)  While 
unpopular, Avila was willing to confront the teachers' unions 
(something not done in the past) and carry the water for the 
administration in the lead-up to the confrontations with 
these unions which led to the general strike (ref B).  In 
fact, the Ministry of Education under Avila was the first to 
push for corruption charges to be brought against a number of 
high-ranking teachers' union members, causing some 
consternation among both the leadership and rank-and-file 
union members.  Maduro probably expects Martinez to continue 
to take a hard-line with the teachers and push for needed 
reforms.  The obvious hope is that Martinez will manage the 
politics more effectively.  End Comment 
 
4. (U) Biographic information:  Roberto Martinez Lozano was 
born May 16, 1951, in Arenal, Honduras.  He holds a degree in 
civil engineering from the National Autonomous University of 
Honduras (UNAH), although he has primarily worked in business 
and government.  Martinez rose as high as one of three Vice 
Presidents under Nationalist Party President Rafael Callejas. 
 At one point, he considered running for president himself 
but he was never able to garner much support.  Martinez is 
considered an able manager.  He prefers to surround himself 
with capable technocrats rather than political lackeys and 
received high marks for his positive working relationship 
with the strong SANAA labor union. 
 
5. (C)   Martinez was tainted with corruption charges during 
the late 1980s, primarily in association with his management 
of COPECO (the Honduran Emergency Management Agency), a 
notorious patronage operation at the time under Callejas, 
before becoming a Vice President. 
Palmer