US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2445

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/PPC, WHA/USOAS, AND WHA/CEN 
NSC FOR DAN FISK 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2035 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, ECON, KCRM, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: BIO OF MEL ZELAYA, APPARENT WINNER OF HONDURAN 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 
 
REF: TEGUCIGALPA 2442 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Charles A. Ford; 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya Rosales was born September 9, 
1952 in Juticalpa, Olancho.  His home is now outside of 
Catacamas, Olancho.  Olancho has long been known as the "Wild 
West" of Honduras.  He studied (but apparently did not earn a 
degree in) civil engineering at the Autonomous University of 
Honduras (UNAH) in the late 1960s.  Out of university, he 
worked for many years in business, becoming well known for 
his wood products/sawmilling business, eventually being named 
director of the Honduran Logging Association.  He is seen as 
a slick agro-businessman by some and a down-home farmer by 
others.  He entered Liberal Party politics in the 1980s, 
becoming a congressman from the Department of Olancho, where 
he quickly gained a reputation as an outspoken opponent of 
U.S. policy.  He was the first to publicly oppose the 
presence of the Nicaraguan Contra insurgency in Honduras 
(1986), and went so far as calling the presence of U.S. 
troops in Honduras illegal. 
 
2. (C) Zelaya continued in congress until 1994, when he was 
named (cabinet-level) Director of the Social Investment Fund 
of Honduras (FHIS) at the beginning of the Carlos Reina 
administration (1994-1998).  He served in that position 
throughout the Reina administration and into the Carlos 
Flores administration (both Liberal Party governments).  His 
tenure of over five years is by Honduran standards an 
unusually long time for a cabinet minister to serve in the 
same post.  During his time at FHIS, Zelaya's criticism of 
U.S. policy softened, and over time he established positive 
working relationships with U.S. officials.  His term at FHIS 
ended in June of 1999 when then-President Flores required any 
minister that was planning to run for President to quit the 
cabinet, which occasion Zelaya used to announce his 
presidential run.  Zelaya's 2001 presidential candidacy 
faltered in the primaries, losing to Rafael Pineda Ponce (who 
subsequently lost to Nationalist Ricardo Maduro in the 
general elections), but Zelaya remained a leading force 
within the Liberal Party during the Maduro administration. 
Zelaya subsequently mounted another presidential campaign and 
easily beat a crowded field of eight candidates in the 
February 2005 Liberal Party presidential primary. 
 
3. (C) Allegations of involvement with drug trafficking and 
other forms of illicit enrichment have cropped up 
periodically since at least 1988, but there is no reporting 
to substantiate such allegations.  During his tenure at FHIS, 
that agency was considered to be comparatively well-run and 
effective by local standards.  The overall arc of his career 
shows him to be flawed within the range of normal for 
Honduran politicians, but basically well-meaning. 
 
4. (C) Zelaya's family tree raises eyebrows.  He has three 
younger brothers: Carlos, Marco Antonio, and Hector (now 
deceased).  Hector was allegedly involved with drugs, and 
reportedly was murdered in a crime designed to look like a 
suicide together with his girlfriend, Mayra Zavala, and two 
other men in the 1970s.  Carlos, who later became a 
congressman, was reportedly driving a car used in the 
kidnapping of Camilo Giron and Junior Kafati (the son of 
Salomon Kafati), who were later murdered (in the early 
1980s).  Although he claimed to be innocent, Carlos served 10 
years in jail in connection with this incident.  Zelaya's 
parents were Jose Manuel Zelaya Ordonez (now deceased) and 
Hortensia Zelaya, rich and connected farmers in Olancho.  On 
July 25, 1975, the military massacred 14 people, including 11 
peasants and three clergy, involved in land reform protests. 
The massacre reportedly took place on a farm named Los 
Horcones owned by Zelaya's father in Olancho.  Two military 
officers were convicted in 1978 of murder; the other 
defendants were reportedly acquitted.  The incident is 
mentioned in the 1977-1979 U.S. Country Reports on Human 
Rights section on Honduras (Zelaya's father is not 
specifically named).  Zelaya's father was reportedly jailed 
in connection with this massacre, but later released after 
apparently spending seven years in jail without a conviction. 
 There is no evidence that Zelaya himself was involved in any 
of these violent events which were brought to the surface 
again during the recent presidential campaign.  In addition, 
Zelaya's paternal grandmother was reportedly murdered with a 
machete by a workman on the same farm when Zelaya was a young 
child.  Zelaya is said to be the one who found the body. 
 
5. (SBU) Zelaya is married to Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (born 
September 30, 1959) and they have four children: Jose Manuel, 
Xiomara, Hector, and Zoe.  He is Roman Catholic, and often 
cites his strongly held religious beliefs in public 
statements.  Xiomara's father is Irena Castro Reyes, a 
prominent lawyer whose clients include key National Party 
figures: businessman Miguel Facusse and former President 
Raphael Leonardo Callejas among others.  Zelaya is related to 
former President Carlos Reina (now deceased), also of the 
Liberal Party.  Zelaya does not speak English. 
 
6. (C) If one was to judge Zelaya's future administration by 
his campaign, there might be room for concern as far as 
organization is concerned.  His campaign was often unfocused, 
unorganized, and emphasized "citizen power" rather than a 
specific "government plan."  However, Zelaya has a good 
reputation from his days as a minister and much of the 
disorganization seems to flow from Zelaya's friendly cowboy 
image, as opposed to more structured politicians who stay on 
message.  Zelaya is widely seen as a charismatic (if 
allegedly intellectually weak) politician whose strengths 
come out in retail politics.  He is known as an insomniac who 
does most of his decision-making between midnight and 3:00 am 
and gives little attention to punctuality. 
Ford