GOH CLAIMS NO KNOWLEDGE OF POLITICAL ASYLEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000318 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM SMIG HO SUBJECT: GOH CLAIMS NO KNOWLEDGE OF POLITICAL ASYLEE MONTANARO'S RETURN TO PARAGUAY TEGUCIGALP 00000318 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens, reason 1.4 (b & d) ¶1. (U) Summary: A diplomatic row between Paraguay and Honduras may arise after the former Paraguayan Minister of the Interior for 23 of Alfredo Stroessner,s 35 year (1954 - 1989) dictatorship, Sabino Augusto Montanaro, returned of his own volition to Paraguay on May 1 with no warning from the Honduran Government (GOH). One of Paraguay's most wanted former Stroessner-era officials, Montanaro was found responsible by Paraguayan courts for the disappearances, torture and killing of numerous political prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s. Alleged to suffer from Parkinson's disease, he is 86 years old and has likely returned home to die before he faces justice. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Former Paraguayan Minister of the Interior Montanaro arrived in Asuncion on May 1 with no prior warning from the government of Honduras, which had granted him political asylum back in May of 1989. Montanaro is considered to be one of Paraguay's most wanted Stroessner-era officials implicated in numerous disappearances, torture and killing of political prisoners who opposed the Stroessner dictatorship. An international warrant for his arrest was issued in 1997. The GOH has twice previously (1989 and 2008) denied his extradition to Paraguay to face criminal charges. According to the Paraguayan government (GOP),the GOH failed to notify them of Montanaro,s arrival which may result in a diplomatic row. ¶3. (C) Honduran Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Ambassador Eduardo Rosales Ramirez, stated on May 4 that he was "totally surprised" by Montanaro,s departure and how he was able to board numerous air connections en route to Paraguay with either his expired Paraguayan passport or what is assumed to be a newly forged Paraguayan passport. (Note: Honduran press reported conflicting stories on May 5 that Montanaro used his Paraguayan passport that expired in 1991 or 1997. End Note.) Honduran immigration authorities have told the MFA that the systems for checking passports were down on April 30, which was the day of Montanaro,s departure from Honduras. ¶4. (C) The GOP has contacted the Honduran MFA three times since Montanaro,s arrival in Asuncion inquiring as to how Montanaro was able to travel to Paraguay. The Paraguayan Charge d, Affairs in Costa Rica called Rosales to verify if Montanaro,s passport was valid, something Rosales said only the GOP could know. Another Paraguayan diplomat in San Jose, Salvador Meden, went so far as to ask Rosales how Montanaro acquired a false Paraguayan passport in Honduras. Paraguayan Vice Minister, Antonio Rivas Palacios also called Rosales to ask what type of document Montanaro used to enter Paraguay, which would be something only GOP Immigration should be able to answer. In short, Rosales has said that in its three communications with the GOP, Paraguayan officials have never asked him anything he could actually respond to. ¶5. (C) Rosales stated that under the terms of Montanaro,s political asylum, he was required to renew his status annually at the Honduran Ministry of Justice, and the renewal was due soon. Montanaro did not have a "hold" on his name or anything that would have flagged Honduran authorities when he traveled. Rosales agreed that GOH Immigration officials should have a system in place that includes some type of "hold" on his name, but that Honduran law has no provision for this at this time. ¶6. (C) Montanaro, who is 86 years old, has been living in Honduras for twenty years since escaping Paraguay and requesting political asylum in Honduras in May of 1989, in the wake of the February 1989 coup led by General Andres Rodriguez that overthrew the Stroessner regime. Montanaro was a close friend of a Paraguayan businessman, Carlos Regunega, who was also the Honorary Honduran Consul in Asuncion at the time. Regunega successfully secured the Honduran government decision to provide Montanaro with asylum, reportedly for hefty under the table payments to GOH civilian and military officials. Over the past two decades, Montanaro has kept a very low profile living in a luxury apartment building in Tegucigalpa and a cattle ranch on the north coast of Honduras. The GOP's first request in June TEGUCIGALP 00000318 002.2 OF 002 1989 for the extradition of Montanaro went to the Honduran Supreme Court where it was denied. In 2008, the GOP again requested that the Honduran MFA extradite Montanaro but the MFA did not on the basis that it was a legal case which was already ruled on in 1989. ¶7. (U) Various associates of Montanaro including his son and lawyer have stated that he is suffering from Parkinson's disease and should remain in a hospital, but that he is willing to face his accusers. Montanaro was accompanied on his return by his son, Sabino Augusto Montanaro, and a Honduran nurse named Fidelia Reyes. Montanaro apparently wishes to die in the country of his birth. LLORENS