A/S REICH ADDRESSES MILITARY ISSUES AND PROMOTES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002531

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CEN, PM, AND DRL
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC
NSC FOR AMB MAISTO

E.O. 12958: 09/10/12
TAGS: PREL MARR MCAP PHUM KJUS SNAR PBTS PGOV HO
SUBJECT: A/S REICH ADDRESSES MILITARY ISSUES AND PROMOTES
JUDICIAL REFORM WITH HONDURAN MILITARY AND SUPREME COURT

REFS: A) TEGUCIGALPA 1780
B) TEGUCIGALPA 2444
C) TEGUCIGALPA 1975

Classified by PolChief Francisco Palmieri, Reasons 1.5 (b)
and (d)


1. (C) Summary: On August 28 WHA Assistant Secretary Otto
Reich visited with Honduran Minister of Defense Federico
Breve Travieso and Chief of the Joint Staff General Jose
Isaias Barahona. The meeting covered a variety of topics,
including the Cerro La Mole radar, border conflicts with
Nicaragua and El Salvador, the potential U.S. gift of six
UH-1 helicopters and the needs of the Honduran Armed Forces
(HOAF) with respect to the battle against trafficking of
drugs and arms. The following day, A/S Reich met with the
President of the Supreme Court of Justice Vilma Morales and
other justices. Their meeting focused on anticorruption and
judicial reform and independence. A/S Reich also toured one
of Honduras's new courtrooms built to implement its new
adversarial criminal procedure, a key U.S.-sponsored legal
reform. End Summary.

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MOD REVIEWS DRUGS, ARMS, HELOS AND AN AIRPORT
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2. (U) On August 28, WHA A/S Reich visited with Honduran
Minister of Defense Federico Breve Travieso (MOD) and Chief
of the Joint Staff General Jose Isaias Barahona at the
Estado Mayor Conjuntos (the Honduran equivalent of the Joint
Staff). He was greeted by a formal honor guard and joined
by WHA/CEN Director Paul Trivelli, the DCM, PolCouns,
Defense Attache, MilGrp Commander and PolMilOff (notetaker).


3. (C) The MOD assured A/S Reich that the Honduran Armed
Forces (HOAF) wants to work with the U.S. in the battle
against drug and arms trafficking. Breve outlined a
plethora of problems of the HOAF, focusing on communication
deficiencies that severely hinder Honduras's effectiveness
in situations that require an immediate response. The MOD
raised the issue of the Cerro La Mole radar and the failure
of the U.S. to contribute to maintenance costs of the
facility. A/S Reich assured the MOD that the U.S. is
engaged on this issue and is looking for a solution. (See
reftel A for background information on this issue.) Breve
asked about the possibility of obtaining Plan Colombia funds
to aid the HOAF's efforts to interdict drugs passing through
Honduras to the U.S. A/S Reich explained restrictions on
the manner in which Plan Colombia money can be spent.


4. (C) MOD Breve also raised the U.S. offer to give the HOAF
six used UH-1 helicopters. The GOH must pay $4 million to
refurbish the helicopter to make them flight-worthy before
they can receive the UH-1s. However, Breve advised the A/S
that his ministry's budget is too tight at this moment to
pay for the repairs and asked if the U.S. could fund these
repairs or assist in finding an alternative solution. The
MOD stressed that the helicopters would enhance Honduras'
ability to participate in counternarcotics activities.
MILGRP Commander explained that U.S. funds were not
available and that the cost of the repairs unfortunately had
to be borne by the recipient nation.


5. (U) Breve broached the subject of the proposed conversion
of the Soto Cano military airstrip into an international
airport for commercial use. President Maduro embraces the
concept, which seeks to transform the Comayagua valley into
a new commercial center by bolstering Honduras's capacity to
export cargo and import tourists. (See reftel B for
additional information about this proposal to convert the
military airstrip (shared by the HOAF and Joint Task Force
Bravo) into a facility that would accommodate both
commercial air traffic and military operations.)

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SUPPORTING JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AND PROMOTING REFORM
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6. (U) On August 29, A/S Reich (accompanied by Ambassador,
WHA/CEN Director Trivelli, DCM, PolCouns, USAID Deputy
Director, USAID FSN and PolOff) met with Supreme Court
President Vilma Morales and five justices in the Court's
conference chambers. Morales and A/S Reich discussed at
length the problem of corruption and the role the judiciary
plays in combating it. A/S Reich stressed the importance of
an independent judiciary in a democratic system, and of
judicial transparency and the rule of law in building the
confidence of the international investment community. A/S
Reich and Morales talked about the strides Honduras has made
in the area of judicial and legal reform, including the new
selection process for Supreme Court judges (designed to
depoliticize the Court) and the new Code of Criminal
Procedure that established an adversarial system of
prosecution. (For a detailed account of anticorruption
efforts in Honduras, see reftel C.)


7. (C) Ambassador Almaguer raised the issue of the
Congress's recently proposed Constitutional amendment that
strips the Court of its authority to interpret the
constitutionality of the laws and bestows it upon the
Congress itself. (Note: Post will provide more information
about this ongoing judicial conflict via septel. End Note.)
Judges Marco T. Barahona and Ovidio Navarro weighed in on
this topic, highlighting the need for civil society and
other sectors, especially the G-15 group and U.S., to
support the Court in its battle for independence and the
maintenance of separation of powers.


8. (U) The delegation toured a newly constructed courtroom
designed to implement the country's new criminal procedures
code, which uses a prosecutorial system vice the previous
inquistorial one and which requires oral trials with
witnesses and juries. The new criminal procedures code is
one of the most important U.S. sponsored legal reforms to be
enacted in Honduras. Judge Jorge Alberto Burgos Cordova from
the Honduran Sentencing Tribunal gave a brief presentation
that outlined how the recent reforms to the criminal process
are already beginning to yield more equal justice under law.
(Note: Judge Burgos formerly served as a prosecutor, during
which time he came very close to death when would-be
assassins shot him 17 times. End note.)

PIERCE