US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA1790

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 TEGUCIGALPA 001790 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CEN, WHA/USOAS, AND WHA/PPC 
STATE FOR INL/LP, S/CT, DS, CA, INR, AND DRL 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2035 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SMIG, PINS, KCRM, KJUS, SNAR, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN PRESIDENT MADURO MEETS WITH CHARGE ON 
CORRUPTION AND OTHER ISSUES, PRESENTING HIS BEST CASE 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1789 
 
     B. TEGUCIGALPA 1775 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Classified by Charge d'Affaires a.i. James G. Williard; 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  On August 27, Honduran President Ricardo 
Maduro invited the Charge (CDA) to lunch to discuss various 
issues, including the president's personal reputation amid 
corruption charges within the Honduran government.  Maduro 
lamented what he called a needless distancing in the 
bilateral U.S./Honduran relationship that he said resulted 
from the withdrawal of Honduran troops from Iraq and Honduran 
opposition to Paco Flores as OAS Secretary General.  Above 
all, Maduro believed that the U.S. was upset with him for 
failing to stem corruption.  Maduro spoke of his affection 
for the U.S. and recalled how his government had approved an 
ICC Article 98 agreement, introduced a human rights 
resolution against Cuba at the UNCHR, and dispatched troops 
to Iraq.  CDA reassured Maduro of our strong bilateral ties, 
indicated by the CAFTA and Millennium Challenge Account 
accords, and expressed appreciation for the president's 
accomplishments.  But, CDA informed Maduro that corruption 
remained a serious concern and that the immigration scandal - 
and the way the judicial system handles cases related to the 
scandal - would be closely watched by Washington.  Maduro 
disclosed that he had met the previous day with President of 
the Supreme Court, Vilma Morales, telling her that both he 
and she knew that former Immigration Director Ramon Romero is 
guilty and that she needs to get together with the Special 
Prosecutor for Organized Crime to ensure that Romero goes 
back to jail. The discussion covered many other topics 
including the national political campaign - officially 
underway on August 29.  End Summary. 
 
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Background 
---------- 
 
2.  (C)  The GOH has encountered strong public and media 
outcries following the release of former Immigration Director 
Ramon Romero two weeks ago.  Post's public statement 
expressing disappointment in developments related to the 
immigration scandal resulted in much media comment and 
government maneuvering.  The Supreme Court unsuccessfully 
attempted to gain support for the judge's action from the 
Attorney General and the Minister of Public Security. 
Minister of the Presidency Ramon Medina Luna delivered to the 
CDA a stern official objection to the Embassy statement (ref 
A).  Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime 
stepped up public pressure on the government by declaring 
that the judge had acted under political influence.  New 
Director of Immigration, Jorge Kawas, resigned after only 
ninety days, complaining of continuing irregularities in the 
immigration office and insufficient government backing to 
make needed personnel changes (ref B).  Kawas stated that the 
immigration office was a gold mine (of corruption).  In this 
context, and with the national political campaign starting 
August 29, President Ricardo Maduro decided on Saturday, 
August 27, to ask the CDA to lunch later that day. The 
one-on-one luncheon at the president's rented house lasted 
nearly four and a half hours and took place in an exceedingly 
cordial, but frank atmosphere. 
 
------------------------------ 
Iraq and OAS Secretary General 
------------------------------ 
 
3.  (C)  With regard to withdrawal of Honduran troops from 
Iraq and the OAS Secretary General vote, Maduro made the 
following points: 
 
--  Iraq:  Honduras decided to withdraw its troops under 
severe public pressure - maintaining troops in Iraq had 
become politically non-sustainable.  Maduro denied any 
collusion with Spain over the timing of the withdrawal.  In 
fact, Maduro explained that on the next day after he had 
received Spain's assurances that it would not publicly 
declare its intentions for at least two weeks, Spain went 
ahead and announced its troop withdrawal.  Maduro further 
stated that a U.S. General had sent a letter encouraging 
Honduran peacekeepers to take the offensive in Iraq.  Maduro 
argued that if this had become public knowledge, there would 
have been a severe public reaction. 
--  OAS: Calling former El Salvadoran President Francisco 
"Paco" Flores one of his closest personal friends, Maduro 
disclosed that Flores currently acts as an advisor to Maduro 
on improving his public image - a fact that Maduro said would 
be explosive if it became known.  Maduro referred to the 
border dispute with El Salvador, the forceful campaign led by 
former Honduran President Carlos Flores (Liberal Party), and 
(in his opinion) the premature U.S. announcement in support 
of Paco Flores as reasons for Honduran opposition on this 
issue.  Maduro also mentioned that Paco Flores had misled him 
personally about El Salvador's appeal of the International 
Court of Justice's decision on the their border dispute. 
 
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Corruption 
---------- 
 
4.  (C)  Maduro passionately defended his record against 
corruption - an effort which he admitted has a long way to 
go.  Maduro reminded CDA that Honduras has been a democracy 
for only 24 years and that institution building remains in 
its early stages.  He further pointed out the difficulties 
faced by democracies with low education levels in dealing 
with corruption.  Maduro said that corruption had constituted 
a significant problem for all Honduran administrations and 
that the problem continues on a massive scale.  In a rather 
intriguing comment, Maduro claimed that the opposition 
Liberal Party could have identified more serious corruption 
targets from the Callejas presidency, but did not - CDA could 
not elicit further comments on this topic.  Maduro conveyed 
his vivid personal experiences with corruption, describing 
the kidnap and murder of his son.  He said all except one of 
the murderers got away.  The killer, who went to jail, 
escaped on the day the jail warden withdrew all weapons 
assigned to prison guards.  Maduro also related how the 
courts had lost his mother's birth certificate at a time when 
he was attempting to establish his citizenship to run for 
president.  The message: Maduro knows the extent of 
corruption in Honduras and has been a victim of it. 
 
5.  (C)  Maduro cited the following as serious, 
anti-corruption achievements during his presidency and asked 
that the USG credit him for: 
 
--  Revamping the electoral system, allowing citizenry to 
vote for actual congressional representatives rather than a 
political party. 
 
--  Reconstituting the Supreme Court so that judges are named 
by civil society and not by the political parties and their 
terms run for seven years renewable, rather than concurrent 
with the president's term. 
 
--  Changing (with the assistance of USAID) from a closed to 
an open trial court system with the implementation of the new 
Code of Criminal Procedures. 
 
--  Closing of some 16 financial institutions for corruption, 
with the arrest and conviction of several top financial 
managers. 
 
--  Removing the Government from the corrupt housing program. 
 
--  Placing major government procurements (including 
medicines) in the hands of the United Nations Development 
Program. 
 
--  Firing nine corrupt Customs officials. 
 
--  Instituting strict controls on the collection of sales 
tax, actually shutting down several businesses that failed to 
charge the tax during sting operations. 
 
--  Streamlining tax collection to become a leader in the 
region. 
 
--  Adhering to or exceeding all IMF requirements, despite 
heavy political pressures to relax fiscal restrictions during 
the election campaign. 
 
--  Implementing the immunity law that eliminates protections 
formerly granted to politicians. 
 
--  Passing the anti-gang law that makes gang membership a 
crime - as a way to address some of the extortion imposed by 
gangs. 
 
--  Expanding anti-narcotics operations throughout the 
country. 
 
--  Initiating a law that requires ministries to respond to 
citizen proposals within 30 days, or such proposals become 
automatically accepted. 
 
--  Putting the military on the streets and firing some 200 
corrupt police operatives to create better security. 
 
--  Requesting the intervention of Catholic Church Cardinal 
Oscar Rodriquez on moral issues. 
 
--------------------------- 
Romero Case and Immigration 
--------------------------- 
 
6.  (C)  Maduro told CDA that he ordered the arrest of former 
Immigration Director Romero after personally reviewing some 
of the evidence.  CDA told Maduro that skeptics in the United 
States believed that it would only be a matter of time until 
Romero was released - and that was exactly what happened 
based on the decision of a substitute judge.  Further, CDA 
explained that with the defendant facing a possible 18 year 
prison sentence, it is hard to imagine how the judge could 
rule that he was not at risk of fleeing.  Additionally, the 
judge had found that Romero could not contaminate the 
investigation, even though the Special Prosecutor had noted 
that many of Romero's associates remained in place and the 
new Director of Immigration had just resigned because he 
found continued irregularities and did not have the authority 
to change the situation.  CDA advised the President that this 
case did not exist in isolation - there are many other 
suspect court decisions involving narco-traffickers - and 
that the entire passport scandal presented a national 
security risk to both Honduras and the United States. 
 
7.  (C)  Maduro commented that he had spoken with Supreme 
Court President Vilma Morales the previous day and had told 
her, "I know Romero is guilty.  You know Romero is guilty. 
Sit down with the Special Prosecutor and let her know what 
you need to get Romero back in jail."  Part of the problem, 
according to Maduro, is that Special Prosecutor Doris Aguilar 
is inexperienced and appears too often in the press.  Maduro 
asked whether the United States had competent attorneys who 
could advise the prosecution on the strength of the cases. 
Morales has repeatedly complained to the president that the 
prosecution cases are weak and that she wants to protect the 
independence of the courts.  Maduro apparently told Morales 
that the credibility of the entire court system rides on the 
Romero case.  (Note:  While Post does not want to do the work 
for Honduran prosecutors, it might be advisable for a U.S. 
legal attache to go over prosecution issues with the young, 
relatively inexperienced prosecutor who handles nearly all 
the high profile corruption cases here.  End Note.) 
 
8.  (C)  While agreeing that corruption in the court system 
must be approached in an institutional manner, CDA remarked 
that the United States had its own laws to implement and its 
people to protect.  Accordingly, we had used the visa 
revocation tool and that we would not hesitate to use it 
again if necessary.  CDA forewarned Maduro that we could not 
tolerate judges who established a pattern of refusing to 
entertain evidence against narco-traffickers - caught by 
Honduran and US agents who had literally put their lives at 
risk.  Maduro nodded his apparent understanding.  CDA also 
said that we preferred to work with the Honduran government 
in private, but that we could not remain publicly silent on 
matters of security concern to the United States: silence 
suggests acquiescence. 
 
9. (C)  Maduro pledged to cooperate in every possible manner 
with the United States in reforming the Immigration Office. 
He said that he planned to name a new director this week 
(three people have declined to serve so far) and that he 
would provide the Embassy with the name for vetting and 
polygraph.  Maduro said the director would report to a three 
person commission and that the anti-corruption commission 
would be involved in cleaning up the immigration office. CDA 
named the DHS/ICE office as the point of contact in assisting 
with this effort. 
 
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Politics 
-------- 
 
10.  (C)  Maduro made no predictions regarding the outcome of 
the extremely tight presidential race between his Nationalist 
candidate Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo and Liberal candidate Manuel 
"Mel" Zelaya.  At one point, Maduro did roll his eyes and 
shake his head when CDA asked him about Lobo's much 
criticized proposal to de-link electricity charges from fuel 
costs.  Instead, Maduro spoke of his own disinterest in 
politics (even though he lamented being a lame duck), calling 
himself a businessman who entered the last race at the urging 
of others and due to the murder of his son.  In fact, Maduro 
said he intends to return to private business after the 
January 2006 inauguration and to devote considerable time to 
private organizations promoting educational reform.  Maduro 
said that despite building a strong institutional framework 
for economic prosperity in the future, the average voter 
would not likely credit his Party for improving general 
economic conditions.  He called for continued evolution of 
the congressional election system with the eventual election 
of candidates by district.  Maduro proudly proclaimed that 
there would be no fraud in the upcoming elections and he 
praised the performance of voters during the past primary 
elections. 
 
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Other Issues 
------------ 
 
11.  (C)  In response to Maduro's positive comments about 
economic development, CDA remarked that Minister of 
Environment Patricia Panting had continuously delayed meeting 
with the Embassy and Honduras had already lost one USD 8 
million investment for failure to execute final approval on a 
project.  Maduro picked up the phone and called Panting, 
instructing her via voice mail to meet with the CDA.  Also, 
CDA asked that Maduro do whatever he could to free seized 
assets for use by law enforcement agencies.  Maduro said this 
would take legislation, but that he was working on it.  CDA 
told the president that it was difficult for the United 
States to provide more funds to the GOH for security, if the 
government did not act quickly to release the USD 4 million 
seized assets.  Maduro and CDA discussed in some detail the 
fight against narco-trafficking, alleged threats against 
Maduro's life, and a major anti-drug operation about to get 
underway.  CDA pledged full cooperation.  Maduro asked that 
more USG funds go into the anti-narcotics program. 
 
------------ 
Atmospherics 
------------ 
 
12.  (C)  Maduro's home appeared pleasant, but relatively 
modest.  The first people CDA met in the house were two of 
the three small children the president and his wife Aguas 
have adopted.  Aside from his five natural children, the 
Maduros have also taken in four other children - two of whom 
are in Spain as a precaution after they reportedly witnessed 
the murder of other family members.  Maduro was joined 
briefly by his 25-year-old daughter who survived a recent 
plane crash along with the president.  He spoke frequently 
about his murdered son, and CDA noticed that the president's 
computer in his study bore an image of his son on the saved 
screen.  Maduro described himself as bi-national, telling the 
CDA that his first wife used to correct the spelling in his 
Spanish language letters to her. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
13.  (C)  The president obviously wanted to impress the CDA 
with his informal, intelligent style.  He clearly believes 
that he is being judged too harshly over the corruption issue 
and wants to mend any friction in the bilateral relationship 
during his last five months in office.  Given his close 
association with the United States, it is apparent that 
Maduro is especially sensitive to U.S. criticism and wants 
very much to enjoy our favor.  Still, the record of 
corruption here is not good and we will maintain vigilance 
over developments in the immigration and judicial systems 
where injustices still appear to be an everyday occurrence. 
End Comment. 
Williard