VZCZCXYZ0041
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #0667/01 1141253
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241253Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO RHMFIUU/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5609
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/DIRJIATF SOUTH PRIORITY
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAHND/CDRJTFB SOTO CANO HO PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000667 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
SOUTHCOM FOR ADMIRAL STRAVIDIS 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, H, PM, AND INL 
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY JACKSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KJUS MARR MCAP MOPS OREP OVIP PGOV PREL
PTER, SMIG, SNAR, HO 
SUBJECT: DEPUTY HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY JACKSON 
DISCUSSES SECURITY WITH HONDURAN OFFICIALS 
 
REF: TEGUCIGALPA 0306 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Deputy Homeland Security Secretary 
Michael P. Jackson met separately with Minister of Internal 
Security Alvaro Romero, Attorney General Leonidas Rosa 
Bautista, and Minister of Defense Aristides Mejia on April 
12, 2007 at the end of his two-day visit to Puerto Cortes and 
Tegucigalpa, Honduras with CODEL Thompson (septel). 
During the meetings, the Deputy Secretary discussed with the 
two ministers and Attorney General USG assistance for the 
Honduran police, judicial system, returning deportees, and 
anti-narcotics efforts.  The Deputy Secretary expressed his 
support for continued police training including the provision 
of a police advisor for two years, the idea of specialized 
units to fight organized crime, improved coordination 
regarding returning deportees, and the establishment of a 
National Security Council in Honduras.  Despite renewed 
political will, Honduras requires substantial donor 
contributions to fund pressing security requirements.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Michael P. 
Jackson concluded his two-day trip to Puerto Cortes and 
Tegucigalpa accompanied by CODEL Thompson, which included 
discussions at Puerto Cortes on the Department of Homeland 
Security's (DHS) Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) and a 
meeting with President Mel Zelaya (septel), with a succession 
of three bilateral meetings between him and Minister of 
Internal Security Alvaro Romero, Attorney General Leonidas 
Rosa Bautista, and Minister of Defense Aristides Mejia the 
morning of April 12 in Tegucigalpa.  The three separate 
meetings focused on problems with the Honduran police, 
including internal control, investigations, and the prison 
system; narcotics trafficking; returning deportees; and 
proposals to reform the police and national security 
apparatus.  The Deputy Secretary discussed with them problems 
of mutual concern and offered support from DHS. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
MEETING WITH INTERNAL SECURITY MINISTER ALVARO ROMERO 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) In the context of a growing narcotics problem in the 
country, including an expanding local market and financing of 
political campaigns, Internal Security Minister Romero 
expressed gratitude for USG assistance with vetted police 
units and FBI training and hoped for a return to the level of 
assistance in recent years.  (NOTE:  INL project funding from 
the USG for Honduras has decreased from USD 79,648 in FY 2005 
to USD 50,000 in FY 2006 and no/no money for FY 2007.  END 
NOTE.)  In particular, given that the police force is 
expected to double during the Zelaya Administration from 8K 
to 16K members (currently it is up to 10K police officers), 
Minister Romero reiterated his request for a police advisor 
for two years to help manage the increasing numbers of 
officers, including background checks for new recruits, and 
the need for continued FBI training, both to which Deputy 
Secretary Jackson agreed in principle.  (NOTE:  DHS provides 
 
SIPDIS 
training to Government of Honduras (GOH) criminal 
investigators at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center 
(FLETC) in Glynn County, Georgia.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Deputy Secretary also agreed with the Minister 
on the need to build high security prisons to combat 
overcrowding and fight crime that emanates from within the 
walls of current prisons, which are run by the police but in 
many respects are controlled by criminal elements.  The 
Deputy Secretary explained how privatizing some prison 
functions has worked in the U.S.  (NOTE:  Since the GOH only 
spends USD 0.50 on each prisoner a day, in contrast to USD 66 
in the U.S., which was brought up at the meeting, it is 
difficult to imagine how funds to build new prisons would be 
found.  END NOTE.)  The Deputy Secretary also promised to try 
to expedite the delivery of an electronic list of criminals 
and their offenses, who comprise about 10 percent of 
deportees returned to Honduras, in advance of their return 
directly to the Minister.  (NOTE:  In fact, ICE/DRO already 
provides this information to the GOH several days before 
criminal deportees arrive in Honduras.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Deputy Secretary was impressed with the 
Minister's efforts to get a new Police Organic Law passed by 
the National Congress.  (NOTE:  The new law would help combat 
internal police corruption, including drug and polygraph 
testing, and improve enforcement such as enhanced authority 
for wire tapping and undercover work.  However, over the last 
few days, the bill, originally crafted by DEA and supported 
by the Embassy, now is considered in jeopardy because of 
allegations by the human rights community that CONASIN, a 
public security advisory council, no longer would have 
authority to appoint and dismiss police commissioners.  The 
GOH counters that under the current system, qualified 
professional law enforcement officers have not been appointed 
to key commissioner positions.  END NOTE.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
MEETING WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL LEONIDAS ROSA BAUTISTA 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Attorney General Rosa Bautista told the Deputy 
Secretary that the Public Ministry's ability to conduct 
 
SIPDIS 
investigations has been limited since the function was 
transferred out of the Public Ministry and back to the police 
in 2002.  With few resources the police have to concentrate 
on prevention and have little time or expertise to 
investigate cases.  The Deputy Secretary responded by 
suggesting the idea of small, specialized units akin to 
Department of Justice teams in the U.S. in the 1960s and 
1970s, which had success in unraveling mafia networks.  The 
Attorney General thought that interdisciplinary units 
including the police, prosecutors, and justice officials 
would be a good idea.  He mentioned that the GOH has had 
recent success regarding the cataloguing and sale of seized 
assets, including the successful sale of an abandoned jet 
earlier this year, which has resulted in an increase in 
resources available to the Public Ministry. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
MEETING WITH DEFENSE SECRETARY ARISTIDES MEJIA 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶7. (SBU) In the Deputy Secretary's final meeting with the 
Defense Minister, the two discussed the possibility of 
establishing a new entity akin to the U.S. National Security 
Council (NSC) as allowed for in the Honduran constitution. 
This body would help coordinate operations and information 
sharing within the GOH.  Deputy Secretary Jackson promised 
Minister Mejia more information on how the NSC works in the 
U.S., even though it coordinates only policy planning. 
(NOTE:  Like the Police Organic Bill, there are human rights 
concerns with this proposal, especially since the body would 
be involved in operations, not just planning.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) COMMENT:  The Deputy Secretary, two ministers, and 
Attorney General all agreed during their meetings on the need 
to cooperate fully in addressing mutual problems of security 
between the two countries.  The Deputy Secretary expressed in 
particular that cooperation was of utmost importance in order 
to fight transnational problems such as organized crime and 
potential terrorism originating in or passing through the 
region.  While his discussions at Puerto Cortes with the 
CODEL on joint port security initiatives (septel) were 
positive, the prospects for improving internal security in 
Honduras, however, hinge on identifying outside funding 
sources.  Despite CAFTA, Honduras remains one of the poorest 
and most dangerous countries in the Western Hemisphere, and 
although the Embassy and International Donors Group are 
working constructively with the GOH to improve economic 
conditions, including assisting the poor and combatting 
official corruption, public security agencies have few 
resources on which to draw.  For example, as was revealed in 
the course of the investigation of the recent killing of a 
human rights attorney (reftel), police officers tend to let 
low-level assailants get away as long as they tell them about 
bigger crimes.  There is no money to pay informants, and 
proposals for increased police authority and limited military 
involvement are being met with strong resistance from the 
human rights community with sentiments left over from the 
 
 
1980s.  Military participation in joint police patrols 
remains very popular as the military are widely seen to be 
more professional and disciplined than the police.  As a 
result of the visits of Deputy Secretary Jackson and CODEL 
Thompson, there are renewed commitments to make improvements, 
but lack of resources and human rights concerns in Honduras 
make reforms difficult.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶9. (U) NOTE:  The Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security did 
not have the opportunity to clear on this cable.  END NOTE. 
FORD