SPANISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR IBEROAMERICA SHARES

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 001092

SIPDIS

FOR WHA/CEN, ALSO FOR EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2019
TAGS: PREL HO SP
SUBJECT: SPANISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR IBEROAMERICA SHARES
CONCERNS ABOUT HONDURAS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Arnold A. Chacon, Reasons 1.4(b),(d).


1. (C) Spanish MFA Secretary of State for Iberoamerica Juan
Pablo de Laiglesia called the Charge d,Affaires (CDA) to the
MFA November 10, 2009, to discuss Honduras. De Laiglesia was
accompanied by Director General of Foreign Policy for
Iberoamerica Juan Carlos Sanchez. De Laiglesia said the
Government of Spain was very concerned about the lack of
movement to implement the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord and
asked if the U.S. had any information regarding the
intentions of the Honduran congress. De Laiglesia emphasized
the GOS saw congressional action before the election as
critical, whether or not congress reinstated Zelaya. He
suggested that in fact he did not expect the congress to
reinstate Zelaya but stressed that it was important that it
at least act so the accord would be implemented. De
Laiglesia emphasized that Spain wanted to work with the U.S.
to have the Verification Commission bring pressure on the
Honduran parties for full implementation of the Accord, and
mentioned that the Spanish had been reaching out to the
Department of State. He noted Spain was concerned about the
effect the continuing Honduras problem could have on the
Iberoamerican Summit in Estoril, Portugal (November
30-December 1). He was also concerned about the situation
continuing past December and into Spain,s EU Presidency. He
described both Micheletti and Zelaya as distasteful. De
Laiglesia at one point suggested that absent Honduran
congressional action on Zelaya,s return before November 29,
the elections would be de-legitimized.


2. (C) The CDA noted the U.S. was committed to the Accord and
continued to support the implementation process. He pointed
out that the Verification Commission, the OAS, and the U.S.
Ambassador were still actively engaged with the parties and
that WHA PDAS Kelly would be traveling to Honduras again.
The CDA stressed that the U.S. was also supporting the
Supreme Electoral Tribunal and domestic and international
electoral observation efforts and suggested Spain do likewise
(de Laiglesia indicated it was unlikely Spain would be a
position to do so). The CDA also emphasized the importance
of supporting free and fair elections, regardless of whether
the Congress met before the elections were held. In fact,
the Accord did not specify an exact timeline for
congressional decision on whether Zelaya should be returned
to office. However, de Laiglesia said repeatedly that the
Honduran congress needed to act before the elections, and
that failure to do so would undermine the legitimacy of the
elections in the eyes of Spain and most others in the
international community.
CHACON