HONDURAS PASSES A NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 001820

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2017
TAGS: PINS MARR MCAP MOPS PBTS PGOV PHUM PNAT KCRM
HO
SUBJECT: HONDURAS PASSES A NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

Classified By: Ambassador Charles Ford, reasons 1.4 (b & d)


1. (U) Summary. On September 10, the GOH publicized a decree
in the national Gazette announcing the adoption of a National
Security Strategy. The strategy has six main objectives
(listed below) which now include counterterrorism work as an
objective, and stresses regional and international
cooperation. The National Council on Defense and Security
(Consejo Nacional de Defensa y Seguridad) will be
re-invigorated and tasked with coordinating not only the
interpretation of the strategy, but also it's dispersal to
the general public. End Summary.


2. (C) On September 10, the GOH published a decree in the
national Gazette announcing the adoption of a National
Security Strategy by the President of the Republic and his
Council of Ministers. The Embassy has been working with the
GOH for over a year to devise and implement a strategy.
Minister of Defense, Aristides Mejia, told us that the first
version, issued several months ago, was shot down by several
ministers who did not understand either its scope or its
purpose. The MOD then convened a working group of mostly
retired military officers to develop a new strategy, which
was adopted by the Council of Ministers in September.


3. (U) The Strategy has as its main objectives (informal
translation):


A. Strengthen the Rule of Law.

B. Protect the life and integrity of all people and their
property.

C. Prevent and combat: terrorism; trafficking of drugs, arms
and people; corruption; money laundering. Prevent, control,
and rehabilitate gangs.

D. Systematically consolidate and strengthen the control of
land, air and maritime borders.

E. Strengthen support systems and increase regional and
international cooperation.

F. Transform and modernize the Security Institutions in order
to face the challenges of the 21st century.


4. (C) Food security has been removed as a responsibility of
the Armed Forces, although the designers said that within
objective B it is contemplated that the responsible
government institutions would be responsible not just for
protecting the physical integrity of people, but also
promoting general human development. Counter terrorism,
which was not mentioned in the first version, has been added
as the third objective, which greatly strengthens the
document. The importance of regional and international
cooperation has also been stressed in the fifth objective.


5. (C) The MOD hopes to re-invigorate the National Council on
Defense and Security (Consejo Nacional de Defensa y
Seguridad) which will be the implementing organ of this
strategy. It will contain members from civil society and
many different government institutions including the Armed
Forces, the Police, the Public Ministry, etc. The strategy
will be presented to the council as a final document, and it
will then be tasked with determining a public relations
strategy. The MOD said many Hondurans think of the 1980's
and human rights violations when they hear the words "defense
and security," so they will have to carefully define these
concepts to them. The MOD also opined that Hondurans do not
have a well developed sense of national identity and do not
have fully formed ideas about rule of law, so they will see
this document as unnecessary and not understand how it
affects them. So the council needs to first educate the
general public, and then determine how to publicize the
strategy and increase general acceptance.


6. (C) Comment: We see the document as an excellent framework
for developing sound long-term policies for the GOH. The
structure, wording and scope of this National Security
Strategy are very similar to the U.S. National Security
Strategy. It is evident that they used the U.S. version as a
framework to develop their own. The undesirable sections
contained in the first version have been removed, and an
extremely helpful mention of counterterrorism as an objective
has been added. We expect to see them next develop a
National Defense Strategy, and finally move to the detailed
level of a National Military Strategy. During the briefing,
the Ambassador also reminded the MOD of the importance of
informing the donors and international organizations about
the strategy in order to better coordinate funding and
programs. In short, we have achieved one of the eight
bilateral objectives put forth by the Ambassador to President
Zelaya in June 2007. End comment.
FORD