VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0608/01 2012259
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 202259Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1046
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN JOSE 000608 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/CEN AND USOAS; SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2019 
TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC KFLO MARR AMGT PGOV PINR KDEM
CS, HO 
SUBJECT: TFHO1: LITTLE PROGRESS WITH SECOND ROUND OF 
HONDURAN TALKS: MAY MEET AGAIN IN 72 HOURS 
 
REF: A. SAN JOSE 602 
     ¶B. SAN JOSE 587 
 
Classified By: Peter M. Brennan for reason 1.4 (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) The second round of talks to resolve Honduras' 
political crisis ended Sunday, July 19, with no agreement 
between the Zelaya and Micheletti delegations.  The key issue 
and first point of President Arias' "Seven Points" is the 
return of Zelaya as President of Honduras.  The Micheletti 
team held firm that Zelaya could return to Honduras, but only 
to "face justice" and not as president.  The Zelaya team has 
accepted the seven points, which are listed below in para 
five.  President Arias proposed that both sides take a 
72-hour break to do consultations with their principals and 
restart negotiations on Wednesday, July 22.  The negotiation 
teams for both delegations (Zelaya and Micheletti) met for 
over eight hours on Saturday, July 18 and about 4 hours on 
Sunday, July 19.  The only known change to delegation members 
was a last minute switch on the Zelaya team: Milton Jimenez 
was replaced by Minister of Energy Rixi Moncada.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) After two days of intense negotiations between the 
Zelaya and Micheletti delegations hosted by President Arias, 
the talks broke down around 3:30 P.M. local Costa Rica time 
on Sunday, July 19.  The key sticking point for the 
Micheletti team is that they do not want Zelaya back as 
president, but if he were to return, it would be to face 
justice.  President Arias said, during a statement to the 
press in the immediate aftermath of the broken talks, that 
Zelaya's team had accepted his seven points and that 
Micheletti's had not.  Arias also said that he wanted to take 
72 hours for the delegations to do further consultations and 
then he wanted to work even harder to get to an agreement 
with a next round of negotiations to possibly start on 
Wednesday, July 22.  The alternative, he said, could be 
bloodshed in Honduras and a possibility of civil war. 
 
¶3. (U) Micheletti's team countered to the press that they 
view the first of these seven points, the re-installation of 
Zelaya as president, as "unacceptable" and "openly 
interfering in the internal affairs of Honduras."  They added 
that it was tantamount to an infringement of sovereignty. 
 
¶3. (C) MFA Foreign Policy Director Alejandro Solano told us 
on July 19 after the talks had ended that it was clearly 
Micheletti's team that would not budge.  He added that 
President Arias had been clear in their internal GOCR 
meetings that it was "the intransigence" of the Micheletti 
side that led to the breakdown in talks. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Solano told us on July 20 that FM Bruno Stagno had 
traveled to Panama to consult with the MFA there on the 
implications of the current state of negotiations and to 
solicit new ideas to continue the diplomatic approach. 
Additionally, Micheletti's team went to Panama as well. 
Solano said that there would be a SICA (Central American 
Integration System, which Costa Rica is the president of 
currently) meeting in San Jose tomorrow (July 21) to further 
discuss strategy and how to move the talks forward. 
 
¶5. (U) President Arias' Seven Points: 
 
 -- Restoration of Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales as President of 
Honduras to finish his term which ends on 27 January 2010; 
 -- Formation of a government of national unity, composed of 
representatives of the principle political parties; 
 -- Declaration of general political amnesty for all involved 
in the conflict (not including criminal acts); 
 -- Renunciation by President Zelaya, and his government, of 
a "fourth urn" (or popular referendum) effort that is not 
authorized by the Honduran constitution; 
 -- Moving national elections forward from 29 November to the 
last Sunday in October (24 October) along with starting 
electoral campaigns in the first days of August rather than 
September; 
 -- Transfer of command of the Honduran Armed Forces from the 
Executive power to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal one month 
prior to national elections, to guarantee transparent and 
normal voting; and 
 -- Establishment of a verification commission whose members 
would include "notable Hondurans" as well as members of 
international organizations, especially of the OAS, that 
would ensure that these accords were honored and all 
political activity was in conformity with the Honduran 
constitution. 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶6. (C) Although the outlook currently looks bleak, the 
72-hour "consultation" period put forward by President Arias 
could be useful in putting international pressure on the 
Micheletti regime and making them realize they will need to 
make a deal.  We expect that negotiations will continue on 
Wednesday as proposed by Arias. 
BRENNAN