REPLACING PEREZ-CADALSO: HONDURAS SEEKS NEW

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001863

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, IO, AND INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2013
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PINR ECON HO
SUBJECT: REPLACING PEREZ-CADALSO: HONDURAS SEEKS NEW
FOREIGN MINISTER

REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1778


B. TEGUCIGALPA 1108

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Roger Pierce;
Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D)


1. (U) SUMMARY: Guillermo Perez-Cadalso Arias, former
Minister of Foreign Affairs, is being sworn in this week as
the president of the National Autonomous University of
Honduras (UNAH). In order to make himself eligible for the
position, Perez-Cadalso officially resigned as Foreign
Minister on July 22, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
Anibal Quinonez is now serving as the acting Minister.
However, it is far from clear whether Quinonez will remain at
the helm of the Foreign Ministry on a permanent basis. Rumor
has it that others, such as Ramon Medina Luna, President
Ricardo Maduro's National Security Advisor, and Oswaldo Ramos
Soto, an influential member of the National Congress, are
also in the running for the position. END SUMMARY

--------------
Perez-Cadalso
--------------


2. (U) Guillermo Perez-Cadalso, former Minister of Foreign
Affairs, is being sworn in this week as the president of the
National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH). On July
22, in order to make himself available for the position,
Perez-Cadalso presented his resignation to President Ricardo
Maduro, who had appointed him Minister of Foreign Affairs in
January 2002. Perez-Cadalso was not pressured into quitting,
and has actually coveted the position of UNAH president for
some time. The presidency of the university carries with it
more domestic prestige, and Perez-Cadalso is an academic at
heart, having led the UNAH's Law Department during the 1980s.

--------------
Quinonez and Other Possible Replacements
--------------


3. (SBU) Anibal Quinonez is the Honduran Vice Minister for
Foreign Affairs, and current acting head of the Ministry.
Born January 7, 1950, he received a undergraduate degree in
law from UNAH and a Master's degree in International
Relations from the University of El Salvador in Argentina.
Quinonez entered the Honduran Foreign Service in 1973, and
served in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, France, and Israel.
In 1981 he was named Ambassador to Uruguay and served
simultaneously as Non-Resident Ambassador to Paraguay until

1983. During his time in Uruguay, U.S. EmbOffs in Montevideo
described him as a friend and admirer of the U.S. Quinonez
was named Ambassador to Japan in 1985, and during his
nine-year stay in Tokyo he also served as the Non-Resident
Ambassador to South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, and
Singapore. From 1995 to 1998 Quinonez served as the
Director-General of Foreign Policy, and was named to his
current post in 2002. He has been an excellent contact of
the Embassy in this position. Quinonez is married and has
four children.


4. (S) Other names rumored to PolOffs as being in the running
for the Minister position are Ramon Medina Luna and Oswaldo
Ramos Soto. Medina Luna was also mentioned at the beginning
of President Maduro's term as a possible Minister of Foreign
Affairs before being named National Security Advisor. He is
an experienced professional with considerable expertise in
economic development and regional trade. (Medina Luna is
married for a second time; his wife is Nicaragua. He has
grown children from a previous marriage). Ramos Soto being
considered as a possible successor to Perez-Cadalso is a bit
more surprising. In April 1988 he allegedly incited a crowd
that later burned down the Embassy annex after U.S.
authorities captured (with Honduran Government approval) a
Honduran narcotrafficker. Ramos Soto, then president of the
UNAH, claims that he neither proposed nor approved of the
action; he contends he merely told the students who became
the nucleus of the mob that he believed the U.S. action was
illegal. More recently, Ramos Soto raised eyebrows this
spring when he used his position as the head of the National
Congress' Commission on Constitutional Issues to advocate
giving the Congress, rather than the Supreme Court, the power
to interpret the constitution (ref B).


5. (C) COMMENT: While Quinonez would be a good choice, and
Medina Luna acceptable, it would be difficult to work with
Ramos Soto, who is from the "dark side" of the National
Party, and about whom there are allegations of significant
corruption. The Maduro Administration seems to be in no
hurry to name a replacement to Perez-Cadalso
(correspondingly, GOH attendance at UNGA is still in flux).
Recently rocked by the defection of the Christian Democrats
from the ruling coalition (ref A),grumbling within his own
National Party, the resignation of Maduro confidant Cesar
Batres, and the ominous departure of the First Lady on a trip
to Spain (septel),attention within the Administration is
focused primarily on damage control. Post will continue to
monitor progress on any permanent replacement and will report
accordingly. END COMMENT.
Pierce