HONDURAN FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS AMBASSADOR GOH

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000738 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CCA, WHA/CEN, AND WHA/PPC STATE FOR DRL, DRL/MLA, IO, AND INR/AN/IAA E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2014 TAGS: PHUM PREL PINR KDEM CU HO CHR SUBJECT: HONDURAN FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS AMBASSADOR GOH WILL BEGIN WORKING ON UNCHR CUBA RESOLUTION CO-SPONSORS 3/31 REF: A. GENEVA 885 ¶B. ZUNIGA/SBILLA/KELLY/PIERCE E-MAIL 3/26 (NOTAL) ¶C. STATE 68031 ¶D. STATE 65652 ¶E. STATE 62815 ¶F. TEGUCIGALPA 595 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Ambassador Larry Palmer; Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). AMB Talks to Foreign Minister -------------- ¶1. (C) Ambassador spoke March 29 with Honduran Foreign Minister Leonidas Rosa Bautista to discuss Honduran actions to support their draft UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) resolution on Cuba (text in ref D). Ambassador emphasized the need for the MFA to issue instructions to the Honduran Mission to Geneva to (a) actively support the Cuba resolution, and (b) seek the support of likely co-sponsors. Ambassador suggested several countries that the USG believed were likely co-sponsors (refs A, D and E). The FM said that the MFA would issue instructions for its Geneva Mission, led by PermRep Benjamin Zapata, to seek co-sponsors beginning Wednesday, March 31. Cuban Ambassador Talks to Press; MFA Silent -------------- ¶2. (U) The Cuban Ambassador to Honduras, Alberto Polanco Gonzalez, on March 27, urged the GOH not to support any UNCHR resolution on Cuba. He announced the GOC's sharp criticism of the proposed resolution in a press release March 28. Polanco stepped up the criticism in comments March 29. The MFA has made no comment on the resolution to the press, and Zapata told reporters that he had not received any instructions on the issue. Polanco said that the GOC would be surprised if the GOH was the drafter of the resolution, noting the two countries maintained good relations. The press articles have noted the GOC's medical assistance to Honduras, in the form of Cuban doctors and medical workers in Honduras and Honduran students in Cuba. First Lady's Trip to Cuba Appears to be Unrelated -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) The March 28 - April 1 visit of First Lady Aguas Ocana de Maduro to Cuba appears unrelated to the GOH's UNCHR Cuba resolution. As noted by USINT Havana (ref B),the First Lady was invited by the Cuban Women's Federation (Federacion de Mujeres Cubanas - FMC),a Communist Party mass organization. According to Honduran press reports, her visit was to seek assistance for centers for abused women and children. The First Lady is active on women's issues and on behalf of street children and works closely with the Honduran Institute for Children and the Family (IHNFA). PALMER