VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #0684/01 0972314
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 072314Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1725
INFO RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000684 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, WHA/USOAS, G/IWI, AND DRL/PHD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAM AND DCHA/DG 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM KCOR KWMN PINR ECON HO
SUBJECT: The Early Stages of the New Honduran Congress and 
Its Struggle to be Effective: Leadership Will be Key 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: The new Honduran Congress is made up of 
every extreme, with politics permeating every part of it. 
Because of the political diversity of this group, it has 
been hard for them to come to agreement on many of the 
issues that they face.  Within Congress, the Liberal Party 
has the majority rule, and Roberto Micheletti, member of the 
Liberal Party, was elected as President of Congress.  There 
is a record 30 women in Congress, who are in the process of 
forming a caucus in order to unite their forces.  However, 
they have already been intimidated in order to keep them 
from forming the caucus.  Outside of Congress, there is an 
elite group of three men, two of them being former Honduran 
presidents, who have an enormous influence on Congress, 
though the extent of this influence is often not apparent to 
the public.  Though many important potential bills are 
pending, Congress passed legislative changes in order to 
comply with the Central American Free Trade Agreement 
(CAFTA), a major accomplishment amid the early struggles 
Congress has been facing.  Only with strong leadership from 
Micheletti will this Congress be successful.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Leadership/Structure of Congress 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Honduran Congress consists of the President, 
the Board, and the other members of Congress.  There are 128 
members total, which are divided in the following way: 
Liberal - 62, National - 55, Christian Democrats (CD) - 4, 
Democratic Unification (UD) - 5, Innovation and National 
Unity (PINU) - 2.  Forty-six of the 62 Liberal Party 
congressmen ran on Zelaya's ticket in the primaries, 
including President of Congress Roberto Micheletti; this 
gives Zelaya what should be fairly strong loyalty from 74 
percent of Liberal Party congressmen.  The leaders of each 
party are as follows: Liberal Party - Valentin Suarez, 
National Party - Rodolfo Irias Navas, CD - Juan Ramon 
Velasquez Nazar, UD - Doris Gutierrez, and PINU - Toribio 
Aguilera. 
 
¶3. (U) The president of Congress serves for the full four 
years of the Congress.  Micheletti, the recently elected 
president, has been re-elected seven times to congress.  One 
of the former presidential honor guards for President 
Morales in the 1960s, he was one of the first ones to escape 
when the coup of 1963 occurred.  Micheletti has stated that 
he will not put up with absenteeism in Congress, as many 
congressmen/women only show up to pick up their checks and 
have used their two-year position to get rich and pay off 
their debts.  He has also said that if commissions 
(committees) are not showing progress, that he will rotate 
congressmen/women between commissions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Even though Micheletti is president of Congress, 
there is another elite group of three men that informally 
run and oversee everything that happens within Congress. 
Carlos Flores Facuse (Liberal Party), former president of 
Congress and former president of Honduras, is a key player 
and considered by some observers to be the true ruler over 
Congress, as Micheletti is seen as his ally.  During the 
heated debate and elections for president of Congress, 
Flores was the main mediator, and many meetings regarding 
the congressional presidency took place at his residence. 
Some observers claim nothing moves in Congress unless Carlos 
Flores first knows about it and approves it.  His daughter, 
Elisabeth "Lizzy" Flores Flake has been appointed as first 
vice-president of Congress.  It is too early to tell if she 
will succeed in this position. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The other two within this elite group are Rafael 
Leonardo Callejas (National Party), former Honduran 
president, and Arturo Corrales (Christian Democrat), a well- 
known businessman connected to a family of politicians. 
Both attended and graduated from the American School in 
Tegucigalpa, and though they represent different parties, 
they are seen as political allies and de facto leaders of 
their respective parties.  Flores, Callejas, and Corrales, 
even though not part of Congress, are very involved and very 
influential in Congress behind the scenes. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Board of Congress is appointed for two years 
and consists of four vice-presidents, two secretaries, two 
alternate secretaries, and two under secretaries.  Most of 
the current Board is from the Liberal Party, but there is 
one member from the National Party and one from the CD 
Party.  Juan Ramon Velasquez Nazar, the one member of the CD 
Party on the Board, has been looked upon with disdain by 
 
some in his party and the National Party for siding with the 
Liberal Party during the Congressional leadership election, 
thus helping Micheletti secure his position as president of 
Congress. 
 
Early Issues Within Congress 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) There is currently a "Seventh Caucus" of women being 
formed within Congress.  This Caucus consists of 30 
congresswomen (including 15 from the Liberal Party, 11 from 
the National Party, two from the UD Party, one from the CD 
Party, and one from the PINU Party), plus 28 alternate 
congresswomen.  If they do indeed form a block, then with 
only a few more supporters, they could potentially block 
legislation on the floor.  However, they have already been 
threatened and intimidated in a veiled but obvious way by 
the major parties, in order to try and keep them from 
forming an effective caucus. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Another major challenge for Congress is the fact 
that the majority of Congress is not generally well informed 
on any given issues and is expected to come in and vote on 
items prior to receiving sufficient background information. 
It seems as if there are very few who are really involved in 
Congress, and those few are the ones making most key 
decisions without true support from their counterparts. 
Most major decisions are usually made by this small group, 
frequently behind closed doors during late hours of the 
night. 
 
Commissions 
----------- 
 
¶9. (U) There are 60 commissions total, with the Liberal 
Party leading 35, the National Party 19, the UD two, the CD 
two, and PINU two.  Fifteen women and two Garifunas (Afro- 
Honduran minority group) preside over commissions.  One 
leading Liberal Party member, Jose Azcona (son of former 
President Azcona) coordinates all 60 of the commissions. 
Each of the commissions has a total of seven 
congressmen/women who also take part in other commissions. 
 
Early Issues Congress is Addressing 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) The most significant issue that this Congress has 
addressed was the legislative change required before the 
Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) could enter 
into force.  All necessary changes have been approved by 
Congress. 
 
¶11. (U) Telecommunications.  Congress passed administrative 
regulations/changes in order to comply with CAFTA prior to 
its implementation.  Congress is currently working to pass 
this new telecommunications framework law in order to open 
the market for competition.  The draft bill would also make 
Hondutel (land-line monopoly in Honduras) more competitive 
so that it can compete if the framework law is passed and 
other competition enters the market. 
 
¶12. (U) Congressional debate has also begun over the draft 
of the Domestic Violence Law which has become a major issue 
due to the large number of women in Congress.  Many 
congresswomen are pushing the Domestic Violence Bill to the 
forefront and demanding that the law make men responsible 
and accountable for their children left with single mothers. 
 
¶13. (U) The draft Forestry Law has been pending for four 
years, but there are indications that this law will surface 
again by this summer.  The proposed law would reform and 
restructure the forestry sector and would create more severe 
punishments for the illegal cutting and shipment of wood. 
The Mining Law, like the Forestry Law, has been surrounded 
by lots of talk and little action, and also might resurface 
by this summer.  This new law would help clarify current 
laws as well as outlaw open-pit mines.  The Secretary of 
Natural Resources and Environment has not issued any new 
mining concessions for more than a year, due to the pending 
legislation. 
 
¶14. (U) A new draft Civil Procedures Code, modeled on the 
Criminal Procedures Code, has just been presented to 
Congress and will also be a major piece of legislation up 
for debate. 
 
¶15. (U) Congress has still not approved the budget for 2006. 
The discussions over approval of the budget have been 
postponed indefinitely. 
 
Post's View of Congress 
----------------------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) COMMENT:  During a recent visit to a congressional 
session, the disunity within Congress was very evident and 
the disinterest of the members clearly explained the slow 
pace at which issues are handled within Congress.  The 
session seemed much more like a social hour, and many 
congressmen/women seemed to be there only because Micheletti 
is demanding their attendance.  However, for many members of 
Congress, just because they are forced to show up does not 
mean they will actually bring anything meaningful to the 
table. 
 
¶17. (SBU) Comment continued:  Since the Liberal Party does 
not have an absolute majority, the larger parties are going 
to have to negotiate with the smaller ones, meaning that 
both the Liberal and National Parties will likely try to co- 
opt the smaller parties.  The political diversity of 
Congress, much more divided than in past years, means it 
will probably be harder for congressmen/women to see eye to 
eye on the major issues they face.  Although political 
diversity can be a good thing, with lots of freshmen 
members, outside influences, and the two major parties 
potentially at loggerheads, it will be difficult to have 
meaningful production from this Congress.  President 
Micheletti will have a critical role to play, and because of 
the makeup of the Congress, he is going to have to work 
extremely hard to accomplish anything significant.  Only 
with strong leadership from Micheletti and other top 
deputies will this Congress be successful.  END COMMENT. 
 
Williard