US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA1349

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEGUCIGALPA 001349 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CEN, AND WHA/PPC, AND DS 
STATE FOR INL, INL/LP, INR/C, INR/AN/IAA, AND EB 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CEN AND DCHA/DG/ROL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KCOR, KJUS, PHUM, PINR, ASEC, EAID, HO 
SUBJECT: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: HONDURAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM 
AT A CROSSROADS IN THE BATTLE AGAINST CORRUPTION 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Francisco Palmieri; 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  It is possible that the National Congress 
may remove the Attorney General (AG) Ovidio Navarro and 
Deputy AG Yuri Melara in the next 2-4 weeks.  Last week's 
indictment of the outgoing Government and Justice Minister 
and the revelation of U.S. revocation of the Deputy AG's visa 
are galvanizing ruling political and economic elites to take 
action to "fix" an allegedly "out of control" Public Ministry 
(Attorney General's Office).  Despite widespread public 
support for the Public Ministry's (PM) corruption 
investigations, these investigations have threatened too 
broad and diverse a set of political interests.  As a result, 
even President Ricardo Maduro joined the charge against PM 
prosecutors by belittling their indictment of his ex-Minister 
and questioning their lack of results in other corruption 
investigations.  Entrenched political and economic interests 
are now mobilizing to impede any further prosecutorial 
actions from reaching the next stage in the battle against 
corruption in Honduras.  Post believes that the PM is now 
pushing to investigate corruption more deeply than it ever 
has.  Unless individuals of high integrity and political 
independence are selected for the PM's leadership positions, 
U.S. assistance to the Public Ministry may need to be 
reviewed.   END SUMMARY. 
 
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A Political Lord is Touched by Prosecutorial Investigative 
Process 
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2. (U) Last week's indictment of outgoing Government and 
Justice Minister Jorge Ramon Hernandez Alcerro (see septel 
for details) was a result of the Attorney General's (AG) 
Organized Crime Unit investigation of the Migration Office. 
The indictment struck close to home for President Maduro. 
Hernandez Alcerro, part of the President's inner circle of 
presidential advisors, was Maduro's 2001 campaign strategy 
director.  He was also a former Foreign Minister, the lead 
Honduran negotiator for the Esquipulas/Contadora peace 
process, and member of the 1981 Constituent Assembly that 
restored democracy to Honduras.  Few Honduran political 
observers believed Hernandez Alcerro was 1) involved in any 
illicit activity at the Migration Office or 2) vulnerable to 
prosecutorial or judicial action. 
 
3. (C) For the political elite, Hernandez Alcerro's 
indictment represents the first time a major incumbent 
political player has not been able to quash an investigation. 
 He immediately went on the counter-attack by publicly 
challenging the entire legal basis for the indictment.  He 
called the abuse of authority charge of aiding and abetting 
the illegal departure of a minor child from Honduras 
"ridiculous."  It remains to be seen whether the initial 
indictment will yield a trial and conviction.  However, the 
political damage to Hernandez Alcerro's congressional 
candidacy is significant.  Some National Party leaders and 
officials in Pepe Lobo's presidential campaign fear that 
additional charges will be imminently filed.  Post also 
understands that the PM's Organized Crime Unit chief 
prosecutor may file additional charges soon. 
 
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PM: Out of Control Institution or Threat to the Current 
Establishment 
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4. (U) Meanwhile, an orchestrated media campaign brought out 
the long-overdue revelation that the U.S. revoked the visa of 
the Deputy Attorney General Yuri Melara last December.   The 
revocation under Section 212(f) and the Department's approved 
press guidance made clear that the Deputy AG lost his visa 
for corrupt acts.  It seems that the goal of this media 
attention rather than the removal of the Deputy AG, which is 
warranted, is to weaken the PM as an institution and 
undermine the AG's support for these investigations.  Many 
anti-corruption advocates say it is ironic that just as the 
PM makes its first real significant and aggressive moves 
against a powerful incumbent politician other threatened 
political figures are using the visa revocation to sound 
alarms about the PM being an institution that is "out of 
control". 
 
5. (C) Despite the political outcry, there is widespread 
public support for the PM's actions against corruption and 
the U.S. visa revocation.  Both presidential candidates and 
President Maduro have called for Melara to resign.  However, 
Hernandez Alcerro's indictment (and other pending cases 
against Liberal party leader Jaime Rosenthal and officials in 
the previous administration of Liberal President Carlos 
Flores) has sent shivers throughout both parties' political 
establishments. 
 
6. (C) The Embassy believes that the PM is pushing to 
investigate corruption more deeply than it ever has in its 
entire existence.  In doing so, it has threatened a broad and 
diverse set of political interests.  The AG, 
withstanding  pressure from leaders of his own National 
Party, has supported his prosecutors in these investigations. 
Now, it appears that the ruling political and economic elites 
are galvanizing to take action to "fix" the Public Ministry 
by dismissing the AG as part of a package deal to dismiss the 
discredited Deputy AG. 
 
7. (C) The National Congress named a special commission to 
investigate the Yuri Melara case but its mandate also appears 
to extend into the AG's handling of the Melara case. 
Dismissal of the AG would pave the way for a new PM 
leadership team, empowered by the National Congress, to purge 
the chief prosecutors and their closest confidants in the 
front-line Organized Crime, Human Rights, and Corruption 
Units.  Those political and economic elites proposing this 
course of action claim that such a "global" solution is 
needed in order to save the PM as an institution. 
 
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President Maduro Joins the Charge Against the Public Ministry 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
8. (C) Perhaps due to frustration over not obtaining other 
high-profile corruption victories or a personal concern for 
the fate of a long-time political associate, President Maduro 
joined the charge against the lead prosecutor in the 
Hernandez Alcerro case.  The President spoke out on 
consecutive days about the PM's current prosecutorial 
priorities and the substance of its cases.  First, Maduro 
publicly belittled the indictment of his former Minister, 
saying that the prosecutors should not be spending their time 
on such a minor case.  He suggested that their efforts would 
be more productively directed toward investigating last 
fall's gasoline tax fraud scandal.  On the following day, 
Maduro went further and called the work of the Organized 
Crime Unit and its chief prosecutor on the Hernandez Alcerro 
case "a waste of time" on a case of no importance.  He then 
suggested that the unit's work should be on the gasoline tax 
fraud scandal or drug trafficking cases or combating gang 
violence. 
 
9. (C) Notwithstanding the President's desire to reorient the 
PM's focus, the general public appears to be solidly behind 
the PM's indictment of the Minister and the U.S. revocation 
of the Deputy AG's visa.  However, the President's comments 
have accentuated the view of elites that the PM is not 
directing its efforts to the country's top anti-corruption 
and law enforcement priorities.  Given this opening, 
entrenched (and corrupt) political and economic interests are 
now poised to do all they can to impede any further 
prosecutorial actions from reaching the next stage in the 
battle against corruption in Honduras.  It is possible that 
the National Congress will move to dismiss the AG and Deputy 
AG as early as next week in an emergency session or when the 
Congress reconvenes in July. 
 
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COMMENT: 
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10. (C) There are some serious problems at the Public 
Ministry that stem from a number of different factors, 
including an under-funded budget and the AG's own autocratic 
management style.  However, there is no guarantee that 
removing the AG will correct those problems.  It is difficult 
to understand, from an American rule of law perspective, how 
President Maduro's comments help the situation.  He has 
completely undercut the standing of the prosecutors and 
publicly questioned their work.  Unless individuals of high 
integrity and political independence are selected for the 
PM's leadership positions, it is likely that the end result 
of any changes at the PM will be the complete paralysis of 
all investigations and prosecutorial actions on pending 
corruption cases.  President Maduro's decision to speak out, 
during the week when he signed and celebrated a Millennium 
Challenge Account compact, raises questions about the timing 
of his comments, if not his motives.  If the National 
Congress does remove the AG and ends up appointing another 
set of political cronies to run the PM, it might be necessary 
to conduct a review of U.S. assistance to the Public Ministry 
in order to evaluate how the GOH's battle against corruption 
is proceeding and whether U.S investment in the rule of law 
and administration of justice has suffered a significant 
setback.  END COMMENT. 
Palmer