The Early Stages of the New Honduran Congress and

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000684

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, WHA/USOAS, G/IWI, AND DRL/PHD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAM AND DCHA/DG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM KCOR KWMN PINR ECON HO
SUBJECT: The Early Stages of the New Honduran Congress and
Its Struggle to be Effective: Leadership Will be Key


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The new Honduran Congress is made up of
every extreme, with politics permeating every part of it.
Because of the political diversity of this group, it has
been hard for them to come to agreement on many of the
issues that they face. Within Congress, the Liberal Party
has the majority rule, and Roberto Micheletti, member of the
Liberal Party, was elected as President of Congress. There
is a record 30 women in Congress, who are in the process of
forming a caucus in order to unite their forces. However,
they have already been intimidated in order to keep them
from forming the caucus. Outside of Congress, there is an
elite group of three men, two of them being former Honduran
presidents, who have an enormous influence on Congress,
though the extent of this influence is often not apparent to
the public. Though many important potential bills are
pending, Congress passed legislative changes in order to
comply with the Central American Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA),a major accomplishment amid the early struggles
Congress has been facing. Only with strong leadership from
Micheletti will this Congress be successful. END SUMMARY.

Leadership/Structure of Congress
--------------


2. (SBU) The Honduran Congress consists of the President,
the Board, and the other members of Congress. There are 128
members total, which are divided in the following way:
Liberal - 62, National - 55, Christian Democrats (CD) - 4,
Democratic Unification (UD) - 5, Innovation and National
Unity (PINU) - 2. Forty-six of the 62 Liberal Party
congressmen ran on Zelaya's ticket in the primaries,
including President of Congress Roberto Micheletti; this
gives Zelaya what should be fairly strong loyalty from 74
percent of Liberal Party congressmen. The leaders of each
party are as follows: Liberal Party - Valentin Suarez,
National Party - Rodolfo Irias Navas, CD - Juan Ramon
Velasquez Nazar, UD - Doris Gutierrez, and PINU - Toribio
Aguilera.


3. (U) The president of Congress serves for the full four
years of the Congress. Micheletti, the recently elected
president, has been re-elected seven times to congress. One
of the former presidential honor guards for President
Morales in the 1960s, he was one of the first ones to escape
when the coup of 1963 occurred. Micheletti has stated that
he will not put up with absenteeism in Congress, as many
congressmen/women only show up to pick up their checks and
have used their two-year position to get rich and pay off
their debts. He has also said that if commissions
(committees) are not showing progress, that he will rotate
congressmen/women between commissions.


4. (SBU) Even though Micheletti is president of Congress,
there is another elite group of three men that informally
run and oversee everything that happens within Congress.
Carlos Flores Facuse (Liberal Party),former president of
Congress and former president of Honduras, is a key player
and considered by some observers to be the true ruler over
Congress, as Micheletti is seen as his ally. During the
heated debate and elections for president of Congress,
Flores was the main mediator, and many meetings regarding
the congressional presidency took place at his residence.
Some observers claim nothing moves in Congress unless Carlos
Flores first knows about it and approves it. His daughter,
Elisabeth "Lizzy" Flores Flake has been appointed as first
vice-president of Congress. It is too early to tell if she
will succeed in this position.


5. (SBU) The other two within this elite group are Rafael
Leonardo Callejas (National Party),former Honduran
president, and Arturo Corrales (Christian Democrat),a well-
known businessman connected to a family of politicians.
Both attended and graduated from the American School in
Tegucigalpa, and though they represent different parties,
they are seen as political allies and de facto leaders of
their respective parties. Flores, Callejas, and Corrales,
even though not part of Congress, are very involved and very
influential in Congress behind the scenes.


6. (SBU) The Board of Congress is appointed for two years
and consists of four vice-presidents, two secretaries, two
alternate secretaries, and two under secretaries. Most of
the current Board is from the Liberal Party, but there is
one member from the National Party and one from the CD
Party. Juan Ramon Velasquez Nazar, the one member of the CD
Party on the Board, has been looked upon with disdain by

some in his party and the National Party for siding with the
Liberal Party during the Congressional leadership election,
thus helping Micheletti secure his position as president of
Congress.

Early Issues Within Congress
--------------


7. (U) There is currently a "Seventh Caucus" of women being
formed within Congress. This Caucus consists of 30
congresswomen (including 15 from the Liberal Party, 11 from
the National Party, two from the UD Party, one from the CD
Party, and one from the PINU Party),plus 28 alternate
congresswomen. If they do indeed form a block, then with
only a few more supporters, they could potentially block
legislation on the floor. However, they have already been
threatened and intimidated in a veiled but obvious way by
the major parties, in order to try and keep them from
forming an effective caucus.


8. (SBU) Another major challenge for Congress is the fact
that the majority of Congress is not generally well informed
on any given issues and is expected to come in and vote on
items prior to receiving sufficient background information.
It seems as if there are very few who are really involved in
Congress, and those few are the ones making most key
decisions without true support from their counterparts.
Most major decisions are usually made by this small group,
frequently behind closed doors during late hours of the
night.

Commissions
--------------


9. (U) There are 60 commissions total, with the Liberal
Party leading 35, the National Party 19, the UD two, the CD
two, and PINU two. Fifteen women and two Garifunas (Afro-
Honduran minority group) preside over commissions. One
leading Liberal Party member, Jose Azcona (son of former
President Azcona) coordinates all 60 of the commissions.
Each of the commissions has a total of seven
congressmen/women who also take part in other commissions.

Early Issues Congress is Addressing
--------------


10. (U) The most significant issue that this Congress has
addressed was the legislative change required before the
Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) could enter
into force. All necessary changes have been approved by
Congress.


11. (U) Telecommunications. Congress passed administrative
regulations/changes in order to comply with CAFTA prior to
its implementation. Congress is currently working to pass
this new telecommunications framework law in order to open
the market for competition. The draft bill would also make
Hondutel (land-line monopoly in Honduras) more competitive
so that it can compete if the framework law is passed and
other competition enters the market.


12. (U) Congressional debate has also begun over the draft
of the Domestic Violence Law which has become a major issue
due to the large number of women in Congress. Many
congresswomen are pushing the Domestic Violence Bill to the
forefront and demanding that the law make men responsible
and accountable for their children left with single mothers.


13. (U) The draft Forestry Law has been pending for four
years, but there are indications that this law will surface
again by this summer. The proposed law would reform and
restructure the forestry sector and would create more severe
punishments for the illegal cutting and shipment of wood.
The Mining Law, like the Forestry Law, has been surrounded
by lots of talk and little action, and also might resurface
by this summer. This new law would help clarify current
laws as well as outlaw open-pit mines. The Secretary of
Natural Resources and Environment has not issued any new
mining concessions for more than a year, due to the pending
legislation.


14. (U) A new draft Civil Procedures Code, modeled on the
Criminal Procedures Code, has just been presented to
Congress and will also be a major piece of legislation up
for debate.


15. (U) Congress has still not approved the budget for 2006.
The discussions over approval of the budget have been
postponed indefinitely.

Post's View of Congress
--------------


16. (SBU) COMMENT: During a recent visit to a congressional
session, the disunity within Congress was very evident and
the disinterest of the members clearly explained the slow
pace at which issues are handled within Congress. The
session seemed much more like a social hour, and many
congressmen/women seemed to be there only because Micheletti
is demanding their attendance. However, for many members of
Congress, just because they are forced to show up does not
mean they will actually bring anything meaningful to the
table.


17. (SBU) Comment continued: Since the Liberal Party does
not have an absolute majority, the larger parties are going
to have to negotiate with the smaller ones, meaning that
both the Liberal and National Parties will likely try to co-
opt the smaller parties. The political diversity of
Congress, much more divided than in past years, means it
will probably be harder for congressmen/women to see eye to
eye on the major issues they face. Although political
diversity can be a good thing, with lots of freshmen
members, outside influences, and the two major parties
potentially at loggerheads, it will be difficult to have
meaningful production from this Congress. President
Micheletti will have a critical role to play, and because of
the makeup of the Congress, he is going to have to work
extremely hard to accomplish anything significant. Only
with strong leadership from Micheletti and other top
deputies will this Congress be successful. END COMMENT.

Williard