AIRPORT SECURITY IN HONDURAS: TSA ATTEMPTS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEGUCIGALPA 002432

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/TRA, S/CT, WHA/CEN, DS, AND CA/OCS/ACS/WHA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2013
TAGS: EAIR PTER PGOV ASEC CASC HO
SUBJECT: AIRPORT SECURITY IN HONDURAS: TSA ATTEMPTS TO
NUDGE GOH ALONG

REF: A. STATE 258046

B. TEGUCIGALPA 2302

Classified By: EconCouns Robin Matthewman for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (U) Summary: In recent visits to Honduras, TSA
Representative Victor Guardia and other TSA inspectors have
visited or inspected three of Honduras' four international
airports, and raised several airport security issues with GOH
officials. In some areas, particularly the September
inspection of the airport at San Pedro Sula, Honduras has
performed well. However there are certain remaining areas of
concern, particularly the need to construct a fence to
enhance the protection of the runway at the Roatan airport,
and the lack of an adequate, up-to-date national airport
security plan. These problems have persisted in part due to
the lack of strong leadership from the office of the Director
General of Civil Aviation (DGAC). TSA and embassy officials
will continue to push the GOH to take steps to strengthen
airport security and place a higher priority on this
important issue. End Summary.


2. (U) Over the past several months, TSA Representative
Victor Guardia, as well as other TSA inspectors, have made
several visits to Honduras to conduct airport assessments and
discuss airport security issues with GOH officials. TSA
Representative Guardia visited the island of Roatan in April,
and had meetings with Ministry of Transportation officials
and the Director of Civil Aviation in Tegucigalpa in May and
September. TSA inspectors conducted a comprehensive
assessment of the airport in San Pedro Sula in September, and
are planning to conduct an assessment of the airport in
Roatan in late October. EconOff accompanied Guardia in the
meetings above, and held a separate meeting in September with
the Vice Minister of Transport (to whom the Director of Civil
Aviation reports) to discuss certain concerns at a higher
level.

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San Pedro Sula Airport Receives Good Marks
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3. (SBU) In September, two TSA inspectors performed a
comprehensive assessment of Ramon Villeda Morales
International Airport in San Pedro Sula. The overall sense
of the inspectors was "very positive", and while the
inspectors made a few minor recommendations, there were no
open items to report at the end of their assessment. Open
items from the previous assessment, including a proper I.D.
badge control system and the security of the catering area,
had been adequately corrected.


4. (C) The inspectors happened to be in the airport when
information about a security threat (ref a) prompted airport
authorities to implement their "contingency plan", raising
their security posture from Level 1 to Level 2. Note: this
contingency plan, in accordance with ICAO standards, has four
levels of operations: Level 1 for normal operations, Level 2
for increased awareness, Level 3 in response to specific
intelligence information, and Level 4 for direct threat. End
note. The inspectors were pleased with the organization and
execution of the exercise, noting that employees seemed to
know what they were supposed to do and that resources were
being allocated wisely.

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But Progress is Slow on Roatan
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5. (U) The Juan Manuel Galvez airport on the island of Roatan
presents a less positive example of airport security in
Honduras. Fourteen families actually live on the grounds of
the Roatan airport, and until recently there was nothing at
all separating their houses from the airport runway. As a
result, residents of these houses were able to walk around or
cross the runway area to the other side where the ocean forms
the airport's perimeter line.


6. (U) TSA Representative Victor Guardia first observed this
state of affairs during a visit to Roatan in April 2003, and
as an immediate, if temporary, solution, recommended that
guards be stationed between the houses and the runway 24
hours a day. These guards were put in place quickly and have
remained in place ever since. Guardia then personally
brought the problem to the attention of the Minister and
Vice-Minister of Transport and the Director General of Civil
Aviation (DGAC) during another visit in May.


7. (U) The ideal long-term solution would be to remove the
families from the airport grounds entirely, but the
government apparently has neither the financial resources to
provide compensation, nor the political will to fight the
legal and public relations battle that this would entail. As
a medium-term solution, Guardia recommended the construction
of an internal fence to separate the residential area from
the runway and other sensitive parts of the airport.
InterAirports, the consortium which operates Honduras' four
international airports, declared their willingness to build
such a fence, identified the money to pay for the project and
selected a contractor. They estimate that construction will
take 4 to 5 weeks, and since July they have been ready to
begin building the fence at any time. However, they have
requested from the DGAC written authorization to proceed
before they begin construction. (Note: Given the problematic
legal climate in Honduras generally, especially in the Bay
Islands and especially in matters of property disputes, this
request seems entirely justified. End note.)


8. (U) Twice in recent months Civil Aviation Director Cesar
Vasquez has assured USG officials that written authorization
would be granted and delivered to InterAirports in a matter
of days, only to be delayed. As of early October, the
authorities on Roatan are apparently unwilling to grant
written authorization to build the fence without another
face-to-face meeting with Vasquez. According to Vice
Minister of Transport Pavon, the families resident on the
airport grounds were promised indemnification by the previous
administration. They feel that, once the internal fence is
constructed, the government will forget about the issue
entirely and ignore the families' claims for compensation.
The families do not trust the government's promises, and feel
that allowing the fence to be built would cost them their
only bargaining chip. Meanwhile the runway, which services
direct weekly flights to the United States, remains protected
by 24-hour guards, but not by any permanent structure.


9. (U) Airport authorities have responded promptly to other
suggestions made by Guardia to enhance the security of the
airport perimeter, which as of October is now reportedly
secure. Note: TSA is planning to perform a comprehensive
assessment of the airport on Roatan from October 22-28. This
will be the first full assessment of the airport since 1998,
since for several years there were no direct flights from
Roatan to the United States. The inspectors will also
inspect Sol Air and Taca, the air carriers operating flights
from Roatan to the U.S. End note.

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At the National Level: In Need of a Plan, and Leadership
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10. (C) At the national level, the largest outstanding
airport security issue is the lack of an adequate National
Civil Aviation Security Program (NCASP). The current plan
has not been revised since 1997, and is in many ways obsolete
- Director of Civil Aviation Cesar Vasquez himself admits as
much. For example, the current NCASP tasks the "airport
police" with certain security functions, but the "airport
police" have not existed as a unit since the police and armed
forces of the country were re-organized in 1999. The current
plan also falls short of numerous ICAO standards, such as the
requirement that regular inspections of the nation's airports
be carried out, or the need for a formal training program for
airport employees with security functions.


11. (C) The need for a revised, ICAO-compliant NCASP was
formally brought to the attention of Director of Civil
Aviation Vasquez back in August 2002. As of TSA
Representative Guardia's most recent visit in September 2003,
however, very little progress had been made on drafting a new
plan. Vasquez could only report that he plans to hire a
consultant to revise the NCASP, and that the terms of
reference for this consultant are currently being drafted.
TSA Representative Guardia stressed that he is willing to

SIPDIS
assist with the process, and that the essential required
content of the plan is already clearly defined in the ICAO
Annex 17.

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InterAirports Tries to Fill the Gap
--------------


12. (U) In the absence of an adequate NCASP, InterAirports
wrote their own operational plan, and sent it to the DGAC in
October 2002 for comments and approval. The DGAC waited 8
months before replying, then returned the plan to
InterAirports in May 2003 without a single change or
recommendation, and with the Director of Civil Aviation's
signature back-dated to October 2002 to remove the appearance
that the DGAC had been slow to respond. This lack of
leadership on behalf of the DGAC led the InterAirports
Operations Manager to comment recently that the company
"feels like an orphan" when it comes to airport security -
trying to do the right thing, but without any direction or
guidance from the GOH's lead agency for airport security.
(See ref b for more information on InterAirports' current
relationship with the GOH.)


13. (SBU) Comment: The status quo on airport security appears
to be workable, but far from perfect. Embassy plans to work
closely with TSA to push the GOH to take steps to strengthen
airport security and raise the profile of this important
issue. End comment.

Palmer