HONDURAN NATIONAL PROTEST FIZZLES WITHOUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 001476

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CEN AND DRL/IL RIGG
DEPT OF LABOR FOR ILAB:JANE RICHARDS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2017
TAGS: ASEC CASC EAGR ECON ELAB ELTN EMIN ENRG EPET
KDEM, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, SOCI, HO
SUBJECT: HONDURAN NATIONAL PROTEST FIZZLES WITHOUT
RESOLVING ANY ISSUES

REF: A. 07 TEGUCIGALPA 1367


B. 07 TEGUCIGALPA 1112

C. 06 TEGUCIGALPA 1471

D. 07 TEGUCIGALPA 0906

E. 07 TEGUCIGALPA 1236

F. 07 TEGUCIGALPA 1387

Classified By: Deputy Pol Chief Frank Penirian. Reasons 1.4(b/d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, frustrated
in his struggle with the Honduran National Congress on issues
such as telecommunications reform (ref. A),resorted to tacit
support for a nation-wide protest on August 27, 2007 by the
Bloque Popular and organized labor unions. Teachers, taxi
drivers, transport workers and other groups blocked roads
throughout the country in defense of agriculture, the
environment, water, indigenous rights, free education,
state-run enterprises, security and the poor. The diverse
groups advocating for so many different issues in so many
locations diffused and diminished the protest's impact. In
fact, fewer than ten thousand workers showed up for the
protest, and many rallied against the President and his
Administration. One teacher was shot to death by an angry
motorist. After the killing, President Zelaya named Foreign
Minister Milton Jimenez to negotiate with the protestors, but
they refused to meet with the Minister. Like the President's
media blitz last May (ref. B),the protest was another way
for the Administration to confront the "centers of power"
such as the National Congress and media, but it did not rise
to previous levels as in the teacher's strike last year (ref.
C) and no issues were resolved. According to some analysts,
this was really part of the struggle between President Mel
Zelaya and former President Carlos Flores, who controls much
of the inner workings of Congress, for the heart and soul of
the Liberal Party (ref. D). END SUMMARY.


2. (U) On August 27, 2007, the left-leaning Bloque Popular
held a national protest with the support of organized labor
groups such as teachers, taxi drivers, and transport workers.
Fewer than ten thousand workers paralyzed the country for
almost ten hours by blocking the normal flow of commerce and
transportation in San Pedro Sula, El Progreso, La Ceiba,
Danli, Siguatepeque, Comayagua, Ocotepeque, Choluteca, Copan
and Santa Barbara. In Tegucigalpa, protestors closed off the
exit to the north of the country from 5am to 2pm but did not
disrupt traffic in the city. The workers protested the
Mining, Water, and Agricultural Modernization Laws because
they want to protect the environment, public access to water,
and jobs in the agricultural sector. They advocated
combating corruption, including within the police, free
education with no entrance exams, a freeze on prices of basic
commodities, the strengthening of state-owned enterprises of
SANAA (water and sanitation),ENEE (electricity),and
Hondutel (telecommunications),and nationalization of fuel
imports. Classes were suspended, including private schools,
which affected 2.6 million students. Juan Barahona, a leader
in the leftist Unitarian Workers Confederation of Honduras
(CUTH),said that the protest was necessary because dialogue
with the government is not possible.


3. (U) In Santa Barbara, a striking teacher was shot to
death by an angry motorist who could not get through one of
the barricades. Following the shooting, President Manuel
"Mel" Zelaya designated Foreign Minister Milton Jimenez as
the government representative to mediate the conflict. He
was to be accompanied by Labor Minister Rixi Moncada, Natural
Resources and Environment (SERNA) Minister Mayra Mejia,
Manager of the National Telephone Corporation (CONATEL) Rasel
Tome, and Public Ministry Prosecutor Omar Cerna, but the
Bloque Popular and its supporters rejected the invitation and
demanded to meet with the President himself. The protestors
also called for the resignation of Presidential Advisor and
spokesperson during the conflict, Raul Valladares, whom they
blamed for the "hate campaign" that some of them believe led
to the death of the teacher. Meanwhile, most of the other
teachers disbanded, many to attend the funeral of their
colleague. They reportedly want to re-start the protest in
the next few days. The protest ended quickly in comparison
to last year's teacher's strike (ref. C) with no issues
resolved. Private sector and political leaders are calling
on Zelaya to listen to the demands of the unions and resolve
the problems of the protest. To Post's knowledge, no
American citizens were involved or harmed during the protest.


4. (C) COMMENT: The Secretary General of the Confederation
of Honduran Workers (CTH),Altagracia Fuentes, was noticeably

absent from the demonstrations. She told Poloff that she did
not want to be "used" by the Administration and speculated
that Daniel Duron, the Secretary General of the General
Workers Union (CGT),did not attend for the same reason, even
though he recently has been strengthening ties with CLAT
(Latin American Labor Confederation) in Venezuela and
President Hugo Chavez (ref. E). Another leader of the CTH
publicly warned that the protests were supported by the
executive branch. Sources have indicated that Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez has contributed approximately USD 1
million to political interests in Honduras, some of which
could have been channeled to this protest. But like Zelaya's
media blitz earlier this year (ref. B),the Administration
again miscalculated public reaction in an attempt to gain
popular support for a weakened Presidency. It appears that
the protest merely was a reflection of the conflict between
the executive branch and the National Congress on such issues
as the telecommunications bill and more broadly between the
President and Carlos Flores, who is using the President of
Congress, Roberto Michelleti, as his proxy in the struggle
for the Liberal Party's next Presidential candidate (ref. D).
Earlier this month a smaller telecommunications bill passed,
but President Zelaya promised to veto the bill and Michelleti
promised to override the veto (ref. A),so it appears that
part of Zelaya's motivation to support the protest was to
take this issue to the streets.


5. (C) COMMENT (CONTINUED): In yesterday's El Heraldo, a
conservative daily in Tegucigalpa, political analyst Juan
Ramon Martinez explained that the executive branch wants
Hondurans to believe that they can live without the National
Congress, thereby putting into jeopardy democratic
institutions. According to Martinez, the Administration was
inciting unrest on the one hand and trying to act like an
honest broker on the other, in effect using the streets to
try to dissolve the National Congress as Hugo Chavez did in
Venezuela. He also expressed concern about the involvement
in the protest of the minor left-wing party Unificacion
Democratica, which he believes could take advantage of a
political vacuum to insert a Chavez-like figure. These
worries were echoed by Former Labor Minister German Leitzelar
in a conversation with Poloff following the protest. The
country seems to be going in a negative direction as Sweden
decided to cut its assistance program amounting to USD 11.4
million the day after the protest. Although the outcome of
the national protest was far from these scenarios, Zelaya
recently commented to the Ambassador that the structure of
institutions in Honduras does not work (ref. F),a line from
one of his closest advisors, leftist Patty Rodas. It appears
that Zelaya has thrown up his hands and given up on the hard
work of reform, which continues to impede him from taking
urgently needed action on long-standing problems and leaves
open a political space for radical alternatives. END
COMMENT.
FORD