US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA1802

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 TEGUCIGALPA 001802 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/CT, PRM, G/TIP, DRL/PHD, AND DRL/IL 
STATE FOR WHA/PPC, WHA/CEN, INL/LP, INR/GGI, L, AND CA 
STATE FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/CR/CIL, AND DS/CR/VF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2015 
TAGS: SMIG, PGOV, KJUS, KCRM, PTER, SNAR, PREL, ASEC, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN IMMIGRATION SCANDAL: ROMERO ATTACKS 
EMBASSY IN LEGAL COMPLAINT; BAIL UNLIKELY TO BE REVOKED 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1790 (NOTAL) 
 
     B. TEGUCIGALPA 1789 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. James G. Williard; 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary.  The Honduran Immigration scandal continues 
to be a hot topic.  Former Immigration Director Ramon Romero 
filed a legal complaint August 29 against EmbOffs, in an 
apparent attempt to distract attention from his own legal 
problems.  The Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime appeal 
of the August 18 release of Romero on bail is likely to fail, 
according to a judge on the appeals court which is hearing 
the appeal.  The judge also said that the complaint against 
EmbOffs constituted a very poor legal strategy that would 
fail.  Meanwhile, two Immigration employees were fired and 
arrested in La Ceiba that same day for alleged 
corrupt/illegal activities.  End Summary. 
 
Romero Files Legal Complaint Against EmbOffs 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) In documents shared with the Honduran press August 
29, former Immigration Director Ramon Romero formally accused 
FBI agents and the Embassy of wrongdoing (specifically 
charging former DCM Roger Pierce with alleged wrongdoing, but 
also mentioning former Political Counselor Francisco Palmieri 
briefly with respect to a meeting about the departure from 
Honduras of a Nicaraguan criminal wanted in the U.S.).  The 
complaint alleges EmbOffs of helping the accused bomber of a 
Cuban airliner Luis Posada Carriles enter Honduras from 
Panama.  Romero's lawyer presented this information to a 
Honduran court as part of a complaint that the Embassy has 
improperly supported Romero's indictment in an Immigration 
scandal because Romero did not support Posada's stay in 
Honduras.  The complaint appears to be an attempt to divert 
attention from the case against Romero.  Romero also claimed 
that he opposed Embassy efforts involving the departure of 
foreigners from Honduras in legal cases, naming two specific 
cases.  Post has faxed a copy of Romero's 21-page legal 
complaint (minus the hundreds of attachments) to WHA/CEN. 
Rumors have circulated that former Minister of Government and 
Justice Jorge Ramon Hernandez Alcerro will file a similar 
legal complaint, which would be an odd decision if taken, 
since it appears at present that Hernandez Alcerro will 
escape being prosecuted on any charges related to the scandal. 
 
3. (S) (Note: Posada Carriles entered Honduras on August 26, 
2004, with a stolen, forged U.S. passport on a charter flight 
that arrived at the San Pedro Sula airport from Panama.  A 
week earlier, Panamanian authorities had told the USG that 
President Maduro had agreed to accept Posada, but Maduro and 
the GOH have denied they ever sanctioned Posada's entry. 
Posada then apparently traveled to the U.S., entering 
illegally, and is currently being processed for violations of 
U.S. immigration law.  End Note.) 
 
4. (C) According to Embassy sources, Romero and his lawyer 
Juan Carlos Sanchez have a history of using legal complaints 
as a tool to battle charges against colleagues or clients. 
According to a source, Romero and his lawyer have in the past 
filed complaints for various clients who ran afoul of the 
law.  These complaints were usually filed with the Human 
Rights Ombudsman.  The tactic is allegedly used to take the 
pressure off the actual charges and the defendant.  It 
creates a side show and the criminal charges are often later 
quietly dismissed. 
 
Appeals Court Judge Meets with Charge 
------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Charge and PolChief met August 30 with Francisco 
"Paco" Alberto Ruiz Hernandez (protect), a member of the 
three-magistrate appeals court in Tegucigalpa that is 
considering the Public Ministry's appeal to revoke bail for 
Romero.  Judge Ruiz, a close contact of the previous DCM, 
requested the meeting.  Ruiz brought the Embassy a copy of 
the Romero case papers, and went through key aspects in the 
case with EmbOffs, noting several minor but important errors 
on the part of the prosecutor (the actual paperwork was filed 
by a prosecutor under Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime 
Doris Aguilar).  Ruiz noted that with the May 6 order by 
Judge Eduard Navarro, Romero was jailed only on the charge of 
abuse of authority, and not the other two charges filed 
(which included alien smuggling).  The prosecution could 
have, but apparently did not, appeal this ruling seeking to 
have the grounds for the jailing expanded to cover the other 
two charges.  That set the stage for Romero's successful 
request for bail in August.  Ruiz noted that similar cases of 
alleged abuse of authority by former senior GOH officials 
have repeatedly resulted in house arrest or bail being 
granted, and stated abuse of authority was a particularly 
difficult charge to make stick against GOH officials.  (Note: 
 This tracks with what Post has seen over the last couple of 
years.  End Note.) 
 
6. (C) Ruiz said Supreme Court President Vilma Morales had 
instructed the appeals court to uphold the judge's ruling 
granting bail, apparently based on the weakness of the 
prosecution's appeal.  Ruiz said that, while he could vote 
for revoking bail due to the fact that Romero was still 
capable of interfering in the case (as evidenced by his legal 
complaint) and was a possible flight risk, he doubted his two 
appeals court colleagues would be prepared to do the same 
unless instructed to by Morales.  Ruiz said a decision could 
be made as early as August 31.  When asked if Morales' 
motivation was defending the independence of the judicial 
branch, corruption, or both, Ruiz said he believed that 
Morales was not corrupt and was defending judicial 
independence, although a bit blindly.  However, Ruiz said he 
believed that Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Garcia Sorto, 
close to Morales, was corrupt.  Ruiz noted that the Court 
Inspectorate was not functioning, lacking basic legislation 
which meant that only limited administrative sanctions were 
possible, something that were rarely applied in any event. 
 
7. (C) Ruiz said that the best tactic was for the Special 
Prosecutor to file additional charges against Romero and seek 
to have his bail revoked and have him jailed on those 
charges.  Charge subsequently on August 31 asked USAID 
consultant Robert Selk, a U.S. prosecutor who is temporarily 
in Honduras on a previously-scheduled consultantcy at the 
Public Ministry, to work with Special Prosecutor Aguilar to 
see if he can provide any technical assistance on the Romero 
case. 
 
8. (C) With regard to Romero's legal complaint against the 
Embassy, Ruiz said that the complaint against EmbOffs 
constituted a very poor legal strategy that would fail.  Ruiz 
later sent the Embassy a complete copy of the complaint. 
 
Two Immigration Officials Arrested in La Ceiba 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
9. (C) Two Immigration employees at the La Ceiba Airport were 
fired August 29 by Vice Minister of Government Luis Suazo; 
they are currently under arrest.  VM Suazo went personally to 
La Ceiba to terminate their employment.  According to a 
reliable source, GOH authorities discovered that the 
immigration inspectors were charging an extra tax to 
passengers leaving the airport.  Investigators caught both in 
their offices, each with over 1,000 lempiras (USD 53) that 
was unaccounted for.  It is alleged by Embassy sources that 
part of this money was being kicked back to VM Suazo; GOH 
investigators and prosecutors will investigate this 
allegation.  GOH authorities have also found two Honduran 
passports that looked to have been duplicated.  Ironically, 
Minister of Government and Justice Jose Roberto Pacheco Reyes 
told EmbOffs in an August 24 meeting that VM Suazo was one 
person EmbOffs could trust on Immigration issues. 
 
Political Ramifications for National Party 
------------------------------------------ 
 
10. (C) National Party candidate for mayor of Tegucigalpa, 
Ricardo Alvarez, who groomed Romero as his protege, called 
PolChief August 27 to discuss the Romero case.  Alvarez said 
that he had met with Romero's brother to ask that Romero 
withdraw his name as a city council candidate on Alvarez's 
ticket.  Alvarez said Romero's brother said Romero was not 
prepared to do so.  Alvarez claimed, as he has in the past, 
that he had no knowledge of Romero's allegedly corrupt 
activities.  National Party officials continue to be nervous 
about the potential impact of the ongoing scandal on the 
close presidential race. 
 
Three Ring Circus of a Scandal Continues 
---------------------------------------- 
 
11. (C) Comment:  In a scandal with daily developments, 
Romero's legal complaint appears to have had the desired 
effect of diverting attention from his case.  Post now 
believes it is likely that Romero's bail will not be revoked. 
 The best hope appears to be bolstered charges by the Special 
Prosecutor for Organized Crime.  Post is convening a meeting 
September 1 of relevant Embassy sections to discuss any steps 
required to address the complaint against the Embassy.  At 
this point, based on Judge Ruiz's comments, the complaint 
poses little threat and could be counterproductive to 
Romero's defense.  Ruiz stated that the Embassy is completely 
protected by diplomatic immunity and that his judicial 
colleagues would frown on this obvious ploy to divert 
attention from the charges against Romero.  End Comment. 
Williard