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DE RUEHTG #0904/01 1431500
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R 231500Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5892

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000904 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2007 
TAGS: KRCM PGOV SOCI HO
SUBJECT: CONGRESS TRIES TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE SECURITY 
SITUATION 
 
Classified By: AMB. CHARLES FORD. REASONS 1.4(B) 
 
¶1. (U) The Honduran Congress, before an invited crowd of 
diplomats, private businessmen, Church officials, and 
representatives from a number of government agencies, 
revealed on May 15 its proposal to address the security 
situation in Honduras by creating yet another commission. 
President of Congress Roberto Micheletti unveiled the 
proposed law that would create the "Comision 
Interinstitucional para la Seguridad" (Interinstitutional 
Commission for Security) (CIS). 
 
¶2. (U) The commission will be composed of the Ministers of 
Security, Defense, Government and Justice, the Attorney 
General, the Supreme Court, the Municipal Association, and 
members of Congress. Its primary purpose will be to create a 
plan to lower the crime rate that incorporates the 
participating agencies and then coordinate the implementation 
of the plan. The commission will have other responsibilities 
such as coordinating aid from the donor countries, creating 
an advanced intelligence-sharing system, proposing new laws 
for the Honduran Congress, constructing more prisons, and 
ensuring the proceeds from the sale of seized assets are 
properly distributed. 
 
¶3. (U) Reaction to the plan from the business community, 
civil society and human rights group was favorable, not so 
much for the commission itself, but for the need for a 
nationwide security plan that would require all three 
branches of government to cooperate and work together. A 
common response was that the proposed plan does not include 
the changes necessary to strengthen the police, reform the 
prison system, or expand the powers of the Public Ministry to 
investigate and fight corruption. Minister of Security Romero 
commented that the most important aspect of the plan is that 
the Congress recognizes that the deteriorating security 
situation must be addressed by all sectors of Honduran 
society; the National Police cannot do it themselves. 
 
¶4. (C) Poloff discussed the proposed law with Elizabeth 
(Lizzy) Flores, the 1st VP of the Honduran Congress. She 
stated that Congress has been working on this law with the 
Supreme Court for a number of months and that Micheletti felt 
pressed into proposing the law due to the lack of action on 
the part of the Zelaya administration to improve the security 
situation. If the President will not take charge of the 
worsening situation, then she believes it is the 
responsibility of the Congress and the other sectors of 
government to step in. Flores, daughter of former President 
Carlos Flores and presumed presidential candidate in 2013, 
dismissed any hints that Micheletti has any ulterior motive 
in introducing the plan. 
 
¶5. (C) Defense Minister Mejia told DCM that Micheletti had 
not coordinated his proposal with the executive branch. 
According to the Italian Ambassador, Security Minister Romero 
received a phone call from President Zelaya earlier on the 
day of Micheletti's surprise announcement asking Romero 
whether he knew what Micheletti planned to introduce. Mejia 
stated that Zelaya expressed anger over the form of the 
announcement. Mejia also termed the Commission 
"unconstitutional" for placing the Security Minister at the 
head of a commission composed of the judicial branch and 
independent prosecutor's office along with executive branch 
officials. Commanding General Vasquez Valasquez informed the 
DCM that Zelaya had ordered him to develop an alternative 
national security plan within 30 days. 
 
¶6. (C) COMMENT. Flores may claim that Micheletti has no 
motive other than improving security in Honduras, but the 
public unveiling of this proposal before an invited crowd 
cannot be read as anything but a ploy by Micheletti to show 
he wants to be in charge of the number one concern in 
Honduras. Micheletti would like to run for the Presidency in 
the next election and by introducing this proposed law in the 
manner he did, he is trying to draw attention to himself, 
distance himself from President Zelaya, and demonstrate to 
the Honduran people that he is Presidential material. In 
addition, Micheletti's action demonstrates that he is a man 
of action compared to a President who is passive on an action 
of greatest concern to the public. As for the law itself, it 
is unclear how the proposed CIS would differ from the current 
Commission on Internal Security (CONASIN), headed by the 
Executive Branch, composed of many of the same people and 
institutions as the CIS, and charged with similar 
responsibilities.  Flores mentioned that she anticipated 
trouble in passing the law and it may be that that proposed 
law will do more good by stimulating debate about the 
security situation even if it is never approved. If Congress 
is serious about improving the security situation, it could 
start by passing the Organic Police Law which has been 
 
sitting in Congress for months and includes a number of 
necessary reforms to the National Police that commentators 
wished to see in the CIS law. END COMMENT. 
 
FORD