AMBASSADOR LLORENS' MEETING WITH MINISTER OF THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 001135

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2018
TAGS: KCRM KJUS PGOV SMIG HO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR LLORENS' MEETING WITH MINISTER OF THE
INTERIOR VICTOR MEZA

Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens, Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)



1. (C) Summary: Ambassador Llorens met with Victor Meza, the
Honduran Minister of the Interior, on November 17, discussing
delivery of humanitarian assistance following recent
country-wide floods, the Minister's de-centralization
efforts, migration issues, and a recent alien smuggling
scandal under investigation by the GoH. (Note: The Interior
Minister, known in Honduras as the Minister of Government and
Justice, has wide-ranging
responsibilities, including administration of Honduran
courts; immigration, migration and foreigners; policy on
municipal and provincial governments; and emergency planning
and security. End Note.) Meza saw the recent work by
municipal and departmental governments to distribute food and
medicine to flood victims as a successful expression of his
work to empower local officials and support decentralization
efforts. He bemoaned the lack of a unified immigration
policy for Honduras, vowing to establish and implement one
before the end of his term as Minister, and pledged to work
to educate the Honduran people on the importance of
controlling the country's borders. In response to the
Ambassador's questions, he also spoke at length about his
Ministry's investigation into the "Cubanazo" alien smuggling
scandal, and expressed concern that the Public Ministry had
not proceeded to bring charges against any of those named in
his investigation. The Ambassador promised to provide the
Minister support, especially in matters of shared interest
related to alien smuggling and trafficking in persons,
encouraged him to provide timely access to Cuban migrants to
DHS officials at post, and raised the question of the
advisability of continuing to allow visa-free travel to
citizens of Colombia and Ecuador. End Summary.

Delivering Flood Relief
--------------

2. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by the Consul General,
engaged in a wide-ranging, open discussion of migration and
de-centralization issues with the Minister. Meza recounted
how he had been sent by President Zelaya to take personal
charge of the acceptance and distribution of aid to victims
of the recent country-wide flooding. He noted that in the
past, central government control of aid distribution had
resulted in massive inequities among those affected by
disasters: the loyalists of the party in power always
received inordinately large amounts. Though he recognized
that his own participation in the latest aid effort could be
seen as more central government meddling, Meza noted his own
personal long-standing apolitical nature had encouraged local
officials to feel more accountable to
their constituents, regardless of party affiliation, than to
the party of the government in power. He also said his
presence had allowed honest officials to distribute aid
without resorting to traditional corrupt practices, and
discouraged those inclined to enrich themselves out of the
donations.

Cubanazo
--------------

3. (C) Passing to migration issues, Meza regretted that the
GoH still lacks a comprehensive migration policy, and that
the Honduran Immigration Authority still suffers from lack of
resources and staff, and is vulnerable to corruption at all
levels. He noted that the recent "Cubanazo" alien smuggling
scandal (reported reftel) had exposed this vulnerability to
the public eye. However, though he and Foreign Minister
Edmundo Orellana had completed in July what he considered to
be a thorough and detailed investigation, the results of
which named certain individuals involved in the scheme, the
Public Ministry had not taken any further action, nor advised
him of the status of their investigation. He explained that
the case was wide-reaching, involving U.S. citizens or
residents of Cuban origin paying Honduran diplomats to issue
Honduran visas to their relatives on the island, then paying
middlemen and smugglers in Honduras to facilitate their
entrance to the country and subsequent departure to the
United States. Though reluctant to interfere in any way with
the workings of the prosecutors assigned to the case, Meza
expressed concern that their apparent inaction reflected both
the high political level of some of those involved, and their

continued lack of concern over the threat that such smuggling
represents to Honduras and the United States. He expressed
his opinion that, for example, Cuban intelligence operatives
could use this route to gain surreptitious access to
Honduras, the region and the United States.

Balseros
--------------

4. (C) The Ambassador also asked the Minister about the
GoH's handling of Cuban "balseros," who traditionally arrive
at the Bay Islands or north coast by boat. The Ambassador
pointed out the strong USG interest in interviewing these
migrants to better understand their routes, gain information
on their middlemen, and learn about their motives. Meza
believed access to the balseros was routinely granted to USG
officials by Honduran Immigration, but pledged to talk to his
Immigration Chief to make sure that continued. He noted the
difficulty, politically, of signing a repatriation agreement
with the Cuban government, as relations between the two
countries had recently undergone a significant warming.
Similarly, the Cubanazo-inspired ban on issuing visas at the
Honduran Embassy in Havana had been relaxed, though all such
visa issuances were now being approved in Tegucigalpa.

Visa-Free Travel for Colombia and Ecuador
--------------

5. (C) The Ambassador raised the issue of GoH bilateral
agreements with Colombia and Ecuador permitting visa-free
travel to Honduras for citizens of those countries. Meza
concurred that such agreements were "problematic," especially
in the case of Ecuador. Immigration officials were seeing
increased numbers of travelers from that country that seemed
to be coming to Honduras with no other purpose than traveling
onward to the United States. He also worried about recent
cases of Colombians who had entered Honduras without visas
then successfully obtained Honduran identity documents,
including passports. Meza was concerned that Colombian
narco-traffickers were strengthening their networks in
Honduras to further facilitate transshipments of their
products. (Note: Meza stopped short of agreeing to re-visit
these accords, which were concluded at the Presidential
level, but the Foreign
Ministry subsequently contacted the Consul General to seek
Embassy input on formulating a strategy for rolling back the
Ecuadorian visa exemption - the Colombian exemption,
promulgated at the Presidential level was deemed too
politically sensitive to address at this time. The CG
subsequently contacted Honduran Immigration officials to
request they provide the Foreign Ministry with a detailed
report of problems with travelers from Ecuador. End Note.)

Migrant Reception Centers
--------------

6. (U) Finally, the Ambassador lauded the efforts of Meza's
Ministry to support migrant reception centers in Tegucigalpa
and San Pedro Sula which work to ease the re-entry of
Hondurans deported by the United States. Meza agreed that
re-integrating returned Hondurans should be a key part of his
proposed comprehensive migration policy. He believed that
reported Hondurans represent a huge, untapped resource for
the country, as most of those
returned were hard-working and had gained experience and
skill in a variety of fields during their time in the United
States. He hoped to be able to direct more resources to the
reception centers both to address their immediate needs and
to help gather information on the deportees, and then to work
in conjunction with private industry to match up potential
workers with jobs.


7. (C) Comment: Minister Meza, though predicted by many to
fail as a minister due to lack of political savvy, has shown
himself to be an effective and energetic proponent of
de-centralization efforts and migration reform. His strong
leftist and intellectual credentials (he ran a think tank
prior to becoming Minister),along with his close
relationship with President Zelaya, permit him to remain
above the political fray and to focus on the issues he cares
about. Meza expressed some worry about anti-democratic
political trends in Central America, but is himself an
example of the great strides Honduras has taken towards
democracy: he was a member of the Honduran Communist Party

in the '80s who has moved to the center to become a strong
advocate for good government. End Comment
LLORENS