VZCZCXYZ0003
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #1892/01 2780040
ZNY CCCCC ZZH (CCY ADX30A2D4 MSI8297 425A)
O 050040Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3645
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 001892 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED PARA MARKING) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016 
TAGS: PREL PINS SNAR XK
SUBJECT: CENTRAL AMERICAN SUMMIT ADOPTS DECLARATION ON 
REGIONAL SECURITY 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Alexander Margulies.  Reason: 
1.4(d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  An Extraordinary System of Central 
American Integration (SICA) Summit on 10/3, adopted a series 
of potentially important measures to improve regional 
security, including: 
 
--  Promoting prompt ratification of the Central American 
Treaty on the Simplified Detention and Extradition Order; 
 
--  Agreement to improve security cooperation by creating an 
effective information sharing network between SICA members' 
immigration agencies and INTERPOL, putting into operation a 
Central American Information Systems Network, establishing an 
interconnected data base facilitating real-time communication 
of intelligence and information, placing police attaches at 
their respective Embassies in SICA counterpart capitals, and 
considering forming bi-national police forces to improve 
frontier security on the Guatemala-El Salvador model; 
 
--  Create a Regional Anti-Drug Training Center in Honduras; 
 
--  Working with judicial authorities to develop a Framework 
Convention of Central American Cooperation for the Protection 
of Witnesses, Experts and Others Involved in Criminal 
Proceedings; and 
 
-- Instructed the SICA Commission on Security to meet October 
18-20 to develop an Action Plan to implement the Summit's 
decisions. 
 
The U.S. delegation obtained consensus agreement to recognize 
the USG's participation in the Regional Coordination Center 
Against Narcotrafficking, language which subsequently was 
excised at the insistence of a Guatemalan delegate during the 
post-meeting preparation of the final Declaration by the SICA 
Secretariat.  The Ambassador raised this issue with Foreign 
 
SIPDIS 
Minister Milton Jimenez, and the Honduran Government has 
asked the SICA Secretariat to consult with its SICA 
counterparts to restore the agreed-to language.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U)  The U.S. was represented at the Summit by INL DAS 
Christy McCampbell, INL Sergio Garcia, the Ambassador, 
Polcouns, Pol-Miloff and INL Contractor. 
 
¶3. (U)  Begin Text of Unofficial Translation of the SICA Summit 
Declaration (original faxed to WHA/CEN): 
 
DECLARATION ON SECURITY 
 
EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF 
COUNTRIES MEMBERS OF THE SYSTEM OF CENTRAL AMERICAN 
INTEGRATION (SICA) 
 
Bosques de Zambrano, Francisco Morazan, Honduras, October 3, 
2006 
 
The Heads of State and Government of countries members of the 
System of Central American Integration (SICA), meeting in 
Bosques de Zambrano, Francisco Morazan, Republic of Honduras, 
on October 3, 2006, with the firm purpose and will to define, 
support and adopt mechanisms that assure the execution of an 
integrated security strategy in the countries members of the 
System of Central American Integration, in conformity with 
the Tegucigalpa Protocol and in accordance with the Model of 
Democratic Security in Central America, with this objective: 
 
WE AGREE TO 
 
(1)  Urge our congresses and national assemblies to promptly 
ratify the Central American Treaty Relative to the Simplified 
Order of Detention and Extradition (order of Central American 
detention), to assure the effective capture and punishment of 
criminals in Central America. 
 
(2)  Update an effective communication network between the 
Central National Offices of the International Police 
(INTERPOL) and Migration Directorates of the SICA countries, 
with the purpose of providing alerts on evaders of justice in 
the region. 
 
(3)  Proceed to the definitive execution of the Central 
American Network of Information Systems (RECSI) project in 
those countries that still have not put it into practice. 
 
(4)  Strengthen the Communication and Police Intelligence 
Network, establishing an inter-connected data base with the 
purpose of exchanging information and intelligence in 
real-time, in furtherance of which we have instructed our 
countries' Ministers of Interior or Security to make this 
network operative as quickly as possible. 
 
(5)  Take advantage in every Central American country of the 
experience and efforts accomplished by the bi-national forces 
of Guatemala and El Salvador, with the goal of preventing and 
fighting more effectively the level of crime in the 
respective border zones, in accordance with the police and 
security procedures, as well as the judicial norms of each 
SICA country. 
 
(6)  Recognize the importance of the multi-disciplinary study 
"Gangs, an Urgent Regional Challenge that Demands Integrated 
Action," financed by the Swedish Agency of International 
Cooperation for Development (ASDI) and the Central American 
Bank of Economic Integration (BCIE). 
 
(7)  Instruct the Ministries of Public Security, Interior or 
Justice and the Institutes of Childhood and Youth to 
elaborate a Regional Project of Technical Assistance for the 
treatment of minors at social risk or in conflict with the 
law, and request technical and financial support from UNESCO, 
UNICEF AND BCIE. 
 
(8)  Recognize the Central American Observatory on Violence 
(OCAVI) as a mechanism for regional institutionalization, and 
support the exchange of information necessary to fulfill its 
assignment, in accordance with the possibilities of each 
State. 
 
(9)  Instruct the Foreign Ministries so that they can proceed 
to create Police Attaches in the diplomatic representations 
of the countries members of the System of Central American 
Integration, and proceed with the respective appointments in 
accordance with the national juridical norms and 
possibilities of each State. 
 
(10)  Instruct the corresponding authorities to formalize the 
proposal for the creation of the Regional Antidrug Training 
Center, in fulfillment of the Plan of Regional Action 
2003-2008 of the Permanent Central American Commission (CCP) 
for the &Eradication of the Production, Traffic, Illicit 
Consumption and Use of Narcotics and Psychotropic 
Substances,8 which will based in Honduras. 
 
(11)  Invite the Judicial Branches, State Prosecutors and 
other judicial authorities of the SICA countries, jointly 
with the General Secretariat of the System of Central 
American Integration (SICA), to promote the Project of a 
Framework Agreement of Central American Cooperation for the 
Protection of Witnesses, Experts and others who take part in 
criminal proceedings, particularly in narcotics activities 
and organized crime, for the approval of the Ministers of 
Foreign Relations. 
 
(12)  Support the process initiated by Honduras and Nicaragua 
for debt-forgiveness by the Inter-American Development Bank 
(IDB), which will be subject to the recapitalization of the 
respective fund to sustain development financing efforts. 
 
(13)  Instruct the Central American Commission of Security 
that to develop a Plan of Action of the priorities for 
Democratic Security in the framework of an Integrated 
Security Strategy in the region that comprehends the 
components of frontier and tourism security. 
 
(14)  Instruct the Central American Commission of Security, 
within the framework of strategic actions, to continue 
advancing on the formulation on reasonable balance of the 
regional forces in the shortest term. 
 
(15)  Manifest its support and endorsement for the creation 
of the Regional Center of Coordination Against 
Narcotrafficking in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico 
(CERCONAR) as an operative and necessary initiative for 
regional security in Central America.  (See NOTE in paragraph 
4). 
 
(16)  Continue reviewing the Treaty of Democratic Security in 
Central America, through the Commission Ad Hoc created for 
this purpose, with the intention of fortifying regional 
institutionality. 
 
(17)  Promote the development and implementation of policies 
and actions directed to the prevention and fight against 
crime, creating a culture of citizen security, establishing a 
participation mechanism that includes the creation of local 
organizations and community policing. 
 
(18)  Celebrate the signing of the Agreement between the 
Agency of the United States for International Development 
(USAID) and the General Secretariat of SICA (GS-SICA),that 
will contribute to the implementation of prevention programs 
for youth in social risk and ex-gang members. 
 
(19)  Thank the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for 
its support to the Regional Implementation Unit of the 
&Central American Project for the Control of the Illicit 
Traffic of Small and Light Arms,8 that will be based in 
Nicaragua. 
 
(20)  Send to the Central American Commission of Security, 
for its development, the document &Priorities in the Matter 
of Democratic Security in Central America,8 that is annexed 
to the present Declaration. 
 
(21)  Instruct the General Secretariat of SICA to summon, 
before October 20, 2006, a meeting of the Central American 
Commission of Security, with the intention to follow-up the 
agreements adopted in this extraordinary meeting, and 
establish a calendar of meetings for itself and its 
sub-commissions. 
 
(22)  Reinforce the capacity of the General Secretariat of 
SICA to follow-up the agreements and initiatives of the 
Central American Commission of Security, with the intention 
of assuring their effective and opportune fulfillment, as 
well as the agreements adopted by the meetings of Presidents 
and Ministers Council in the matter of regional security. 
 
(23)  Recognize the interest demonstrated in this summit by 
Colombia, Mexico, the United States of America, Taiwan and 
the European Union, and invite them to continue their 
cooperation with the countries of SICA in the consolidation 
of a System of Security in Peace, Democracy, Freedom and 
Development. 
 
Express appreciation the cooperation that the European Union 
and its Member States are offering in this sphere and 
inviting them to continue these actions. 
 
(24)  Express thanks for the visit of Mr. Felipe Calderon 
Hinojosa, President-Elect of Mexico, and his interest in the 
security problem in Meso-America; simultaneously, to augur a 
hopeful future for the democracy of our people, the 
strengthening of the Puebla Panama Plan (PPP) and the 
consolidation of the Meso-American Energy Integration program 
(PIEM). 
 
The Heads of State and Government of Belize, Costa Rica, El 
Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Dominican 
Republic, as well as invited countries to this Extraordinary 
Summit on Security, thank the Government and People of 
Honduras for their hospitality and kind attention. 
 
(signed) 
 
Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales 
President of the Republic of Honduras 
 
Oscar Berger Perdomo 
President of the Republic of Guatemala 
 
Jose Alfredo Gomez Urcuyo 
Vice President of the Republic of Nicaragua 
 
Luis Manuel Piantini 
Advisor of the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic 
 
Elias Antonio Saca Gonzalez 
president of the Republic of El Salvador 
 
Martin Torrijos Espino 
President of the Republic of Panama 
 
Laura Chinchilla 
First Vice President of the Republic of Costa Rica 
 
Alfredo Martinez 
Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Belize 
 
END TEXT. 
 
¶4.  (C)  NOTE:  The Ambassador intervened during the 
discussion on paragraph 15, noting that the United States 
participates in and funds CERCONAR, and suggesting that the 
listing at the close of this provision be revised to "... in 
Meso-America, the Caribbean and the United States of 
America."  His proposal was approved by consensus and 
included in the Declaration being revised by SICA officials 
on a large computer screen visible to all delegations. 
According to a reliable GOH contact, during the final 
preparation of the document by the SICA technical staff, one 
Claudia Herrera, a Guatemalan delegate from that country's 
Ministry of Government, insisted that the reference to the 
United States be excised; a demand with which the SICA 
technical staff acquiesced.  Our contact said that the 
Government of Honduras is objecting to the SICA Secretariat, 
pointing out the  SICA technical staff does not/not have the 
authority to revise language agreed to by the SICA Plenum, 
and asking the Secretariat to initiate formal consultations 
with the other SICA members to amend the final declaration to 
restore the language agreed to by consensus.  END NOTE. 
 
¶5.  (U)  COMMENT:  The atmosphere throughout the Summit was 
highly positive, with all delegations expressing their 
enthusiasm for regional cooperation on security matters. 
There were no/no major substantive differences during the 
discussion of the text.  Costa Rica raised 
objections to specific provisions in the original draft that 
could entail funding commitments, obtaining in response 
language recognizing that countries would comply with these 
objectives "in accordance with their judicial norms and 
possibilities."  The next step in the regional security 
cooperation process will be the SICA Commission on Security 
Meeting, tentatively set for October 18-20, which is tasked 
with developing an Action Plan to implement the Summit's 
decisions.  To date, however, there is no/no agreement on 
where it will be held, although a Honduran Foreign Ministry 
contact told us El Salvador will be the most likely host. 
END COMMENT. 
FORD