US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2414

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 002414 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/PPC, WHA/USOAS, AND WHA/CEN 
NSC FOR DAN FISK 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, ECON, KCRM, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS TROT TO THE FINISH 
LINE: PROGRESS CONTINUES, THOUGH SLOWLY 
 
REF: TEGUCIGALPA 2411 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Chief of the Political Section Derrick M. Olsen; 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary. Progress remains slow with the Honduran 
Supreme Electoral Tribunal's (TSE) official tabulation of the 
November 27 national elections.  Honduras remains quiet, 
though anxious, about the ongoing political stalemate.  In 
the hopes of generating further progress, and as discussed 
with State/WHA and the NSC, the Embassy released a statement 
to the press the late afternoon of November 29 about the 
electoral situation.  Post is hopeful that the presidential 
vote count will take place at a more rapid rate.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has instituted 
shift work (three 8-hour shifts) in order to work 
around-the-clock to finish the tabulation of the presidential 
votes as quickly as possible.  Additionally, PolOffs received 
confirmation that the TSE sorting warehouse in Tegucigalpa 
has received 85 percent of the voting tabulations done by 
electoral tables and, while perhaps overly optimistic, expect 
to receive the remaining 15 percent by 11:00pm November 29. 
How quickly these vote counts will actually be processed once 
received is much less certain. 
 
3. (U) The TSE official results can now be found on their 
website, http://resultados.tse/hn . 
 
4. (SBU) The Ambassador released a statement the late 
afternoon of November 29 seconding an Organization of 
American States' Electoral Observation Mission statement 
making the following three points (full text sent separately 
to State/WHA): 
- The elections November 27 went very well, with no signs to 
cause concern, and the Honduran people should be 
congratulated. 
- Given that technical surveys by the TSE and others (i.e. 
the OAS Quick Count) exist that indicate a projected winner, 
the TSE official tabulation of votes is even more important. 
- Professional actions by the TSE are critical for a credible 
process to officially declare the winner. 
 
5. (U) The NGO domestic election observer effort Moviemiento 
Civico plans to hold a press conference at 10:00am on 
November 30 to release its report on its observations of the 
national elections held November 27. 
 
6. (C) Comment: Whether or not the National Party rally the 
evening of November 28 (reftel) or the OAS press statement 
released the early afternoon of November 29 pushed the TSE 
into action, or whether it was their own internal mechanisms 
finally beginning to move, it seems that there is now light 
at the end of the tunnel and that the TSE will hopefully 
finish its presidential tabulations relatively rapidly. 
Although National Party officials have told the Ambassador 
privately that they know they lost the presidential election, 
their public actions/statements leave doubt as to if a 
concession will happen soon or not.  End Comment. 
Ford