VZCZCXYZ0005
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #0192/01 0312208
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 312208Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0876
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 0458
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0021
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL//CINC/POLAD// PRIORITY
RUEAHND/CDRJTFB SOTO CANO HO PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000192 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/PPC, WHA/EPSC, AND WHA/CEN 
NSC FOR DAN FISK 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ETRD ECON KJUS SNAR PINR HO
SUBJECT: HONDURAN PRESIDENT ZELAYA'S INAUGURATION GOES WELL 
DESPITE DISORGANIZATION; USG DELEGATION WARMLY RECEIVED 
 
REF: TEGUCIGALPA 151 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  On Thursday, January 26, 2006 a U.S. 
Presidential Delegation, led by Attorney General Alberto R. 
Gonzales, arrived in Tegucigalpa to attend the inauguration 
of Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya Rosales.  While the weeks and 
days leading to the events were plagued with confusion and 
indecision by both the outgoing and incoming Honduran 
administrations, the events on the day of the inauguration, 
almost surprisingly, took place without major incident.  End 
summary. 
 
Inaugural Events - Maduro Administration Says Goodbye 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The U.S. Presidential Delegation attending the 
inaugural events for Honduran President Jose Manual "Mel" 
Zelaya Rosales was led by the Honorable Alberto R. Gonzales, 
Attorney General.  Members of the delegation included: the 
Ambassador; Ambassador Cresencio Arcos, Assistant Secretary, 
International Affairs, Department of Homeland Security; Mr. 
Miguel A. Estrada, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP; and 
Mr. Redmond James Hogan, President, Latin America and 
Caribbean Resources, LLP.  The delegation arrived slightly 
early, and as a consequence, there was hardly anyone from GOH 
to greet them.  As the delegation was coming down the stairs, 
however, Juan Lara Bueso, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and Ambassador Ricardo Flores, Chief of Protocol, showed up. 
Hands shaken, the delegation was swept away to their hotel. 
The delegation later attended a brief but somewhat 
disorganized presentation of credentials ceremony at the 
Presidential Palace with then-President Ricardo Maduro and 
then-Foreign Minister Mario Fortin.  The ceremony, which 
included all foreign delegations to the inauguration, was 
short and the delegation then returned to the hotel. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The delegation was split into three groups for the 
evening receptions on January 26.  The Attorney General and 
his wife went to the formal dinner for Heads of State, hosted 
by then-President Ricardo Maduro.  They were the first to 
arrive for the 8:00 PM dinner and the Director of the museum, 
Juan Manual Pose, gave the Attorney General a private tour 
while they waited for the other guests and host.  President 
Maduro and his wife arrived at 8:30 PM.  After greeting their 
guests, all were seated for dinner.  The Attorney General and 
his wife were seated at a table with the three outgoing 
Honduran Vice Presidents and their spouses: Armida Villeda de 
Lopez, Alberto Diaz Lobo, and Vicente Williams.  The Japanese 
Head of Delegation, Parliamentarian Junio Hatoyama, and 
Taiwanese President of Congress Wang Jin-Pyng, were also at 
the AG's table.  President Antonio Saca of El Salvador, 
President Abel Pacheco of Costa Rica, President Oscar Berger 
of Guatemala, President Enrique Bolanos of Nicaragua, Prime 
Minister Driss Jettou of Morocco, and Prince Felipe de 
Asturias of Spain were seated at the other table with 
President and Mrs. Maduro. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Attorney General had a private pull-aside 
meeting with President Bolanos after dinner. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Meanwhile, the DCM hosted a reception for the rest 
of the USG delegation at the Ambassador's residence.  Guests 
included former Ambassador to Honduras and Inter-American 
Foundation President Larry Palmer, new members of the Zelaya 
Administration, and business and civil society 
representatives.  The Ambassador joined the delegation at 
8:30 PM after he left a cocktail reception hosted by 
President Maduro for Heads of Delegations (minus the Heads of 
State and the U.S., Japanese, and Taiwanese delegation heads). 
 
Change of Power - Mission Accomplished with a Few Glitches 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The USG delegation arrived punctually at the Central 
American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) the morning of 
January 27.  BCIE was to be used as a staging area for the 
 
various delegations, as well as an opportunity for them to 
mingle over coffee and pastries.  It quickly became quite 
obvious that on one was truly in charge of the operation, 
which was supposed to ensure the smooth flow of delegations 
to the stadium in reverse protocol order, but in reality led 
to almost a 1 1/2 hour delay.  Upon arrival at the stadium, 
the delegation was again lined up and made to wait for well 
over twenty minutes before entering the stadium.  Protocol 
order was not maintained, as evidenced by the fact that 
multiple delegations entered after instead of before Heads of 
State (several Latin American delegations were quite upset by 
the GOH's protocol snafus).  While the U.S. delegation held 
at the entrance to the stadium, PolOffs battled to keep the 
delegation's assigned seats, but in the end were successful. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The AG and the U.S. delegation were very warmly 
received by the packed stadium as they walked around the 
track to the stage and took their seats.  Once all the 
delegations were finally seated, the ceremony itself began 
nearly two hours later than planned due to the lack of 
organization surrounding the flow into the stadium.  Zelaya's 
inaugural address covered a range of topics, with local press 
highlighting his emphasis on anti-corruption and plans to 
improve government services.  Zelaya departed from his 
prepared text numerous times.  During the ceremony Zelaya 
also signed the law approved by the new Congress: a citizen 
power law. 
 
Bilat and Quick Lunch 
--------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) President Zelaya moved his previously scheduled 
bilat with the U.S. delegation from the day before the 
inauguration to directly after his swearing-in in a formal 
gesture to the United States of the USG's importance to the 
new GOH.  The bilat itself was brief (septel) as the 
inauguration had run long and pushed back the start of a 
lunch for delegation heads at the Presidential Palace.  The 
Attorney General and his wife were able to attend part of the 
delayed lunch before leaving for the airport.  Hosting their 
table was Vice President Elvin Santos and his wife, with 
other foreign delegation heads also at the table. 
 
All's Well That End's Well 
-------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: Given the GOH's disorganization at the 
inauguration, Post is happy that the events went as smoothly 
as they did.  All in all, this was a positive start to a new 
government whose stated aim is to improve how the GOH 
delivers government services and safeguards the public trust. 
 With all the hoopla now over, the challenge will be for the 
Zelaya team to transfer their lofty rhetoric into meaningful 
changes in how the GOH does business.  End Comment. 
 
Ford