US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA625

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000625 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, HO 
SUBJECT: THREAT TO CARDINAL RODRIGUEZ 
 
 
Classified By: Francisco L. Palmieri, Reason 1.5 (d). 
 
1.  At an event hosted by the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Oscar 
Rodriguez privately told the Ambassador that he had received 
a recent death threat that he was taking very seriously. 
Apparently, the gatekeeper at Cardinal Rodriguez's office had 
been kidnapped while running an errand recently.   The 
gatekeeper was blindfolded and driven around by a group of 
individuals who were wearing army fatigues and had grenades 
on their belts.  The group kept the gatekeeper blindfolded as 
it drove him to a remote area.  Throughout the long drive, 
the members were talking about how unhappy they were with the 
Cardinal and his support for Maduro government policies. 
They openly discussed their plans to destabilize the 
government before finally making it clear that they were 
going to kill the Cardinal.  The group allegedly offered to 
pay the gatekeeper 7 million lempiras to set up the Cardinal. 
 They claimed to have conducted surveillance of the Cardinal 
and to know his routines.  Eventually, the group allowed the 
gatekeeper to escape after reaching a remote area by putting 
down their weapons and leaving him unguarded. 
 
2.  The Cardinal said he felt that this threat was the most 
serious he had received.  He believed it was linked to either 
his statements about the fugitive bankers or to a 
long-standing conflict he has had with Jaime Rosenthal, a 
Liberal Party leader and business oligarch from San Pedro 
Sula.  The Cardinal made it clear that he was not afraid but 
that the kidnapping represented an escalation that he had not 
experienced before.  Previously he has received written and 
telephonic threats.  The Ambassador encouraged him to bring 
this information to Minister of Security and offered Embassy 
assistance in evaluating the threat.  The Cardinal said he 
would contact the Minister and expressed appreciation for the 
Ambassador's offer. 
 
3.  Comment: We will keep our ears close to the ground to see 
if we can pick up any other information related to the 
Cardinal's security.  The Cardinal, while taking this threat 
seriously, made it clear he did not plan to curtail any of 
his efforts to root out corruption or to call attention to 
the shortcomings in Honduran society. We have no way of 
assessing the gatekeeper's credibilty. 
Palmer