HONDURAS RELEASES TEXT OF UNCHR CUBA RESOLUTION;

S E C R E T TEGUCIGALPA 000759

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: 04/01/2014
TAGS: PHUM PREL PINR KDEM CU HO CHR
SUBJECT: HONDURAS RELEASES TEXT OF UNCHR CUBA RESOLUTION;
PRESIDENT MADURO EMPHASIZES IMPORTANCE OF DEMOCRACY

REF: A. PALMER/LINDWALL/PIERCE E-MAILS 3/31 AND 4/1


B. TEGUCIGALPA 741

C. TEGUCIGALPA 738

D. GENEVA 885

E. STATE 68031

F. STATE 65652

G. STATE 62815

H. TEGUCIGALPA 595 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Ambassador Larry Palmer;
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) Honduran Foreign Minister Leonidas Rosa Bautista
called Ambassador just prior to 11:00 a.m. to inform
Ambassador that the MFA had released the text of the UN
Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) Cuba Resolution. The text
was included in a press release that laid out the GOH's
reasons for sponsoring the resolution. The Honduran Embassy
in Washington sent the press release, under cover of a
diplomatic note, to WHA/CEN prior to the document being
released. The MFA subsequently faxed the press release to
the Embassy. Post will send an informal translation of the
press release by septel.


2. (S) Post had learned a short time earlier that, at 9:00
a.m., the Director of Protocol at the MFA, Ambassador Ricardo
Flores, who has traveled to Cuba on several occasions, had
delivered the text of the resolution to Cuban Ambassador
Gonzalez Polanco. Gonzalez told Flores that Cuba viewed the
resolution as a hostile act against Cuba, ordered by
Honduras' "superiors." He said the resolution represented
interference in internal Cuban affairs, with no legal or
moral basis. He added that he was saddened by the language
which the "Yanquis" had given to the Hondurans. As Flores
left, Gonzalez gave him three copies of the book "The
Dissidents." There was no commentary on how the Honduran
action would affect Cuban-Honduran bilateral relations.


3. (C) Post understands that the GOH waited to issue the
press release until after First Lady Aguas Ocana de Maduro
had left Cuba at the conclusion of her March 28 - April 1
trip to seek Cuban assistance for centers for abused women
and children in Honduras.


4. (U) When asked by reporters March 31 about whether or not
the U.S. had asked Honduras to draft a resolution, President
Ricardo Maduro stated that "We are not talking about where a
request originated, we are talking about certain principles.
In the last two years, since my administration assumed
office, I have been a very clear defender of democracy,
political pluralism, and freedom of expression. Hondurans
feel profoundly proud of what we have done in the last 23
years since the adoption of a new constitution in 1981, with
respect to democratization and participation." Maduro noted
that the GOH for the last two years had supported UNCHR Cuba
resolutions that had called on Cuba to receive a
representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
something Cuba had yet to do. "This is what it is about,
principles, democracy, and I will act based on that. This is
what I do internationally, what the country does, it is an
extension of the principles which Hondurans live with
internally and that we have fought for and will continue to
fight for in the future, nothing more, nothing less."

Criticism Expands from Cubans in Press
--------------


5. (U) The Honduran press continued to report Cuban criticism
of the GOH's actions. After the GOH issued the press
release, the GOH was sharply criticized by some TV and radio
commentators. Post will send septel reporting on media
reaction in more detail.
PALMER