Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TEGUCIGALPA2095
2006-11-02 22:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tegucigalpa
Cable title:  

RESIGNATION OF ADVISING MINISTER ON HOUSING NO

Tags:  ETRD PGOV PINR SOCI HO 
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VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #2095/01 3062232
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 022232Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3975
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 002095 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/ESC, WHA/CEN, EB/TPP
STATE PASS USTR FOR HIRSCH
USDOC FOR MARK SIEGELMAN, TCC/4100
SAN SALVADOR FOR NANCY CHARLES-PARKER
TREASURY FOR ALICE FAIBISHENKO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2016
TAGS: ETRD PGOV PINR SOCI HO
SUBJECT: RESIGNATION OF ADVISING MINISTER ON HOUSING NO
REAL LOSS FOR THE ZELAYA ADMINISTRATION


Classified By: Political Counselor Alexander Margulies. Reasons 1.4(b/d
).

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 002095

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/ESC, WHA/CEN, EB/TPP
STATE PASS USTR FOR HIRSCH
USDOC FOR MARK SIEGELMAN, TCC/4100
SAN SALVADOR FOR NANCY CHARLES-PARKER
TREASURY FOR ALICE FAIBISHENKO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2016
TAGS: ETRD PGOV PINR SOCI HO
SUBJECT: RESIGNATION OF ADVISING MINISTER ON HOUSING NO
REAL LOSS FOR THE ZELAYA ADMINISTRATION


Classified By: Political Counselor Alexander Margulies. Reasons 1.4(b/d
).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Advising Minister on Housing Hector
Briceno resigned in a huff on 10/27, lamenting a lack of
political support from President Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya.
Briceno, whose appointment to an "advising ministry" (with no
agency to direct) was a political payoff in the first place,
is no/no real loss for the GOH, as his attempts to exert
authority were interfering with other officials' more
effective efforts to foster investment in the housing sector.
With major Cabinet changes rumored to be in the offing come
December, Briceno may well have read the writing on the wall
and concluded that it was best to leave on his own terms.
END SUMMARY.


2. (U) A civil engineer by training and building contractor
by profession, Hector Briceno had no previous experience in
administration or government service. He had worked for
Zelaya for ten years on a number of the President,s previous
political campaigns, and as a reward for his work Zelaya
created for him the position of "Ministro Asesor para Asuntos
de Vivienda" (Minister Advisor for Housing Affairs),and gave
him a staff of fourteen. Briceno,s office had little funding
and he worked mostly out of his house.


3. (SBU) Briceno,s job was never defined, though Briceno
publicly proclaimed his (rather than the GOH,s) mission was
to bring affordable housing to the poor. He was an
enthusiastic supporter of President Zelaya,s campaign
promise to build 200,000 houses, even after the President
himself stopped making references to the pledge. (NOTE:
Ministry of Housing, Transport and Public Work's (SOPTRAVI)
Director of Housing Karla Ucles privately told EmbOffs that a
goal of 40,000 "housing solutions" would be ambitious, but
that 200,000 could never be achieved. She denied such a
promise had ever been made, and seemed genuinely irritated
that the much higher number had attained the feel of truth by
being repeated so often by GOH officials. END NOTE.)
Briceno,s multiple proclamations that he was personally
responsible for all housing matters brought him into conflict
with SOPTRAVI, which is tasked with facilitating investment
in housing and coordinating GOH housing-related subsidies and
projects with the international financial organizations.


4. (SBU) Briceno publicly sought the consolidation of
SOPTRAVI and two other housing-related government agencies
into one agency, an entity to be placed under his control.
He refused to participate in intra-GOH housing coordination
meetings that he didn't chair, and was absent from most of
the IDB negotiations. In multiple meetings with Post and
Washington visitors, Briceno railed against SOPTRAVI and
provided only vague areas of potential cooperation, limiting
the productiveness of those meetings. Vice President Elvin
Santos, former President of Construction Association,
ensured that SOPTRAVI would be present at bilateral meetings
on foreign investment in the housing sector, and would
not/not support the creation of a separate housing institute
under Briceno's control. (COMMENT: Post has been impressed
by SOPTRAVI,s Director of Housing (equivalent to Vice
Minister) Karla Ucles, seriousness and diligence in
designing a USD 30 million Interamerican Development Bank
(IDB) facility, and considers her a dedicated and capable
professional. END COMMENT.)


5. (U) Briceno announced his resignation publicly, stating
that he joined the government to build houses for the poor,
but since he was not given sufficient authority or support to
do that work he saw no reason to continue working for
President Zelaya. However, Briceno promised to continue
fighting for housing and expressed his hope of returning to
government service if/when he has sufficient power to create
a housing agency that will respond to the needs of the poor.


6. (C) COMMENT: Briceno's departure is no/no loss for the
Zelaya administration. A political hack if ever there was
one, Briceno's continued public championing of Zelaya's
unrealistic campaign promise to build 200,000 houses only
embarrassed the government, while his energetic efforts to
expand his own "turf" interfered with other agencies that
have actually been registering accomplishments. With major
Cabinet changes reportedly being planned for December,

Briceno may well have recognized that his head was prime
material for the chopping block and chose to resign on his
own terms. Perhaps the real question should be not why
Briceno left, but why he was appointed in the first place and
then allowed to remain as a disruptive presence for so long.
END COMMENT.
FORD