TFHO1: ZELAYA'S ADMINISTRATION: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000740 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2019 TAGS: PGOV HO SUBJECT: TFHO1: ZELAYA'S ADMINISTRATION: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 712 ¶B. MEXICO 2339 ¶C. TEGUCIGALPA 731 Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (C) Summary: This message is an update on the status of various Manuel "Mel" Zelaya Administration cabinet-level officials. The Ambassador held a meeting on August 6 (ref A) with those officials currently in Tegucigalpa, he met with others in Managua on July 30, and maintains contact with others via phone and email. Ambassador has stressed the importance to all Zelaya cabinet members that they persuade Zelaya to distance himself from counter-productive advice he is receiving from both the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan government, not foment more violence by calling for "insurrection," and go on the diplomatic offensive as the legitimate democratic government of Honduras. End Summary. -------------- THE PUGNACIOUS PATRICIOS -------------- ¶2. (C) Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas is consistently by Zelaya's side as he moves around the region from his Nicaraguan base. She remains his main link to Venezuelan and Cuban interests and has been recently referred to as a "Trotskyite" in the local press by Liberal Party Presidential Candidate Elvin Santos. The day following the coup, Rodas was expelled from Honduras and forced to board a plane to Mexico. She is not currently facing criminal charges and earlier allegations that she had been using Liberal Party funds for Zelaya's Fourth Urn campaign have grown silent. ¶3. (C) Aristides "Tito" Mejia, former "appointed" Vice President and Minister of Defense, is pragmatic and has been representing Zelaya at the San Jose negotiations and the Tuxtla Summit. Mejia prefers that a deal be reached but his plans to move his exiled family from Guatemala to France suggest he is losing faith in the process. Mejia is facing corruption charges in Honduras for abuse of authority and fraud related to his authorization for the state energy company (ENEE) to rent new offices which violated the law of State Contracting. These charges lack credibility since they were pursued by the de facto regime almost immediately following the June 28 coup. Regime opponents say that the de facto regime's mission statement on administration of justice appears to be "the law for my enemies and the deal for my friends." Zelaya officials are working with INTERPOL headquarters and other friendly governments to deny the regime's request that red notices be issued for Mejia and two other Zelaya government cabinet ministers. ¶4. (C) Milton Jimenez, former Minister of the Banking and Insurance Regulation Administration and Foreign Minister (Note: Jimenez was removed as FM after a DUI scandal in Florida in 2007. End note.),is a pragmatic official and key confidant of Zelaya. While usually credited with (or blamed for) bringing Rodas into the Zelaya camp, Jimenez is viewed as more moderate and in support of the Arias mediation. For much of the time since the coup, Jimenez has been in Guatemala with Mejia, although he has served on Zelaya's delegation to the Arias mediation. ¶5. (C) Enrique Flores Lanza, a former Secretary of the Presidency, is considered a key Zelaya strategist. After hiding out in the Argentine Embassy and various safe houses in Tegucigalpa, Lanza escaped from to Nicaragua on horseback through an unguarded border crossing. Lanza has remained a close advisor to Zelaya and represented the President at the San Jose negotiations; he has more recently sought to distance Zelaya from Venezuelan influence. He is currently based in Managua but has encouraged Zelaya to stay away from the border. He has accompanied Zelaya on his recent visits to Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil and Chile. The regime has filed criminal charges against him for the misuse of 40 million lempiras (USD 2 million) used in Zelaya's Fourth Urn survey that was planned for June 28. -------------- THE EXILED MODERATES -------------- ¶6. (C) Rebecca Santos, Minister of Finance, is a close moderate Zelaya advisor who has been in exile in Mexico, the United States, and Chile, and also participated in Zelaya's meetings in Nicaragua. Santos is said to be staying at colleague Minister of Culture Rodolfo Pastor's apartment in Mexico City along with former Education Minister Marlon Breve. The regime has also filed criminal charges against Santos for abuse of authority and fraud related to her authorization for ENEE to rent new offices, which allegedly violated the contracting laws. Santos was actually offered a senior position in the Micheletti regime. The charges were filed immediately after she refused to join the de factor regime. ¶7. (C) Rixi Moncada, Minister of Energy, is a close advisor to Zelaya and has participated in the San Jose negotiations. Moncada was traveling in the southern city of Choluteca when the coup took place. She was able to escape to Nicaragua and has been staying there ever since. The regime has also filed criminal charges against Moncada allegedly for abuse of authority and fraud related to her role in renting new offices for ENEE. Moncada has remained in close touch with the Ambassador and other Embassy officers. She is a technocrat and moderate on the Zelaya team. ¶8. (C) Enrique Reina, former Secretary of the Presidency and a career diplomat, is currently Zelaya's Charge d'Affaires in Washington, DC. Once the protege of former Honduran Ambassador to the United States Roberto Flores Bermudez, who has since aligned himself with the de facto regime, Reina is considered a capable diplomat and moderate. ¶9. (C) Rodolfo Pastor, Minister of Culture, originally fled to Mexico after the coup. He is married to a Mexican and owns an apartment in Mexico City An intellectual confidant of Zelaya, Pastor accompanied Zelaya on his meetings in Mexico. He may be losing faith in the negotiations as indicated by his recent application for a J1 visa in order to teach Latin American history at Harvard for six months, which would require him to give up his high-level post in Zelaya's cabinet (ref B). ¶10. (C) Marlon Breve, Minister of Education, is currently exiled in Mexico City. Breve has a B.S. and PhD from U.S. universities and has served in various capacities at the EARTH University in Costa Rica. ¶11. (C) Raul Valladares, President of CONATEL, is said to be with his family in the United States. He has been the target of a corruption inquiry since before the coup regarding his rapid accumulation of wealth while in the Zelaya administration. -------------- UNDER THE RADAR IN TEGUCIGALPA -------------- ¶12. (C) The Ambassador held an August 6 meeting (ref A) with President Zelaya's cabinet ministers who are residing in Tegucigalpa. The Ministers of Health, Government, Commerce and Industry, Labor, and Tourism were present, along with the Vice Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Commerce and Industry, Public Works and Communications, and the President of the Central Bank. The following Zelaya Administration officials either participated in the meeting or are known to be in Tegucigalpa. ¶13. (C) The President of the Central Bank, Edwin Araque, a trained economist with a master's degree from the University of Colorado, is currently in Tegucigalpa. ¶14. (C) Minister of Health Carlos Aguilar, a well respected physician and expert in pulmonary disease, is currently in Tegucigalpa. ¶15. (C) Minister of Tourism Ricardo Martinez is currently in Tegucigalpa. ¶16. (C) Mayra Mejia, the Minister of Labor, is keeping a low profile in Tegucigalpa. Mejia was arrested and then released by Honduran police for violating the curfew while trying to cross from Honduras to Nicaragua when Zelaya was in northern Nicaragua. She is one of Zelaya's more ideological supporters. ¶17. (C) Victor Meza, Zelaya's Minister of the Interior, is a moderate in favor of a practical solution to the political crisis. Meza organized the group of cabinet ministers in Tegucigalpa that have begun to meet over the past weeks. ¶18. (C) Fredis Cerrato, Zelaya's Minister of Industry and Commerce, is also a practical politician and in favor of constructive actions to negotiation out of the political stalemate. Cerrato, currently in Tegucigalpa, told Econoff that he intends to attend the Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF) in Chile in September on an invitation he received prior to June 28. ¶19. (C) Beatriz Valle, one of Zelaya's three Vice Foreign Ministers, has lately been targeted by a smear campaign in the press, aimed at documenting Zelaya administration corruption, via the leaking of inaccurate documents detailing her salary as a diplomat in Canada and was one of the most radical members of the group. She is currently in Tegucigalpa. ¶20. (C) Arcadia Gomez, a Social Advisor to Zelaya, has been working directly with the pro-Zelaya protestors in Tegucigalpa and along with Valle was the most radical of the group. ¶21. (C) Tomas Vaquero, Minister of the Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment (SERNA),is currently in Tegucigalpa. ¶22. (C) Jacobo Lagos, Chief of Staff, is currently under investigation by the Public Ministry for giving tariff reductions to U.S. company Latinode while he was Director of the Honduran Telecommunications Company (Hondutel). Lagos was Director of Hondutel from January to May 2007. Lagos is currently in Tegucigalpa. -------------- THE TURNCOATS -------------- ¶23. (C) Jorge Rodas Gamero, current Minister of Security, maintained his cabinet position after the coup although due to medical problems has not been active in the de facto regime since the beginning of July. Rodas since returned to Tegucigalpa after receiving treatment for his medical condition in the United States. ¶24. (C) General Walter Lopez Reyes, current Drug Czar, maintained his cabinet level position after the coup. However, reports indicate that he is not in complete accord with the de fact regime's leadership or direction. Indirect reports attribute him with claiming the current situation has placed Honduras at risk of falling under the influence of narcotraffickers (Ref C). ¶25. (C) Jose Rosario Bonano, the Minister of the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Housing (SOPTRAVI) has stayed on after the coup. Bonano has an unsavory reputation. There are reports of road and infrastructure contracts being issued to business interests linked to Micheletti and other regime officials. ¶26. (C) The Minister of the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS),Cesar Arnulfo Salgado, originally left for Guatemala but has since returned and is in Tegucigalpa. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶27. (C) Post will continue to check-on and/or determine the status of all Zelaya administration cabinet-level officials and also encourage them to persuade Zelaya to maintain focus and maintain a peaceful and Presidential diplomatic front. End Comment LLORENS