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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000696 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM HO
SUBJECT: TFH01: HONDURAS COUP: POLITICAL WRAP-UP 08/03/09 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 692 
     ¶B. TEGUCIGALPA 683 AND PREVIOUS 
 
 ¶1. (U) 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. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
CONGRESS CONSIDERING POLITICAL AMNESTY 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The Congressional Commission is still analyzing the 
granting of political amnesty and the potential return of 
President Zelaya to Honduras.  According to media reports, 
the Commission,s report is expected to be delivered today. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Members of the negotiating commission for 
Micheletti (Ambassador Carlos Lopez Contreras, former Supreme 
Court president Vilma Morales and Christian Democrat 
consultant Arturo Corrales) will be at Congress today at 
16:00 local (18:00 EDT) to present a report on the 
negotiations held in Costa Rica.  The Ambassador met on 
August 1 with Morales and Corrales.  Details of the meeting 
were reported in Ref A. 
 
----------------------------- 
MEETING WITH BUSINESS LEADERS 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador and DCM met the evening of July 31 
with senior business leaders, including Amilcar Bulnes, 
President of the country,s most powerful business 
association (COHEP), as well as senior leaders of the 
Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Banks and 
the Association of Industrialists. They discussed the 
Honduran situation, outlined U.S. policy towards Honduras, 
described our efforts to restore the democratic and 
constitutional order and our support for the Arias mediation. 
 The business leaders were clearly seeking our guidance and 
vowed to take our message back to regime leaders, with whom 
they maintain close contact.  They expressed support for the 
dialogue and the channel established by Arias.  All said the 
Arias proposal on paper was a good and balanced agreement 
that took everyone,s interests into account; however, they 
continued to have doubts about the viability of Zelaya,s 
return and reiterated the deeply felt fear (conceding that it 
bordered on the irrational and pathological) that Zelaya 
would break the accords and seek vengeance against his 
political opponents.  We attempted to allay their concerns 
but urged them to think constructively and to offer positive 
ideas to the regime on how to establish adequate monitoring 
and enforcement mechanisms of the Arias proposal. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Supreme Court Communiqu/U.S. Intervention 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Honduran Supreme Court issued a communiqu 
Friday night, which was hand delivered to the Ambassador at 
the Residence protesting the U.S. decision to revoke the 
&A8 visas of regime members.  While recognizing the 
sovereign right of the U.S. to take decisions on visa and 
consular matters, the Court unanimously rejected the U.S. 
measure, specifically the revocation of Court Vice President 
Arita,s diplomatic visa, if it was taken with the purpose of 
pressuring Honduran authorities.  The regime complemented the 
Supreme Court action by stating that it retained the right to 
revoke the diplomatic visas of U.S. diplomats in Tegucigalpa. 
 Micheletti also personally criticized the Ambassador,s 
meeting with Zelaya in Managua &as an illegitimate 
intervention in the internal affairs of Honduras.8 
 
------------------------------ 
Former President Carlos Flores 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Over breakfast on August 1, former President Carlos 
Flores and the Ambassador discussed the Honduran situation. 
He said he had been working behind the scenes to press the 
Micheletti regime to reverse or clarify yesterday,s public 
statement contradicting the New York Times article and 
insisting that President Zelaya would not be allowed to 
return.  Flores said that Micheletti,s latest statement, 
which had just been published, was a positive step.  Flores 
reported that the Micheletti officials were meeting at that 
 
TEGUCIGALP 00000696  002 OF 002 
 
 
very moment to consider rejecting the political amnesty 
proposal of the Arias mediation agreement.  Flores made 
several calls and urged them not to make this decision. 
Flores said that Micheletti was surrounded by hard line 
ideologues and sycophants who were advising him to hang tough 
and not agree to the Arias terms.  The Ambassador and Flores 
agreed that advisor Arturo Corrales and former Supreme Court 
President Vilma Morales, both who serve on Micheletti,s 
commission to the Arias mediation, were the only enlightened 
players to who Micheletti might listen.  Flores also agreed 
on the importance of an international mission to come to 
Honduras and engage the regime and seek to influence civil 
society leaders. 
 
--------------- 
President Arias 
--------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador spoke to President Oscar Arias August 
1 and briefed him on the situation in Honduras.  Arias 
remained concerned about the possibility that Micheletti and 
the Congress might reject the political amnesty proposal.  He 
expressed the view that if the amnesty was formally rejected, 
his mediation effort would collapse.  He again urged that a 
senior U.S. legislator (again suggesting Senator Chris Dodd) 
call regime Congress President Saavedra.  The Ambassador 
briefed him on the progress we had made in shifting views 
here in Tegucigalpa with business, civil society, and 
religious and political leaders in support of a negotiated 
solution.  However, the Ambassador conveyed the endemic fears 
here of Zelaya and the conventional wisdom that he would not 
comply with the agreements.  This opened a thoughtful 
conversation on how the enforcement mechanisms of an 
agreement could be strengthened.  Arias and the Ambassador 
agreed that some type of judicial review board or capability 
could be created or added to the verification commission.  He 
said in addition to former presidents, we could possibly 
approach highly respected international judicial authorities 
(e.g., current/retired Supreme Court Justices) and 
constitutional experts to be involved in the monitoring 
process and ensure full compliance with the terms of an 
agreement. 
 
----------- 
WHEREABOUTS 
----------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  A mission of foreign ministers, potentially 
including ministers from Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and 
Guatemala, will visit Honduras this week.  Former IDB 
President Enrique Iglesias, who was in Costa Rica this 
weekend meeting with President Arias, informed WHA that he 
will not/not accompany the mission. 
 
¶9. (U) Over the weekend, President Zelaya remained in Ocotal, 
Nicaragua.  He traveled Monday to Managua and plans to travel 
Tuesday to Mexico City to meet with President Calderon. 
 
¶10.  (U)  De facto regime president Roberto Micheletti is 
inspecting damages to highways, bridges, and roads as a 
result of the various earthquakes that occurred in Honduras 
in May and June. 
LLORENS