P 231045Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9163
INFO WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY MEXICO 
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC
NSC WASHDC
HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC
DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
CDRJTFB SOTO CANO HO
USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
DIRJIATF SOUTH

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000050 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV PHUM KJUS EAID MOPS HO
SUBJECT: HONDURAS: GOH-Embassy Task Force Launched To Oversee Merida 
Process 
 
¶1. Summary: The Ambassador hosted the inaugural meeting of the 
Bilateral Merida Task Force at his residence on January 21.  The 
meeting was an opportunity for the U.S. and Honduran inter-agency 
teams to meet, identify their roles and discuss both the context of 
the Merida effort and set common goals.  Several GOH interlocutors 
commented that the meeting was the first time they had been able to 
talk together about their various security and crime prevention 
efforts, saying that they saw the task force as an opportunity to 
coordinate in way they had not done before.  The group agreed to 
meet periodically as well as to create smaller working groups to 
focus on specific issues.  End summary. 
 
¶2. The GOH was represented by: 
-COL (R) Jorge Rodas, Minister of Security and Task Force Co-Chair 
-Aristides Mejia, Minister of Defense and VP-designate 
-Marlon Breve, Minister of Education 
-Ambassador Eduardo Rosales, Vice Minister for Integration and 
Foreign Affairs 
-Omar Cerna, Deputy Attorney General 
-GEN (R) Walter Lopes Reyes, Drug Czar 
-GEN (R) Mario Eduardo Perdomo, Vice Minister of Security 
-Ricardo Lara Watson, Vice Minister of Interior 
-Sandra Pineda, Vice Minister of Education 
-Nerza Paz, Vice Minister of Health 
-Xiomara Gomez, Internal Revenue Office (DEI) 
-Sergio Moreno, Internal Revenue Office (DEI) 
 
¶3.  Embassy participants included the Ambassador, DCM, officer 
directors or deputy directors from POL, ECON, DHS, DATT, MilGrp, 
ORA, PAS, DEA and USAID. 
 
 
¶4. The Ambassador and Rodas opened with an explanation of the Merida 
Initiative and its goals, highlighting that the Merida effort would 
reach beyond the scope of the its individual programs  to encompass 
all efforts toward tackling the shared threats of transnational 
organized crime, gang violence and illicit trafficking.  The 
Ambassador emphasized that Merida was more than a sum of its parts 
in that it would force the two countries to work together on 
inter-governmental, inter-agency, and regional levels.  He 
designated the DCM as U.S. chair of the task force.  Rodas and Mejia 
laid out the efforts that the GOH has made toward tackling crime and 
security problems directly.  They lauded the creation of the 
bilateral task force as the first opportunity to gather all relevant 
GOH ministries and offices together to coordinate efforts on 
security.  Rosales then gave an overview of the history of regional 
efforts to address mutual security issues through the Central 
American Integration System (SICA) and SICA's subcommittee on 
security.  He noted that the subcommittee had raised the issue to 
the level of the Central American Presidents, who met in October 
2006 to discuss security in earnest.  Rosales said that the 
subcommittee had created a regional security plan, which it 
presented to the USG at the U.S.-SICA dialogue meeting in San 
Salvador in October 2008.  He then noted that his own efforts to 
gather all parts of the GOH to work together on security had not 
been successful due to a lack of a coordinating authority, so he too 
was pleased at the prospect of an interagency task force. 
 
¶5. Specific issues discussed by the task force included document 
security; better cell phone subscription record-keeping; current 
gang prevention efforts; current crime rates; and the need for 
greater, more rapid information sharing on the border security and 
law enforcement working level between countries in the region -- and 
with Colombia in particular.  Also significant was the focus on 
prevention and the emphasis the Minister of Education placed on the 
need for alternatives for Honduran youth. 
 
¶6. The group agreed that they would meet periodically, with the DCM 
and Rodas coordinating.  They also agreed to create smaller working 
groups to address specific issues, such as gang prevention, border 
controls, and interdiction efforts.  The working groups would then 
report back to the full task force.  President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya 
and the Ambassador would attend task force meetings periodically to 
receive updates on its progress and to provide strategic direction. 
 
¶7.  Comment:  It was clear from the GOH comments that without such a 
task force, interagency coordination on the part of the GOH would 
not take place; creation of this task force will be their primary 
vehicle of coordination, and will allow us to follow through on many 
of the initiatives we undertake.  From our perspective, we see this 
process as a force multiplier as it will bring together existing 
programs along with new resources from Merida in a better 
coordinated strategy to combat regional crime and gangs. In 
addition, the process will assure us of the maximum involvement 
possible of the GOH in Merida.  End Comment. 
 
LLORENS