US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA1666

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001666 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/PDA (JGREENBLATT); WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PREL, KPAO, PGOV, IZ, HO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON DRUG TRAFFICKING, JULY 12, 2003 
 
 
1. Op-ed by Guillermo Castellanos Enamorado on Tegucigalpa-based 
moderate daily "El Heraldo" on 7/12 entitled "Narco trafficking 
and Congressmen". "The cases of the member of the Central 
American Parliament detained in Nicaragua and the Honduran 
Congressman arrested in Olancho have brought forward once again 
the declarations made by the US Ambassador Larry Palmer, who 
stated that he hasn't seen any `powerful figure' being prosecuted 
for any crime and that it is the duty of the proper authorities 
to investigate the authenticity of any report on drug 
trafficking". 
 
"Among the `powerful' Mr. Palmer refers to, besides Congressmen, 
we can find ministers, high-ranking public officials, executive 
directors of decentralized institutions and other big fish that I 
have no idea of who can also be drug carriers for narco 
traffickers." 
 
"How is it possible that such people can become members of 
National Congress or of that white elephant called the Central 
American Parliament? Even though we already knew that this 
institution has become the safe haven for the debris of the 
Central American political elites". 
 
"Anyway, I still wonder, how do these people sneak in? Is it 
possible that the political parties don't check and re-check the 
kind of people they include in their electoral ballots?" 
 
"For these and many more other reasons, it is urgent to approve 
the political reforms promised by the political parties during 
the last electoral campaign, to create effective mechanisms to 
avoid these scandals in the future." 
 
Palmer