TFH01: THE AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES ZELAYA'S FAILED

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001278 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL HO SUBJECT: TFH01: THE AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES ZELAYA'S FAILED ATTEMPT AT SAFE PASSAGE REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1244 ¶B. TEGUCIGALPA 1231 ¶C. TEGUCIGALPA 1253 ¶D. TEGUCIGALPA 1264 ¶E. TEGUCIGALPA 1265 ¶F. TELCON BETWEEN AMB LLORENS AND A/S VALENZUELA 12/8 ¶G. TEGUCIGALPA 1270 TEGUCIGALP 00001278 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens, reasons 1.4 (b & d) ¶1. (S) Summary: On the morning of December 10, the Ambassador briefed President-elect Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo and President Oscar Arias on the failed Mexican attempt to secure safe passage for President Zelaya to Mexico. The Ambassador noted that the U.S. had not been informed by either Mexican or Brazilian officials of their plans. All agreed on the need to stay focused on a Central American based solution consistent with the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord. End Summary. PRESIDENT-ELECT LOBO -------------- ¶2. (S) The Ambassador spoke to President-elect Pepe Lobo on the morning of December 10 and discussed last night's aborted effort by the Mexican government to secure a safe passage for President Zelaya to leave the country and travel to Mexico. The Ambassador briefed Lobo on what we knew of the facts. He stressed that the U.S. was never/never informed by either the Mexicans or the Brazilian governments of the plan to get Zelaya out of the country. The Ambassador mentioned that we first learned of the event when he received a farewell call from President Zelaya only hours before his scheduled departure. Lobo noted that he had information of contact between Zelaya and regime officials in recent days involving a possible safe conduct for Zelaya to Mexico. However, he was also surprised to learn that this was happening last night. Lobo reiterated that he was in contact with Dominican President Fernandez on efforts to get him and Zelaya together in the Dominican Republic, but he had not seen this effort as necessarily linked to the Mexican initiative. Both agreed that while Zelaya's departure might have positive consequences in Honduras, the botched effort had distracted us from the bigger task of achieving full implementation of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord. Both agreed that we needed to continue to work in tandem with President Arias, Martinelli, as well as President Funes, Colom and Fernandez, on creating a government of national unity and convincing Micheletti to step down. Lobo added that he supported Arias's proposal, going back to the original San Jose Accord, of seeking legislation from the National Congress providing political amnesty for Zelaya (and his close advisors), Micheletti (and his close advisors),and the Honduran military. Lobo said he was traveling to Miami for some business meetings, but mostly to get some post-election rest. He said he would return to Tegucigalpa on Sunday, December ¶13. President Arias -------------- ¶3. (S) The Ambassador also spoke to President Arias on the morning of December 9 to discuss the implications of the failed Mexican operation to get Zelaya out of Honduras. The Ambassador reiterated that the U.S. was completely unaware of the Mexican effort to get Zelaya out of the country. Arias said that he was also taken by surprise, although he said getting Zelaya out of Honduras could be a positive development that might facilitate efforts to convince Micheletti to resign. We both agreed that we needed to continue to work on the implementation of the Accord. Arias said he remained committed to contributing to a resolution of the Honduran crisis. He again reiterated his concern as to whether Lobo had the backbone to get Micheletti to step down. He also stressed the importance for an overall solution of securing political amnesty for all parties in the Honduran crisis. Both agreed to stay in close touch. TEGUCIGALP 00001278 002.2 OF 002 LLORENS