TFHO1: HONDURAS COUP SITREP #52 08/27/2009 AS OF

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000841 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV CASC MARR KDEM PHUM ASEC HO SUBJECT: TFHO1: HONDURAS COUP SITREP #52 08/27/2009 AS OF 14:00 LOCAL (16:00 EDT) REF: TEGUCIGALPA 830 AND OTHERS -------------- DEMONSTRATIONS AND OTHER ACTIVITY -------------- ¶1. (U) According to local press reports, at 0300 local (0500 EDT) this morning, police located a homemade bomb inside a vehicle parked outside of the Programa Nacional de Beneficio Rural (PRONABER) building, next to the Secretaria de Comercio (SETCO). The bomb was reported to have contained accelerant and was found attached to a propane container and a timing device. The reports state that the national police and the bomb squad broke into the car by breaking one of the windows and safely dismantled the explosives. ¶2. (SBU) As of 13:35 local (15:35 EDT),a medium size group of pro-Zelaya protestors were deomonstrating in front of the Ministerio de Salud. ¶3. (SBU) As of 11:00 local (13:00 EDT),a group of pro-Zelaya demonstrators had planned to congregate at 15:00 local (17:00 EDT) to conduct a vehicle caravan demonstration. The demonstration was expected to include 1,000 vehicles and last 3-4 hours. The group of pro-Zelaya demonstrators has indicated that similar demonstrations were expected to occur on a daily basis. -------------- Infrastructure and Communications -------------- ¶4. (U) As a result of an attack on its transmission equipment, pro-Zelaya television station Channel 36 remains off the air. ¶5. (SBU) Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpa (TGU) and San Pedro Sula airport remain open. ¶6. (U) Most of Honduras' land borders with Guatemala and El Salvador are currently open to commercial and private vehicles. The borders between Honduras and Nicaragua have been closed intermittently since Friday, July 24. ¶7. (U) There are no reports of abnormal public utility outages in the country. -------------- Consular and Embassy Operations -------------- ¶8. (U) The Embassy is open for normal business on Thursday, August 27 with one exception. The Consular Section will be closed to non-emergency nonimmigrant visa (NIV) services until further notice. Barring any changes in the security situation, the Consular Section will remain open for other consular services until further notice. ¶9. (U) The Consular Section continues to receive sporadic inquiries from AmCits regarding the political situation. Post circulated a Warden Message Monday, August 10. The Consular Section continues to regularly update ACS information on the Embassy website. ¶10. (SBU) The next EAC meeting time has not been determined. HENSHAW