HONDURAN FOREIGN MINISTER REQUESTS U.S. ASSISTANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000869 E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2019 TAGS: PREL XK HO OAS SUBJECT: HONDURAN FOREIGN MINISTER REQUESTS U.S. ASSISTANCE IN PRESSURING DE FACTO AUTHORITIES Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro Wolff for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Ambassador Wolff on September 28 met with Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas in which she provided an update on the status of Honduran President Zelaya and recent events in Tegucigalpa. Rodas said additional pressure from the international community, including the UN Security Council, needs to be exerted on the de facto government to settle the crisis peacefully. She also requested that U.S. Ambassador Llorens visit Zelaya in the Brazilian Embassy, which she believed would send a strong, positive signal of international support for Zelaya. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Ambassador Wolff on September 28 met with Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas at her request. Rodas provided an update on Honduran President Zelaya's status and recent events in Tegucigalpa, and requested added U.S. pressure on the de facto authorities. Rodas said the coup has thrown Honduras back to the 1980s and squandered the development of the past three years. She said she was pleased, however, to see that 1.5 million Honduran citizens had taken to the streets to support Zelaya. While grateful for the show of support, she said Zelaya remains concerned that the sheer size of the demonstrations could become destabilizing and turn violent because of the infiltration of provocateurs. Rodas said Zelaya is a "pacifist to the core" but the masses are beyond his control. ¶3. (C) Rodas lamented that the opposition to the coup has been emasculated and said other means of pressure, such as through the UN or the Security Council, needed to be applied. A sanctions regime should be established, she advised, to "cut off the oxygen" to Micheletti and his supporters. Rodas then said that the threat of sanctions, rather than their actual imposition, to industries associated with Micheletti and his supporters could be a crucial deterrent. Sanctions, Rodas argued, could adversely affect the fragile economy. ¶4. (C) With respect to possible UN Security Council action, Ambassador Wolff said that the dynamics in the Council during consultations on September 25 (reftel) suggested little support for a strong resolution against the de facto authorities. He stressed that in the Security Council there would be little likelihood of repeating the massive show of support when UN General Assembly resolution 63/301 was adopted. Regarding the ultimatum to the Government of Brazil to either turn over President Zelaya for arrest or take him out of the country, Ambassador Wolff said the principles of the Vienna Convention are clear and that the immunity of the Brazilian Embassy is inviolate. For this reason, it is crucial that President Zelaya encourage his supporters to maintain the right tone, to urge them to remain peaceful, and to avoid any action that would give the Micheletti government excuses to crack down, he said. ¶5. (C) Honduran Ambassador Reina Idiaquez, who accompanied Rodas, said, "There is no doubt that President Zelaya's life is in danger." His safety, he continued, is key for stability in Honduras. He and Rodas requested that Ambassador Llores visit Zelayas in the Brazilian Embassy. A visit from the U.S. Ambassador, they said, would send a strong, positive signal of international support for Zelaya. RICE