TFH01: DEPORATATION OF FOUR OAS STAFF MEMEBERS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000985 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL CASC HO SUBJECT: TFH01: DEPORATATION OF FOUR OAS STAFF MEMEBERS ON SEPTEMBER 27 Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Four of the five members of the OAS delegation that arrived in Tegucigalpa on September 27 were denied entry into Honduras and deported on commercial flights to Miami and San Jose, Costa Rica. Poloffs were present at the airport to provide ground transportation to the delegation and protested the treatment of the visiting OAS delegation, including its two American citizen members. The de facto regime Foreign Ministry official present at the airport, Luis Alfonzo Velasquez, refused to speak to Poloff. One member of the delegation, Ambassador John Biehl, was allowed entrance at the last minute but was not allowed to ride in a US Embassy vehicle and was transported under police protection to his hotel. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) At the request of the local Organization of American States (OAS) representative in Tegucigalpa, Jorge H. Miranda, the Embassy was ready to provide ground transportation to a visiting delegation from the OAS coming to Honduras to complete advance work before a possible visit by Latin American Foreign Ministers. The following OAS staff members arrived in Tegucigalpa on September 27: Ambassador Adam Blackwell (Canada),Ambassador John Biehl (Chile),staff member Claudia Barrientos (USA),staff member Jessica Benitez (Colombia),and staff member Steven Griner (USA). All arrived on Taca Airlines flight 374 from San Salvador at 09:35 (11:35 EDT),except for Griner who arrived on American Airlines flight 953 at 11:06 a.m. Embassy was not notified in advance of Griner's arrival and was under the impression the OAS group consisted of four persons. ¶3. (C) Upon presenting their OAS passports (none presented their tourist passports) to Honduran Immigration officials at passport control, immigration officials asked the group to wait in an immigration hold room. Poloff and A/RSO were with the group to assist with expediting their arrival. At approximately 11:30 am (13:30 EDT),a regime official arrived to speak to the group. Initially, he would only identify himself as "Alonzo" from the Foreign Ministry. Upon introducing themselves as being from the US Embassy, "Alonzo" asked Poloff and A/RSO to leave the room, which they did. Throughout the encounter, Poloff and A/RSO stayed in telephone contact with the OAS delegation and remained near the baggage claim area from where the OAS group was visible through glass partitions that separate the baggage claim area from the passport control area. ¶4. (C) The OAS delegation told Poloff that the regime official "Alonzo" refused to provide his last name or the specific post he held at the Foreign Ministry. Airport contacts told an Embassy FSN at the airport that they believed he was "Luis Alfonzo Velasquez," who works in the protocol office of the Foreign Ministry. The OAS group described Velasquez's behavior and attitude as disrespectful and erratic and said he was unwilling to discuss the issue of the group's entry with them, instead expressing angrily that they had failed to obtain advance permission from the de facto regime to enter the country. Ambassador John Biehl told Poloff that he was in constant contact with OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza and that he had expressed to Insulza that "he had not felt the same way he did today since Pinochet's dictatorship." In one conversation with Poloff, OAS staff member Claudia Barrientos described Velasquez's behavior as "scary." ¶5. (C) Throughout the ordeal, the delegation members attempted to contact various members of the Honduran business and political community to facilitate their entry. OAS employee Claudia Barrientos told Poloff that OAS Ambassador John Biehl spoke to prominent Honduran businessman Juan Canahuati who told the group he would attempt to contact regime Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez Contreras to facilitate the group's entry. Ambassador John Biehl also spoke to former Honduran Supreme Court Justice Vilma Morales, who is a member of the de facto regime negotiating commission for the San Jose Accord. Morales arrived on American Airlines flight 953 from Miami and spoke briefly to Biehl who later told Poloff that Morales told him the group should be welcomed to Honduras. ¶6. (SBU) At approximately 12:00 pm (14:00 EDT),OAS staff member Claudia Barrientos called Poloff and stated the group was being informed by Velasquez that they were going to be deported. Following guidance provided by DCM, Poloff TEGUCIGALP 00000985 002 OF 002 attempted to make contact with regime official Velasquez to express our concern over the treatment of the American citizen members of the delegation. Poloff attempted to approach regime official Velasquez, however he turned his back and would not acknowledge Poloff's requests to speak to him. Velasquez called for airport security to remove Poloff from the passport control area of the arrivals hall. Poloff left before security officials could respond to the request, but as Poloff left the area, he stated openly to all those in the Passport control area, including Velasquez, that the United States Government was very concerned for the treatment of the American citizens in the delegation. Velasquez did not respond and Poloff returned with A/RSO to the baggage claim area. ¶7. (SBU) At approximately 12:30 pm (14:30 EDT),OAS staff member and American Citizen Steven Griner was taken by regime officials and Honduran National Police and placed on American Airlines flight 954 to Miami. American Airlines confirmed to Embassy employee that Griner left safely on flight 954. At approximately 13:30 (15:30 EDT),the following OAS staff members were escorted by Honduran National Police from the immigration hold room and placed on Copa Airlines flight 825 to San Jose, Costa Rica: Ambassador Adam Blackwell (Canada), staff member Claudia Barrientos (USA),and staff member Jessica Benitez (Columbia). Poloff later spoke to OAS Staff member Claudia Barrientos who confirmed the group arrived safely in San Jose. ¶8. (C) OAS Ambassador John Biehl was allowed to stay in Honduras by Velasquez. Biehl told Poloff later that as the group was getting ready to leave the immigration hold room to board Copa flight 825, regime official Velasquez abruptly called Biehl to the side and informed him that he could stay, but that he had to decide right at that moment whether to stay or go. Biehl decided to stay and regime official Velasquez replied that if it were up to him, Biehl would have been on the plane. However, Velasquez said that his permission to stay was granted only because of a phone call made by former Honduran President Ricardo Maduro to de facto regime leader Roberto Michelleti. ¶9. (C) OAS Ambassador John Biehl was not permitted to ride in US Embassy vehicles and was instead taken under Honduran National Police escort through a back entrance to the airport and placed in an unmarked late model Toyota 4Runner with license plates "P-AM-7342." The unmarked vehicle was driven by uniformed police. At least one person in the car was not uniformed, but armed. Biehl later recounted to Poloff that he was unsure where the police officials were taking him. Poloff and two A/RSOs followed the unmarked vehicle to the Hotel Clarion, where Biehl was dropped off. ¶10. (C) Comment: The treatment of the visiting OAS delegation and our own Poloff and A/RSO by regime official Luis Alfonzo Velasquez is very troubling. The fact that the OAS group had previously received assurances that they could come and then were turned away at the airport shows a new and disturbing level of indecisiveness and lack of coordination within the de facto regime. Post especially is concerned with the way in which American citizens in the delegation were not granted access to an Embassy official after being detained at the airport. LLORENS