INAGURATION OF PRESIDENT LOBO AND DEPARTURE OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000088 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL PHUM HO SUBJECT: INAGURATION OF PRESIDENT LOBO AND DEPARTURE OF ZELAYA REF: TEGUCIGALPA 65 ¶1. (U) Summary: President Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo was sworn in on January 27 in Tegucigalpa. During his inaugural address, President Lobo thanked the US and others for their help during the political crisis and paused during his speech to sign an amnesty law that had been passed by Congress late on January 26 covering political crimes related to the political crisis, however excluding crimes of corruption and human rights abuses. The US delegation, led by WHA A/S Arturo Valenzuela, at the ceremony was joined by other members of the international community, including the Presidents of Taiwan, Dominican Republic, and Panama. Following the inauguration ceremony, President Lobo and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez met with former president Manuel "Mel" Zelaya at the Embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa and accompanied Zelaya to the airport where Zelaya left to the Dominican Republic. Details of A/S Valenzuela's visit will be reported septels. End Summary. ¶2. (U) President Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo was sworn in as president of Honduras just before 12:00 pm on January 27 in a simple ceremony at the national stadium in Tegucigalpa. In a short but poignant speech, President Lobo outlined his vision that Honduras must move forward, start a process of national reconciliation, and begin to address the true problems facing Honduras including the serious economic crisis in which the country finds itself following the suspension of aid by the international community. ¶3. (U) President Lobo acknowledged the setbacks experienced by Honduras due to the political crisis and specifically thanked by name the efforts of those that worked to resolve the crisis including Secretary Clinton, Ambassador Llorens, the President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias, and the Organization of American States. Lobo made a general call to the international community that the desire of Honduras was to repair relations as soon as possible. ¶4. (U) While speaking about the need for reconciliation, Lobo interrupted his inauguration speech to sign an amnesty bill passed by the National Congress on January 26 in which political crimes relating to the political crisis and committed between January 1, 2008 and January 27, 2010 will be pardoned. Crimes of corruption and human rights abuses reportedly were not included in the amnesty bill. The amnesty bill also reportedly did not cover the issue of Zelaya's repatriation, however on January 26, the Honduran Supreme Court of Justice dismissed charges against the Honduran Armed Forces Joint Staff for their involvement in the June 28, 2009 arrest and removal of President Zelaya to Costa Rica. Note: Post will report in more detail about both the amnesty bill and the Supreme Court decision via septel. End Note. ¶5. (U) During the inauguration ceremony, which included prayers by both a Catholic bishop and a Honduran evangelical pastor that lives in the US, President Lobo also swore into office the three vice presidents: Maria Antonieta Guillen de Bogran, Samuel Armando Reyes Rendon, and Victor Hugo Barnica. President Lobo examined the troops at the national stadium with Armed Forces Commander General Romeo Velasquez Vasquez and the inauguration ceremony concluded with a cultural presentation and music performance. The US delegation to the inauguration was led by WHA A/S Arturo Valenzuela and included EEB A/S Jose Fernandez, WHA P/DAS Craig Kelly, the Ambassador, DCM, Executive Assistant to A/S Valenzuela Juan Gonzalez, and Protocol Officer Tanya Turner. Other attendees at the President Lobo's inauguration on January 27 included President of Taiwan Ma Ying-Jeou, President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, Columbian Vice President Francisco Santos, Foreign Minister of Guatemala Haroldo Rodas Melgar, Vice President of the Israeli Congress Alexi Miller, and Deputy Foreign Minister of San Salvador Carlos Castaneda. In a ceremony later in the afternoon at the presidential palace, TEGUCIGALP 00000088 002 OF 002 President Lobo swore in some members of his cabinet, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Canahuati and Minister of Security Oscar Alvarez. ¶6. (U) President Lobo met with former President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya at the Embassy of Brazil shortly after the inauguration ceremony and accompanied Zelaya to the Hernan Acosta Mejia military airport in Tegucigalpa where he left Honduras at approximately 3:30 pm local time, accompanied by President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernandez as had been agreed to by Presidents Lobo and Fernandez (ref). Eye witnesses told employee officer they saw President Zelaya depart on the plane, along with former First Lady Xiomara Castro, their daughter Hortencia, and Zelaya advisor Rasel Tome. The Honduran military estimated that approximately 7,000 anti-coup demonstrators were peacefully present on the civilian side of the airport awaiting Zelaya's departure. There were no reports of clashes between security forces and demonstrators and no reported injuries. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: The successful inauguration ceremony of President Lobo and the peaceful departure of former president Zelaya mark a significant turning point in the return of Honduras to constitutional order, however Honduras remains deeply polarized and faces a serious economic situation that President Lobo has already acknowledged will be his first challenges. LLORENS