SELECTION OF NEW HONDURAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UN RAISES VISA ISSUES

S E C R E T TEGUCIGALPA 001247 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (DTG CHANGED FROM 7/17 TO 7/19) SIPDIS STATE FOR D, WHA/CEN, CA/VO/L/C AND CA/VO/L/A NSC FOR DAN FISK E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2017 TAGS: CVIS PGOV PREL HO SUBJECT: SELECTION OF NEW HONDURAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UN RAISES VISA ISSUES REF: STATE 98124 Classified By: AMB. CHARLES FORD. REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Jorge Arturo Reina, the current Minister of Government and Justice, was nominated by President Zelaya to represent Honduras as the ambassador to the United Nations. To assume his duties at the United Nations, Reina will need a G-1 visa to travel to the United States. To obtain that visa, he must first undergo a Security Advisory Opinion for an OO hit, and Advisory Opinion for an NCIII hit and apply for a waiver as he is currently ineligible for a visa under section 212(a)(3)(B) for past terrorist activities. Reina has a long history of involvement with Communist-inspired revolutionary groups and anti-American activities. Although he may have left his radical student days behind, his family is involved in the sale of passports and human smuggling of Chinese immigrants. Zelaya's naming of Reina to the United Nations, knowing Reina's history and that his previous visa was revoked, appears to be designed as a sign of his independence from the United States. Given the serious nature of Reina's past activities, any request for a waiver must be thoroughly reviewed. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) President Zelaya selected his current Minister of Government and Justice, Jorge Arturo Reina (Reina),as the new Honduran ambassador to the United Nations on July 18, replacing Ivan Romero Martinez. Zelaya picked Reina as his new U.N. Ambassador despite knowing, along with the rest of the Honduran public, that Reina's previous U.S. visa was revoked. Zelaya stated that this nomination was a "protest for Honduran sovereignty" and that Reina's previous visa problems should have no effect on Reina's ability to represent Honduras before the United Nations as the U.S. must issue a visa to each member's representative. Zelaya also stated that during his visit with Secretary Rice on July 10, he notified her of the impending nomination and that the Secretary did not raise any objections. With the appointment, it is expected that the GOH will apply for a waiver and an eventual G-1 visa on behalf of Reina to allow him to travel to the United Nations in New York City. -------------- Reina's Visa Problem -------------- ¶3. (C) Jorge Arturo Reina is currently ineligible for a visa under section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act based on his links and involvement with terrorist activities in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, there is currently a "00" hit associated with his name which requires the submission of a Security Advisory Opinion for review by the Department and other interested agencies prior to ruling on the visa application. Finally, there also exists a NCIII hit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicating past criminal activity in the U.S. that would also have to be cleared through CA/VO/L/A. ¶4. (C) In the mid-1990s, Reina obtained a waiver and eventually a B1/B2 visa with the restriction that he provide an itinerary for each trip to the U.S. While serving as a Minister without Portfolio and Advisor to his brother, ex-President Carlos Roberto Reina (1994 - 1998),Reina obtained an A-1 visa with the same restriction and the original tourist visa was canceled. He traveled numerous times to the United States but failed to comply with the restrictions prompting the Department to eventually revoke his visa. He later received two single-entry B1/B2 visas, for family medical reasons, to travel to the United States. -------------- Links to Terrorist and Criminal Activities -------------- ¶5. (S/NF) As a student in the 1950s, Reina was a Communist sympathizer and traveled to Moscow in 1957. Following deportation to Costa Rica in the early 1960s after the military coup in Honduras, Reina spent his months in exile trying to organize armed resistance to the Honduran government and unsuccessfully sought money and arms from Fidel Castro in Cuba. He was allowed to return to Honduras in 1964 where he continued his organizational efforts and was involved in left-wing student activities. Reina's involvement included storing a cache of weapons on behalf of the Liberal Party who used those weapons in their instigation of strikes and public demonstrations to overthrow the military government. He was widely believed to be a Soviet and/or Cuban agent at that time. ¶6. (S/NF) While a teacher and later Rector of the University of Honduras (UNAH),he was instrumental in organizing students and faculty to provide both moral and material support to the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. During this time he continued to speak out against the U.S.'s role in Central America and was linked to supplying unknown persons with hand grenades to be used against Standard Fruit Company. An admirer of the Cuban Revolution, Reina traveled surreptitiously to Cuba a number of times in the early 1980s to meet with other revolutionaries and was suspected of supplying arms to rebels in El Salvador during that country's civil war. Post also received information in 1980 that Reina was made aware of, and eventually approved, a plan by a terrorist organization to kidnap a U.S. official. ¶7. (S/NF) Reina's involvement in criminal activities did not end with his entry into the Honduran government. The current Director of Immigration, German Espinal, a trusted ally in the fight against corruption, has linked Reina's son, Carlos Eduardo Reina, a local businessman, to the sale of passports and other identity documents to Chinese immigrants who presumably intend to travel to the United States. While Reina is not directly involved in this human smuggling operation, he is believed to receive money from those sales to use his position in the GOH to protect his son's illegal activities and shield him from investigation. -------------- This Nomination Just One More Provocation -------------- ¶8. (C) Zelaya's nomination of Reina appears to be part of his ongoing efforts to press the USG on a range of issues to determine what if any consequences he will see from bad policy choices. Like a small boy poking a hornets' nest with a stick, Zelaya keeps jabbing at the USG to see what the reaction will be. His most recent "pokes" include his on-again/off-again visit to Cuba to meet with Castro and strengthen Honduran/Cuban relations; granting permission to the Cuban airline, Aerocarribean, to begin service to Honduras; his trip to Managua, Nicaragua to help celebrate the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution with President Ortega; and his public desire for friendship with Hugo Chavez. Zelaya has yet to suffer any adverse consequences for his actions and he will continue to act in this manner to see how far he can go. ¶9. (C) Another example of this tendency to test limits is his statement that Secretary Rice had no objection to Reina's nomination. This subject was not raised in his meeting with the Secretary, but rather with Deputy Secretary Negroponte on July 10 (see reftel). Zelaya informed the Deputy Secretary of the impending appointment but at no point did the Deputy Secretary state that the USG was in agreement or that it opposed the naming of Reina. Instead, Zelaya took the lack of response as approval. ¶10. (C) COMMENT. Jorge Arturo Reina's past history with terrorist and criminal activities, and his ongoing acceptance of his family's involvement in human smuggling, raises serious issues that need to be considered prior to the granting of a waiver for a G-1 visa, especially with regard to the nature of any restrictions on the G-1 visa that would be appropriate. Post is concerned that the approval of the waiver and visa without serious consideration of conditions will only encourage Zelaya to continue testing the USG as to the outer limits of how far he can go in his relationship with the ALBA entities. END COMMENT. FORD