PRO-COUP BUSINESSMAN CLAIMS LECH WALESA PLANS VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000892 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2019 TAGS: ECON PGOV PHUM PREL HO PL SUBJECT: PRO-COUP BUSINESSMAN CLAIMS LECH WALESA PLANS VISIT REF: TEGUCIGALPA 649 Classified By: Simon Henshaw, Charge d'Affaires a.i., for reasons 1.5 b and d. ¶1. (U) This cable contains an action request. See para 4. ¶2. (C) Prominent businessman Adolfo (Fito) Facusse, who opposes the return of President Zelaya, told EconCouns on September 3 that he and others were involved in planning for a visit to Honduras by former Polish president Lech Walesa. He claimed that Walesa had agreed to the visit, scheduled for October 6-12. The trip would include a special Mass at the national shrine and possibly a speech, which Facusse speculated would focus on "fighting for freedom." Facusse said that Walesa would be accompanied by a party of four, including an official at Walesa's foundation, a woman journalist, and two other people, possibly bodyguards. He told EconCouns that a man with the last name of Adenauer, whom he described as a descendant of former German chancellor Konrad Adenauer, was also involved in planning the visit. ¶3. (C) Comment: Walesa's views on the situation in Honduras, if any, are unknown to us, but it seems unlikely that Facusse would be involved in planning the visit if he were not confident that Walesa would support the coup. Facusse's mention of a Mass at the national shrine also suggests that Walesa would support pro-coup elements, since Archbishop of Tegucigalpa Oscar Rodriguez has spoken out in favor of the coup. A trip to Honduras in support of the Micheletti regime by a figure of Walesa's stature would be highly damaging to our attempts to restore democracy. ¶4. (C) Action Request: Embassy requests that Washington consider instructing Embassy Warsaw to contact Walesa or his associates to determine whether he does in fact plan a visit to Honduras and, if so, to strongly urge him against it. HENSHAW