TFH01: POLITICAL WRAP-UP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000951 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC PHUM HO SUBJECT: TFH01: POLITICAL WRAP-UP REF: TEGUCIGALPA 949 Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) Summary. President Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya and a group of supporters remain in the Brazilian Embassy. The Armed Forces have allowed food and water to be delivered to the Embassy compound and are permitting the departure of Zelaya supporters and local Embassy staff. Rumors are circulating that the military will forcibly enter the Brazilian Embassy the evening of September 21; regime officials have denied them both publicly and privately. The Ambassador has emphatically told the Armed Forces Chief that this would be a catastrophic error and result in "grave" consequences; similar messages have been passed to other regime officials. Four of the presidential candidates, including the two from the major parties, have drafted points guaranteeing President Zelaya's compliance with the San Jose Accord. They are planning to meet to discuss presentation of their proposal to de facto regime leader Roberto Micheletti. Micheletti stated in a televised address that Hondurans need to differentiate between the American government and its people and remember that the U.S. has been generous to Honduras. According to a member of Congress, 30 persons who traveled to Tegucigalpa from the Department of Lempira are being detained by the police for breaking curfew. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) President Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya remains in the Brazilian Embassy, along with his wife and son. The Armed Forces have sent in food and water to the Zelaya supporters inside the Embassy and are allowing local employees of the Embassy and any Zelaya supporters who wish to do so to depart the compound. ¶3. (C) Micheletti told reporters that Honduras will respect Brazil's diplomatic facility as long as Brazil responds to Honduras' request that it either grant Zelaya exile or turn him over to face the charges pending against him in Honduras. Rumors have been circulating that the Supreme Court met and granted the armed forces permission to enter the Brazilian Embassy to capture Zelaya and that the operation will take place this evening. This seems to be a concerted effort by Zelaya supporters to make the case that the regime is on the verge of breaking into the Brazilian Chancery. The Ambassador warned Armed Forces Chief MG Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez that the Honduran security forces should avoid entering the Brazilian diplomatic compound (see reftel); similar messages have been passed to other regime officials. Public statements by the regime and private messages from the Honduran military and Supreme Court suggest that the regime has no such plans. ¶4. (C) Presidential candidates Elvin Santos of the Liberal Party, Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo of the National Party, and Bernard Martinez of the Social Democratic Innovation and Unity Party (PINU) told the Ambassador and Poloff that they and presidential candidate Felicito Avila of the Christian Democratic Party had decided to continue to work together as a group to seek a solution to the crisis. Lobo also reported to the Ambassador today that he supports the candidates' plan to approach both Zelaya and Micheletti with their counterproposal and urge them both to go back to San Jose and attempt to close the deal. Presidet Arias also confirmed to the Ambassador that hehad also spoken to Elvin Santos and Pepe Lobo an conveyed his support for their efforts to promoe the San Jose Accord. Martinez, Santos, Lobo, an Avila, along with former Presidents Carlos Flore and Ricardo Maduro met on September 20, before elaya's return to Honduras, and drafted points t guarantee the compliance of President Zelaya wih the San Jose Accord. Martinez told Poloff the were trying to identify a time for the four of tem to meet together, possibly on September 23, to iscuss presenting their proposals to Micheletti. ¶5. (U) In a televised address to "representativs of diverse national sectors," Micheletti said hat Hondurans should not forget that Americans ar generous to Honduras. He said a country's peope are one thing and its government another. He sid the American government is in place for only for years, adding a Spanish saying that "no evil lsts one hundred years." In an allusion to the rvocation of the U.S. nonimmigrant visas of some egime members and supporters, TEGUCIGALP 00000951 002 OF 002 Micheletti said Honduras is full of beautiful places to visit and spend money. He said that if all Hondurans that used to travel to the U.S. had pooled the sums they spent for that travel, they would have been able to invest in a business. ¶6. (SBU) Congressman Erik Rodriguez told Poloff that 30 persons who traveled to Tegucigalpa from the Department of Lempira to participate in anti-coup demonstrations were detained at the police station in Comayagua for breaking the curfew imposed by the regime on September 21. LLORENS