US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA805

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000805 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR PRM, PRM/POP, PRM/ENA, PRM/ECA, AND PRM/PRP 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CCA, AND WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, SMIG, PHUM, CU, HO 
SUBJECT: 20 GTMO CUBANS RESETTLED IN HONDURAS: ONLY 3 
REMAIN; IOM ASKS FOR PRM PERMISSION TO RE-PROGRAM MONEY 
 
REF: STATE 64334 
 
1. (U) This is an action request for PRM.  Please see para. 7. 
 
2. (SBU) PolOff met April 13 with International Organization 
of Migration (IOM) Tegucigalpa to discuss questions raised in 
reftel regarding the 20 Cubans resettled by IOM from 
Guantanamo to Tegucigalpa.  According to the IOM, out of the 
original 20 GTMO Cubans resettled in Honduras, only three 
remain in country.  The remaining 17 have left Honduras, with 
two of those (Raquel Gonzalez Salcedo and her son Carlos 
Javier Garcia Gonzalez) reportedly are already in Miami.  IOM 
said they knew this information because (a) only five Cubans 
collected their monthly stipends on April 7, and (b) from 
information directly from the migrants, who IOM has been in 
touch via cell phone. 
 
3. (SBU) The Cubans left not because of problems in Honduras, 
where they have had work permission the entire time and have 
lived in rented houses in Tegucigalpa.  The Cubans who have 
stayed have received official resident cards from Honduran 
Immigration, renewable on a yearly basis, and have applied 
for official work permission cards (to document the right to 
work that they have had since arrival). 
 
5. (SBU) IOM believes that the Cubans left due to a desire to 
try to immigrate (illegally) to the U.S.  Of the three 
remaining Cubans, IOM believes that only one, Gustavo Guerra 
Lopez, actually has real interest in staying in Honduras, 
where he is living with a Honduran girlfriend and is trying 
to get a job on a fishing boat out of Puerto Cortes.  Another 
Cuban, Humberto Echevarria Herrera, is awaiting the arrival 
of his wife (scheduled to fly to Honduras from Cuba with the 
assistance of CIPRODEH, the local representative for the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on May 15).  IOM 
believes that subsequent to her arrival the two will try to 
illegally immigrate to the U.S.  The third remaining Cuban's 
plans are unclear, but IOM doubts he has any real intention 
of staying in Honduras for the long-term.  (This same Cuban, 
Barbaro Antonio Vela Grego, was the recently mugged in 
Tegucigalpa, causing IOM to reimburse his stolen assistance 
money for the month of April.  His wife and children are 
still in Cuba.) 
 
6. (SBU) Due to the departure of the vast majority of the 
Cubans and the fact that assistance payments are paid on a 
monthly basis and were not paid in lump sums, if the 
remaining three Cubans stay in Honduras for a full six 
months, IOM estimates that it will have approximately USD 
31,420.25 remaining from the original funds from the 
Department of State/Bureau of Population, Refugees, and 
Migration (PRM) at the end of the six months.  IOM asked the 
Embassy to request permission from PRM to reprogram this 
money for other projects IOM conducts with Honduran 
Immigration.  Post is forwarding to PRM via e-mail the MS 
Excel spreadsheet with details on how the money has been 
spent. 
 
7. (SBU) Action request for PRM: Post requests PRM approval 
for IOM Tegucigalpa's request to reprogram the approximately 
USD 31,420.25 of remaining funds for the GTMO Cubans at the 
end of six months to be used for other projects with Honduran 
Immigration.  Post strongly supports this request, and 
specifically believes that the money would be put to 
excellent use to support the Centers for Returned Migrants, a 
project previously funded by PRM via IOM.  IOM and Honduran 
Immigration have been seeking funding for this worthy 
project, which puts a humane face on the massive numbers of 
Hondurans deported from the U.S., as it is not being included 
in Honduran Immigration's budget until CY06.  Post thanks PRM 
for consideration of this request. 
Palmer