VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #0608/01 1980151
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 170151Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0146
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS IMMEDIATE 0721
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUMIAAA/USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000608 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM HO
SUBJECT: HONDURAN COUP:  POLITICAL WRAP-UP 07/16/09 
 
REF: A. A) TEGUCIGALPA 599 
     ¶B. B) TEGUCIGALPA 600 AND PREVIOUS 
     ¶C. C) TEGUCIGALPA 579 
     ¶D. D) TEGUCIGALPA 574 
 
 ¶1. (U)  Summary:  This is another in a series of daily 
round-ups of political news in the aftermath of the June 28 
forcible removal and exile of President Manuel Zelaya from 
Honduras.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Delegations announced for Saturday negotiations 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2. (U) Local media announced the resumption of the San Jose 
talks to begin at 10 am Saturday, July 18, at the residence 
of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.  According to local 
press, the commissions representing Micheletti and Zelaya 
during the San Jose talks will be as follows: 
 
-- For Micheletti: 
 
   -- Carlos Lopez, former Foreign Minister; 
   -- Arturo Corrales, former President of the Christian 
Democratic Party; 
   -- Mauricio Villeda, running mate of Elvin Santos; and 
   -- Vilma Morales, former Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court and member of the National Party. 
 
-- For Zelaya: 
 
   -- Aristides Mejia, Defense Minister during most of 
Zelaya's term, then Administrative VP; 
   -- Milton Jimenez, former Foreign Minister, Presidential 
Legal Advisor and Banking Commissioner; and 
   -- Enrique Flores Lanza, Minister of the Presidency. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Media did not report whether Zelaya would add a 
fourth member to his delegation.  Brief bios of many of 
these negotiators appear in refs C and D. All three of 
Zelaya's representatives are from his leftist inner circle 
known as the "Patricios."  The Attorney General has issued 
an arrest warrant for Flores Lanza for allegedly 
misappropriating 40 million lempiras (USD 2.1 million) of 
GOH funds to promote Zelaya's "fourth urn" constitutional 
referendum. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Micheletti Offers to Step Down if Zelaya Goes to Jail 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶4. (U) Micheletti said to the press July 15 that he was 
willing to step down as President in order to maintain 
peace in Honduras.  However, he would only allow Zelaya to 
return if he were arrested and tried for crimes he 
allegedly committed while in office.  Micheletti expressed 
concern about increasingly frequent calls by Zelaya 
supporters for armed insurrection.  He cited unofficial 
sources reporting armed groups forming along the 
Nicaragua-Honduras border to prepare for the land 
infiltration of Zelaya.  However, he said, he hopes 
Saturday's meeting in Costa Rica will yield progress. 
 
--------------------------- 
Zelaya Continues to Posture 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Zelaya's supporters announced July 15 and repeated 
July 16 that they had a plan to "paralyze the country" and 
called for insurrection.  Repeated calls by Zelaya to 
proceed "by other means" and by his supporters for 
insurrection have created a cottage industry of rumors of 
violent demonstrations and attacks on hospitals, airports 
and other public infrastructure.  The growing climate of 
insecurity led the Micheletti regime July 15 to re-impose a 
curfew that had been lifted only Sunday morning (July 12). 
 
-------------- 
"Plan Caracas" 
-------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) A detailed conspiracy dubbed "Plan Caracas" was 
outlined by conservative daily "El Heraldo" July 16.  Under 
this plan, Hugo Chavez would destabilize and discredit the 
de facto Micheletti regime and reinstate Zelaya by force. 
The details were gleaned from supposedly reliable but 
anonymous sources.  Foreign and criminal elements would 
combine with Zelaya supporters to take Tocontin Airport, 
block major highways and incite a massacre during 
confrontations with police and military units guarding 
public buildings. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The destabilization effort would purportedly begin 
with a protest at a public building guarded by military 
units.  Gang members paid 300-500 lempiras (USD 15-25) 
would be placed at the front of the crowd and would 
violently engage the military in an effort to provoke 
return fire.  Once fired upon, "irregular groups" 
infiltrated into the crowd would open fire and ensure a 
massacre.  The massacre would be blamed on military forces 
controlled by the de facto regime and used to provoke 
anarchy in the country. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Zelaya would then be smuggled into the country via 
its southern border with Nicaragua.  Local drug traffickers 
who control the border region, together with "armed cells" 
recently infiltrated into Honduras, would provide 
security.  While "Plan Caracas" sounds fantastical and has 
not been confirmed by other embassy sources, it illustrates 
the kinds the rumors circulating in the country and 
reflects the deep fear many Hondurans have that Zelaya will 
use any means to retake the Presidency and that his return 
would mean greater alignment with Venezuelan. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Budget Calls for Sharp Spending Cuts 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (U) De facto regime Finance Minister Gabriela Nunez 
presented the long-delayed 2009 budget to Congress July 
¶15.  It calls for total expenditure of 112 billion lempiras 
(USD 5.93 billion).  The budget would require state 
institutions to reduce expenditures across the board by 20 
percent. 
 
¶10. (U) Representatives from international financial 
institutions, including Interamerican Development Bank, the 
World Bank, and the Central American Bank for Economic 
Integration, confirmed a freeze on funding for Honduras 
pending the resolution of the current political crisis.  A 
spokesperson from the European Commission announced that 
while direct budget support to the GOH had been suspended, 
development and social assistance would continue. 
LLORENS