US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA1534

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEGUCIGALPA 001534 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, DRL/PHD, INR/AN/IAA, AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, SNAR, KCRM, KJUS, PHUM, PREL, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: CARDINAL'S CORRUPTION COMMENTS SPARK PUBLIC 
DEBATE; CARDINAL STILL RECEIVING DEATH THREATS 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 625 
 
     B. 02 VATICAN 4582 
     C. 02 TEGUCIGALPA 2054 
     D. 02 TEGUCIGALPA 962 (ALL NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Larry Palmer; 
Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY. During a private meeting with the Ambassador 
on June 20, the Cardinal expressed heightened concern over 
the pervasiveness of drug-related corruption at the highest 
levels of government as well as continuing death threats he 
had received. Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga used 
the bully pulpit of his chairmanship of the National 
Anti-Corruption Council to raise questions about a corrupt 
political arrangement that was allegedly negotiated between 
Liberal Party President Rafael Pineda Ponce and former 
Honduran President Rafael Leonardo Callejas.  The Cardinal's 
criticisms were widely reported by the media as truth and 
spawned a fiery response from Pineda Ponce, who challenged 
the Cardinal to come forward with his evidence of the 
supposed deal.   END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
CARDINAL EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER CORRUPTION/DEATH THREATS 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
2. (C) Cardinal Rodriguez expressed significant concern that 
drug-related corruption had penetrated the highest levels of 
the Congress and the Public Ministry in a June 20 meeting 
with the Ambassador.  He provided the Ambassador with a 
confidential document from an informant, outlining 
 
SIPDIS 
allegations of corruption within the Public Ministry.  (Note: 
Embassy had previously received this document from another 
source.)  The Cardinal believes the culture of corruption and 
impunity in Honduras to be so pervasive that he was planning 
to resign from his position as Chair of the CNA. 
Additionally, the Cardinal relayed that threats to his life 
have continued in recent weeks. He has accepted an offer from 
the Ministry of Public Security for a single police officer 
to serve as a security detail during his public appearances 
only.  The Ambassador urged the Cardinal not to resign and to 
continue his vigilance in fighting corruption. 
 
3. (C) During a March discussion with the Ambassador, 
Cardinal Rodriguez privately confided that he had received a 
recent death threat that merited concern (ref A).  Though 
Post has been unable to assess the credibility of the 
gatekeeper's kidnapping story, the Cardinal interpreted the 
kidnapping to represent an escalation in the seriousness of 
threats to his life.  The Cardinal indicated to the 
Ambassador in March that the recent threats would not deter 
his anti-corruption campaign. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST PINEDA PONCE AND CALLEJAS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) According to May 20 press reports, Cardinal Oscar 
Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa (who is 
also rumored to be a potential successor to Pope John Paul II 
(ref B)) raised questions during a meeting of the National 
Anti-Corruption Council (CNA) that a corrupt political 
arrangement may have been negotiated between Liberal Party 
President Rafael Pineda Ponce, the former president of 
Congress who ran unsuccessfully against Ricardo Maduro for 
president in 2001, and former Honduran President Rafael 
Leonardo Callejas (1990-94), a Nationalist.  According to the 
Cardinal, who described his sources as "faithful," Callejas 
influenced Nationalist Party judges on the Supreme Court to 
dismiss the case against the son-in-law of Pineda Ponce, 
Jorge Adolfo Chavez Hernandez, a former member of Battalion 
3-16, who has been accused of masterminding the 1998 murder 
of environmentalist and Catacamas (in the Department of 
Olancho) town councilman, Carlos Antonio Luna Lopez.  The 
Cardinal suggested that, in exchange, Pineda Ponce influenced 
Liberal Supreme Court judges to dismiss seven pending 
corruption cases against Callejas.  The Cardinal's 
accusations call into question the legality of both 
politicians' actions as well as the credibility and 
transparency of the Supreme Court.  These press reports were 
confirmed by German Espinal, the Executive Director of the 
CNA. 
 
5. (U) (Note:  As stated in the Human Rights Report, in May 
and July 2002, police arrested Chavez and Jose Angel Rosa in 
the 1998 murder of Luna.  The arrests occurred after both the 
prosecuting attorney and judge in the case received death 
threats.  In May 2002 the local judge resigned from the court 
because of these death threats.  Former security official 
Jose Marcos Hernandez Hernandez and two other suspects still 
remain at large and one other suspect in the murder, Oscar 
Aurelio "Machetillo" Rodriguez Molina, remains in prison. 
End Note.) 
 
------------------------ 
REACTIONS OF THE ACCUSED 
------------------------ 
 
6. (C) On June 18, after weeks of avoiding a direct 
confrontation with the Cardinal, Pineda Ponce publicly 
challenged the Cardinal to present his evidence to a court. 
In a letter sent to Attorney General Roy Medina, Pineda Ponce 
urged Medina to require the Cardinal to present his 
information regarding the supposed political arrangement 
between Pineda Ponce and Callejas.  The same week, Chavez 
claimed his innocence in Luna's killing and accused the 
Cardinal of lashing out at Honduran politicians as part of a 
strategy for winning the papacy.  Callejas has not responded 
publicly to the Cardinal's allegations but noted his deep 
respect for the Cardinal as a moral leader.  The Cardinal has 
declined to comment on Pineda Ponce's challenge.  Espinal 
told EmbOffs that the Cardinal would present his testimony 
and evidence to the Attorney General's Office on June 26 
during a sworn deposition. 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
THE CARDINAL'S ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN 
--------------------------------------- 
 
7. (U) As chair of the CNA, Cardinal Rodriguez is leading a 
campaign to implement a 20-year national anti-corruption 
strategy (refs C and D).  President Ricardo Maduro 
(Nationalist Party) ratified and endorses the work of the 
CNA, which receives funding from the World Bank, the 
Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations 
Development Programs, as well as from several bilateral 
donors, such as USAID.  Last year, the Cardinal called for 
the creation of an international court to try corruption 
cases and to channel confiscated funds back into developing 
countries.  The Cardinal has urged Hondurans to acknowledge 
the depths of the corruption problem and to support an 
anti-corruption strategy buttressed by political will. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
CARDINAL CLAIMS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES APATHETIC 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU) In a private meeting with the Ambassador in March, 
the Cardinal also expressed his desire that the international 
community employ stricter conditionalities on developing 
countries as a deterrent to corruption.  During the week of 
June 7, the Cardinal publicly charged developed countries 
apathetic toward what he considers to be an exorbitant debt 
burden and crushing interest rates in developing countries. 
The Cardinal deemed a lack of political will, and not a lack 
of funds, to be the chief impediment to resolving the debt 
problem in developing countries.  In particular, the Cardinal 
cited the multi-billion dollar commitment of developed 
nations to wage war in Iraq as an example of the availability 
of funds and political will to employ them. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
INFLUENCE OF CARDINAL GIVES COMMENTS ADDED WEIGHT 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
9.  (C) Comment:  Even though the details surrounding the 
Cardinal's statements on Pineda Ponce and Callejas have yet 
to be revealed, both the Honduran media and the public at 
large have embraced the story as truth.  Meanwhile, Pineda 
Ponce's response to the Cardinal represents a bold and risky 
political maneuver.  That Pineda Ponce chose to directly 
address the alleged criticisms speaks to the perceived power 
of the Cardinal's rhetoric to sting high profile figures.  A 
recent public survey rated Cardinal Rodriguez the third most 
powerful figure in Honduras, behind President Maduro and the 
Ambassador.  Meanwhile, this unfolding drama appears to have 
given voice to a Honduran public frustrated by rampant 
corruption and impunity.  It has also sparked a vigorous 
debate in the media about corruption in all major public 
institutions, especially the Attorney General's Office and 
the police.  Given the threats to the Cardinal's life, his 
high political profile within Honduras and possible candidacy 
for the papacy, both the allegations of pervasive 
narco-corruption and concerns over the Cardinal's physical 
security merit careful monitoring.  End Comment. 
 
Palmer