NATIONAL PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MARIO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000223

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

MADRID FOR H LLORENS AND BRASILIA FOR S HENSHAW

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV KDEM HO
SUBJECT: NATIONAL PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MARIO
CANAHAUTI GETTING DESPERATE

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


1. (C) Summary: National Party (NP) Presidential candidate
Mario Canahuati is quickly losing supporters and growing
increasingly desperate. In private meetings with the
Ambassador, he has made serious but unsubstantiated
accusations against his main rival, Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo and
some of his associates, and wants the USG to "do something"
about them. (Note: We have referred his information to the
appropriate law enforcement officials, and we have briefed
Lobo on narcotics trends. Lobo himself has asked the Embassy
to informally vett some of his questionable supporters, and
we are doing so. End Note.) In the meantime, Canahuati is
threatening to take his information to his contacts in
Washington. In Honduras, he is making laughable public
accusations against Lobo and the NP. As he loses his own
credibility, he appears to want to damage that of his rivals
on his way out. End Summary.


2. (C) Former Honduran Ambassador to the United States and
current contender for the Nationalist Party (NP)presidential
nomination, Mario Canahuati, is feeling the pressure as his
followers leave in droves to join Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo's
camp. As his allies announce their desertion publicly,
Canahuati appears to have decided that one of his only
remaining strategies is to turn to the U.S. Embassy for help.
On January 8, Ambassador and PolCouns met with Canahuati,
who accused his main rival Lobo of making pacts with
narcotraffickers. Canahuati followed up these accusations
with multiple phone calls, giving us the names of several
mayors who he says are involved in drug trafficking and other
nefarious dealings, and asking us to investigate. (Note:
Searches by CONS, ORA, DEA, ICE and RSO turned up derogatory
information on only one subject. We will broach this subject
with Lobo separately to see if he is indeed considering
placing this individual on his candidate list. End note.)
Canahuati also delivered a DVD recording of a NP meeting in
Copan, where Lobo sat next to the mayor of Nueva Arcadia.
Canahuati says that this is proof that Lobo is involved with
narcotraffickers, but our searches brought up no derogatory
information about this mayor. (Note: The mere fact that
Lobo was seated next to a questionable person is obviously
not enough to discredit him. End Note.) Canahuati then
began a series of desperate phone calls to PolCouns accusing
her of telling Lobo's camp that Canahuati had given us this
information.


3. (C) In the meantime, Canahuati has been all over town
accusing Lobo both privately and publicly of involvement with
narcotraffickers and many other transgressions, such as lying
and corruption. Canahuati then approached the press on March
7 to accuse the Central Committee of the NP of being
"illegal" because of technicalities in registering the
members with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in 2004.


4. (C) At the NP convention on March 8 (see septel),
Canahuati arrived late, accompanied by only a handful of
people. Upon conclusion of his remarks, Lobo left the arena,
as is custom, to allow for the various "movements" to freely
speak their minds. Upon his departure, about 80 per cent of
the crowd followed. Canahuati expressed his outrage to the
press for this "affront" and accused Lobo of inhibiting the
arrival of 40 buses carrying his followers. (Note: As
Poloffs were present at the convention, we do not believe
that the NP was logistically capable of blocking certain
buses and allowing others. End note.) Canahuati was only
able to muster enough supporters to cover the stage. The
press joked that his was the movement with the least number

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of followers.


5. (C) Comment: Canahuati is growing increasingly desperate
and seems to believe that the USG should take some action to
discredit Lobo publicly. In the meantime, Lobo has
approached us with names of people about whom he is unsure
and asked that we give him feedback. Lobo asked for and
received a briefing on narcotics trends by DEA, RSO, and POL
on March 8. We do not believe it is appropriate for us to
tell Canahuati the details of our interactions with Lobo or
the actions we have taken in response to his accusations
other than saying that they have been referred to the
appropriate law enforcement officials for consideration.
Canahuati has begun spreading dirt about Lobo and has told us
he will be approaching his contacts in the United States,
especially in the U.S. Congress, over this issue. We would
like to ensure that the Department and other USG agencies are
aware of this situation and also of the steps the Embassy has
taken in response to his very serious accusations.
Canahuati's desperation has driven him to make laughable
public accusations against Lobo and the rest of the NP
establishment, which will further discredit him amongst the
populace. We believe he has absolutely no chance of gaining
any momentum as a candidate and will be forced to leave the
race or lose in a landslide. It appears, however, that he
wants to hurt his enemies, especially Lobo, on his way out.
End Comment.
FORD