US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA2844

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002844 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/PPC, AND WHA/CEN 
STATE FOR INL/LP, S/CT, INR/IAA, AND CA/OCS/ACS/WHA 
STATE FOR DS/ITA (KHALL) AND DS/IP/WHA (MFLYNN) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2014 
TAGS: KCRM, PGOV, SNAR, KJUS, PHUM, ASEC, CASC, KSAC, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO 12/23 BUS MASSACRE 
OF 28 PEOPLE; MARA SALVATRUCHA GANG BELIEVED RESPONSIBLE 
 
REF: USDAO TEGUCIGALPA 241424Z DEC 04 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Larry Palmer; 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The Government of Honduras reacted with 
outrage and aggressive law enforcement efforts in the wake of 
the massacre of 28 people in a bus in San Pedro Sula December 
23.  The military is assisting the police by boosting joint 
patrols, and police have arrested several suspects accused of 
being involved in the massacre.  Despite claims by the 
culprits that they were a revolutionary group, police believe 
the Mara Salvatrucha gang to be responsible for the attack. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The Government of Honduras reacted with outrage and 
aggressive law enforcement efforts in the wake of the 
massacre of 28 people and wounding of an equal number on a 
bus in the northern city of San Pedro Sula the evening of 
December 23.  President Ricardo Maduro has been visiting 
victims and meeting with his ministers directing the GOH's 
anti-crime efforts, including the implementation of the 
anti-gang law.  Both he and Minister of Public Security Oscar 
Alvarez have criticized human rights organizations for not 
expressing outrage at the violence and for repeatedly 
questioning the GOH's get tough policy on gangs.  Cardinal 
Oscar Rodriguez of the Catholic Church, meanwhile, has urged 
the GOH not to go overboard in its reaction to the massacre. 
There are now approximately 3,000 military members assisting 
the police through joint patrols, including deploying several 
armored vehicles in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.  Joint 
police/military patrols have been expanded and they are 
stepping up searches of public buses.  The President has also 
instructed the Minister of Finance to shift resources to 
boost the police budget. 
 
3. (SBU) The perpetrators claimed to be members of the 
"Chinchoneros Popular Liberation Front/Movement," a 1980s 
communist terrorist organization that conducted armed robbery 
and kidnappings in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula in the 
1980s, including holding 85 hostages before fleeing to Cuba 
in a 1982 incident.  However, the fact that: the culprits 
spelled the name "Cinchonero" instead of "Chinchonero," the 
group has been defunct for years, the victims were apparently 
random civilians on a public bus, and the manifesto left by 
the group (which has not been made public) criticized moves 
toward a possible reinstatement of the death penalty, all 
lead observers to believe this supposed group was not 
responsible. 
 
4. (SBU) In fact, police believe the Mara Salvatrucha gang to 
be responsible for the attack and have arrested several 
suspects accused of being involved in the massacre.  (Note: 
There is conflicting information on the exact number of 
suspects arrested.  Estimates range from four to nine.  End 
Note.)  A Mara Salvatrucha gang leader, Darwin Alexis Ramirez 
Hernandez, is under arrest in the San Pedro Sula prison as 
the principal suspect in the attack.  Police believe that the 
attack may have been planned in Comayagua.  EmbOffs are 
seeking more detailed information from police, including the 
text of the manifesto. 
 
5. (U) There were no American citizens killed or injured in 
the attack.  The Peace Corps has taken appropriate measures 
concerning the safety of its volunteers near San Pedro Sula. 
RSO and ECON will be sending a short message to the American 
business community instructing companies how to contact the 
security office with any questions. 
 
6. (C) Comment:  The attack was brutal even by the standards 
of San Pedro Sula, a city with one of the highest murder 
rates in Latin America and a history of grizzly slayings of 
multiple persons at once.  Post's initial assessment is that 
the GOH is likely correct in attributing responsibility for 
the attack to gangs, given past senseless violent acts 
committed by gang members to send messages to the GOH. 
Barring evidence to the contrary, Post does not believe this 
was the action of a terrorist organization. 
 
7. (C) Comment continued: The attack plays into the hands of 
the campaign of National Party presidential candidate and 
President of Congress Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, currently 
trailing Tegucigalpa Mayor Miguel Pastor in the lead-up to 
the February primary election.  In fact, one scurrilous rumor 
even claims Lobo orchestrated the attack to boost his 
campaign.  Lobo, whose campaign is focused on crime, has been 
taking a draconian line against crime, advocating a 
reinstatement of the death penalty, and is closely associated 
with the GOH's ongoing "get tough" crime policy, including 
the anti-gang law.  Pastor has taken a more nuanced approach 
to attacking crime that includes rehabilitation and can only 
hope not to lose ground.  An unpublished October 30 poll had 
Pastor leading Lobo by only 10 percent among Nationalists. 
The same poll, conducted in late November, has Pastor leading 
Lobo by over 20 percent.  Lobo is likely to close the gap 
again when the next poll is completed in the aftermath of the 
massacre.  End Comment. 
Palmer