US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA727

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEGUCIGALPA 000727 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, EUR/WE, INR/B, EB, AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KIRF, PHUM, ETRD, KCRM, SOCI, HO, VA 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN CARDINAL OSCAR RODRIGUEZ - A WORTHY AND 
FORMIDABLE CANDIDATE TO SUCCEED JOHN PAUL II 
 
REF: A. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 2912 
 
     B. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 1534 AND PREVIOUS 
     C. 02 VATICAN 4582 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Francisco L. Palmieri; 
Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez 
Maradiaga is likely to be a formidable force during the 
conclave to select the next Pope.  He is a savvy political 
player and accomplished media communicator, whose moral 
compass has repeatedly guided his public policy interventions 
in Honduras and whose intellect enables him to adroitly 
deliver tailored messages to varied audiences.  He also is a 
skilled mediator and consensus builder.  If selected to be 
the next Pope, he will present both opportunities and 
challenges for advancing U.S. foreign policy priorities. 
Rodriguez has worked collaboratively and repeatedly with 
AmEmbassy Tegucigalpa to advance shared policy initiatives 
over the last decade, even when he has opposed other elements 
of the U.S. agenda, such as the Central American Free Trade 
Agreement (CAFTA).  Most recently in Honduras, Cardinal 
Rodriguez led the national effort to combat corruption; 
questioned whether the proposed CAFTA agreement would 
distribute equitable benefits to the economically 
disadvantaged; pressed the Honduran government to use 
international donor debt forgiveness to make meaningful 
investments in poverty reduction, and vocally opposed mineral 
extraction that he believed to be a threat to the 
environment.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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A FORMIDABLE FORCE DURING THE CONCLAVE 
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2. (C) Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga is 
likely to be a formidable force during the conclave to select 
the next Pope.  He is a skilled mediator and consensus 
builder who communicates effectively to disparate groups. 
(See ref C for biographic information.)  In a telephone call 
with the Ambassador and in a short meeting with Acting Deputy 
Chief of Mission/Political Counselor on April 2, he first 
expressed heart-felt appreciation for President Bush's 
thoughtful public condolence message on the death of John 
Paul II and then thanked the Embassy for being the only 
diplomatic mission to express condolences to him before his 
departure for Rome.  Rodriguez's mood was appropriately 
mournful over the Pope's death, but also serene about the 
Catholic Church's upcoming labors of burying "the most 
important" man of the twentieth-century and selecting a 
"global" Catholic leader for the twenty-first century. 
Rodriguez's only direct comment about the selection of the 
next Pope was to disagree with the notion that the College of 
Cardinals might choose an older Cardinal to serve as a 
transitional figure.  He said that the conclave would not 
elect an older Pope because the challenges of the position 
are too demanding and that the Church needed an active and 
engaged leader. 
 
3. (C) Cardinal Rodriguez confided his travel plans to Rome, 
during which he twice stated that he would be back in 
Tegucigalpa by early May and looked forward to meeting with 
the Ambassador--a genuine, but required, sign of humility. 
Local Catholic authorities commented over the weekend that 
they do not expect Rodriguez to return to Honduras, saying 
that even if not chosen Pope, they believe he will be 
appointed to a post in the Curia.  It was interesting that 
within hours of the Pope's death Rodriguez indicated during 
the meeting that he had already been in contact with U.S. 
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Chilean Cardinal Francisco 
Errarzuriz, Mexican Norberto Rivera and other Brazilian 
Cardinals.  He added that he had not spoken with the 
Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, whom some see as a 
potential conservative Latin American rival.  He is close to 
German Cardinal Karl Lehman, South African Wilfred Napier, 
and Portugese Jose Seraiva Martins. 
 
4. (C) During the last year and a half, Cardinal Rodriguez 
also traveled extensively outside Honduras - with trips to 
Europe, including multiple trips to Germany, Asia, Australia, 
the United States and throughout Latin America.  On March 31, 
the German Ambassador presented Rodriguez with the "Federal 
Order of Merit with Great Cross and Golden Plaque" from 
German President Horst Kohler, a decoration that underscores 
Rodriguez's long-term ties to Germany and its Catholic 
Church.  Honduran Catholic observers have persistently 
commented the Cardinal's recent and widespread travel were 
part of an effort to introduce himself to his new 
ecclesiastical colleagues and to renew his ties to older 
friends.  He is a savvy political player and accomplished 
media communicator, whose intellect enables him to adroitly 
deliver tailored messages to varied audiences.  He has, 
however, made serious missteps on occassion, particularly 
when he made anti-semetic comments about U.S. media coverage 
of the sexual abuse scandal. 
 
5. (C) Rodriguez told A/DCM that the most pressing challenges 
facing the next Pope would include dealing with bioethical 
questions relating to scientific progress in molecular 
biology, advancing global peace, particularly in the Middle 
East between Israel and the Palestinians, advocating for more 
equitable distribution of two key natural resources (oil and 
water), expanding the Catholic Church's ecumenism, especially 
with Islam (although he pointedly challenged radical Islam's 
flawed understanding of holy war.)  He also added separately 
that reform of the Vatican Curia would have to be a top 
priority, noting that Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo 
Sodano had "grabbed a lot" of power during the past few years. 
 
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR U.S. FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
6. (C) If selected to be the next Pope, Cardinal Rodriguez 
will present both opportunities and challenges for advancing 
U.S. foreign policy priorities.  He would be a strong 
proponent of democracy, supportive of efforts to advance 
Middle East peace and reach across the breach to speak more 
effectively to Muslims and Islamic religious leaders, and be 
likely to pursue President Bush's strong concern about the 
impediment that corruption represents to economic development 
in the developing world. 
 
7. (C) Most recently in Honduras, Rodriguez served as the 
Chairman of the Honduran Anti-corruption Commission, one of 
only two such commissions in the hemisphere.  Initially, the 
commission brought greater public scrutiny and media coverage 
to the problem of corruption in Honduras because of the 
Cardinal's involvement; however, without a defined legal role 
and limited funding for professional staff, the commission 
began to fade in importance due to the lack of follow-through 
on specific corruption allegations.  The Cardinal quietly 
disengaged in the face of efforts by the government of 
Honduras to co-opt even further the commission's 
independence.  However, last week he returned vigorously to 
this issue by blasting the lack of progress in Honduras 
against corruption in his Easter Sunday homily letter.  He 
went further than ever in directly laying the blame on 
political and economic elites for suborning public officials 
and stealing from the national treasury.  It is quite 
possible that if chosen Pope, Cardinal Rodriguez might add 
the full weight of the Church's moral authority to this issue. 
 
8. (C) However, Cardinal Rodriguez would not be shy about 
criticizing U.S. foreign and economic policies.  Rodriguez is 
deeply suspicious about the inequities caused by what he sees 
as unregulated capitalism.  He is concerned that free trade, 
while more efficient, could create more economic inequality 
for the poor, who are least able or prepared to compete in 
the global economy.  For that reason he has been a vocal 
opponent of CAFTA.  He has also been a long-time advocate for 
international debt forgiveness and pressed the Honduran 
government to use international donor debt forgiveness to 
make real meaningful investments in poverty reduction.  He 
also complained privately in the April 2 meeting that the 
U.S. is not paying enough attention to Latin America and is 
only really concerned about drug trafficking and illegal 
migration.  Finally, he opposed mineral extraction in 
Honduras on environmental grounds and has led marches against 
mining operations, including those by U.S./Canadian companies. 
 
9. (C) That said, he is a strong supporter of a more humane 
capitalism, and a harsh critic of socialist-inspired systems. 
 In a March 31 address to Honduran business leaders, 
Rodriguez clearly supported capitalism as a means to liberate 
people through their creativity, and he endorsed commerce as 
a necessary response to human needs.  He was critical of 
those who would "seek to hold everyone down to the same level 
in a quest for social equality", saying that such approaches 
robbed humans of their creative freedom.  He also criticized 
socialist systems for fostering a "paternalistic state of 
dependency" in which, "if the front stoop is dirty, the 
people complain that the State has not come by to sweep it." 
He closed his short address by calling for a less aggressive, 
more collaborative form of competition, guided by individuals 
making decisions based on high personal morals. 
 
10. (C) COMMENT:  Cardinal Rodriguez has worked 
collaboratively and repeatedly with AmEmbassy Tegucigalpa to 
advance shared policy initiatives over the last decade, even 
when he has opposed other elements, such as CAFTA, of the 
U.S. agenda.  As any real and good friend would, he not only 
appreciates the strengths and positive contributions of the 
United States to the world, but also is able to talk 
constructively about his perception of any U.S. shortcomings. 
 His clear voice on moral issues, particularly his support 
for a culture of life (he has been outspoken in his 
opposition to abortion and of the local presidential 
candidates' campaign to institute the death penalty in 
Honduras), the breadth of his policy interests, and evident 
spirituality make him a worthy political successor to John 
Paul II.  END COMMENT. 
Palmer