US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2055

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002055 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, WHA/USOAS, AND DRL/PHD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAM AND DCHA/DG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN ELECTIONS NEWS: UPDATE 7 
 
REF: (A) Tegucigalpa 2051 
 
     (B) Tegucigalpa 1984 
     (C) Tegucigalpa 1968 
     (D) Tegucigalpa 1949 
     (E) Tegucigalpa 1680 
     (F) Tegucigalpa 1665 
 
Lobo Orders End to "Combos" in National Party 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
1. National Party presidential candidate Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo 
has called for all National Party candidates, particularly 
those running for Congress, to refrain from campaigning in 
"combos".  Candidates recently adopted this modality of 
campaigning to lessen campaign costs (ref C).  Pepe Lobo's 
orders are clear: All congressional candidates in each 
department must work as a team.  He reminded the candidates 
that the National Party is a serious institution, 
characterized by the discipline of its members.  Combos, he 
said, only work in fast food restaurants and that is where 
they should remain.  Lobo was accompanied by members of the 
Central Committee, the party's Political Committee, and 
candidates from the Departments of Cortes, Choluteca, 
Francisco Morazan, and Olancho when he issued his orders. 
 
Military to be Custodians of Ballots 
------------------------------------ 
 
2. More than 9,000 members of the Honduran Armed Forces will 
be custodians of the electoral ballots in the November 27 
general elections.  The total cost of the operations will be 
23 million lempiras (USD 1.2 million).  This is necessary in 
order to prevent errors in the process of sending electoral 
materials to the voting areas or collecting the votes from 
the voting centers after the election is closed. 
 
3. The strategy is that military personnel will be deployed 
throughout the country supported by 706 lightweight vehicles, 
35 boats, two planes, eight helicopters and 499 vehicles from 
other government agencies to distribute all the voting 
materials to the 18 departments.  The budget will be used to 
acquire paper, ink, gasoline, spare parts, per diem costs, 
commercial services, machine rentals and private 
transportation. 
 
4. The Honduran military will secure all the centers where 
materials are stored, as well as the polling centers during 
the electoral process, and collect the ballots and materials 
after the election.  In addition, they will be in charge of 
the transportation logistics and be responsible for 
disbursement of electoral materials to local election 
officials.  The military will be available to the Supreme 
Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for 30 days after the end of the 
electoral process.  Aristides Mejia, President of the TSE, 
said that the alliance with the Honduran Armed Forces is very 
important logistical one, however, the ultimate 
responsibility for the electoral process will fall on the 
TSE.  Post notes that concern has been raised by four other 
 
SIPDIS 
political parties regarding a potential conflict of interest 
given that the Minister of Defense is also a member of the 
Political Commission of the National Party (ref C). 
 
COHEP Cancels Presidential Debates 
---------------------------------- 
 
5. The Honduran Private Enterprise Council (COHEP) invited 
candidates of the five political parties to present their 
government plans for Honduras and to debate with their 
presidential, vice presidential and municipal counterparts. 
After repeated delays due to the reluctance of Lobo to 
participate in such debates, on September 26, COHEP cancelled 
the presidential debates.  COHEP said the reason for the 
cancellation was "that the National Party had refused to 
participate specifically for strategic reasons."  COHEP 
apologized to its members, businesses, and supporters of the 
event and expressed its regret.  In its statement, COHEP also 
reminded the parties "that democracy is forged with serious, 
concrete positions, well-defended solid arguments, 
seriousness, and political maturity.  Otherwise campaigns 
become low-level, mere propaganda events, plagued with 
insults and political immaturity, which project the 
candidates' lack of capacity to govern."  Judging from the 
current campaigns and interplay, COHEP fairly accurately 
pegged the current state of the campaign. 
 
Williard