US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA856

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000856 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR WHA, WHA/CCA, WHA/CEN, DRL, AND INR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2008 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, ETTC, PINR, CU, HO, UNHCR-1 
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE CANDIDATES TO SERVE AS FIRST HONDURAN 
AMBASSADOR TO CUBA 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 826 
     B. TEGUCIGALPA 763 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Roger Pierce; 
Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (C) The Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has not 
yet named a Honduran ambassador to Cuba.  Several names have 
been circulating as potential candidates.  As noted in reftel 
B, first among these is Rene Arturo Bendana, former 
Ambassador to Spain and to the U.S. under past President 
Rafael Callejas.  Bendana, who owns an agribusiness, went to 
college in Mississippi and is pro-U.S.  Bendana is considered 
the "dark side" candidate from the Nationalist Party.  He was 
reportedly offered the Cuba ambassadorship by Nationalist 
Party officials, but has not received an official offer from 
the MFA.  It appears that Bendana will accept the post should 
he receive an official offer. 
 
2. (C) Two other candidate names have been circulating among 
political sources: Fernando MARTINEZ Jimenez, an architect by 
profession, was Foreign Minister during the Carlos Flores 
government.  Born in 1944 in Comayaguela, Martinez graduated 
from the University of Kansas and is married to an American 
whom he met there, Karen Mary Casey.  Martinez's tenure as 
Foreign Minister was notable for its philosophy that Honduran 
foreign policy should reflect domestic policy, thus "serving 
the entire country": an idea that boosted Martinez's 
popularity greatly.  Martinez pruned the Foreign Service 
staff from 252 people to 120, firing those whom he considered 
unnecessary or corrupt.  Martinez left the office of Foreign 
Minister in January 1999 after a tumultuous tenure. 
Then-President Flores asked him to resign following a 
newspaper editorial scandal.  The scandal apparently served 
as a convenient catalyst for a long-awaited dismissal by the 
President. 
 
3. (C) Victor Meza, a former unofficial advisor to former 
President Flores, has also received mention as a possible 
candidate.  Meza studied in the Soviet Union at Patrice 
Lumumba University in Moscow from 1965-1968 and is a former 
member of the Communist Party.  Due to his leftist ties, Meza 
was off limits to embassy employees during the 1980's.  He 
has since become a contact of the Embassy.  Meza was an 
advocate of diminished power for the Honduran Armed Forces 
during the 1990's; he believed that the military's power 
undermined the country's democratic development.  Meza also 
served as a valuable source of information for the embassy on 
human rights and other issues.  He is seen by many observers 
as a very capable political analyst with good insights into 
the political scene in Honduras.  He currently heads the 
Honduran Documentation Center (CEDOH), and is a leader of the 
NGO Citizens Forum.   Meza speaks Russian but no English.  He 
has not received any official notice of his candidacy for the 
ambassadorship, though he has told the Embassy he has heard 
numerous rumors that he may be called upon for the position. 
 
 
4. (C) COMMENT:  Ambassador urged President Ricardo Maduro on 
March 28 to further delay the naming of an ambassador in the 
wake of Fidel Castro's recent crackdown on human 
rights/democracy advocates (ref A).  END COMMENT. 
Palmer