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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 000029 
 
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/25 
TAGS: PREL DR HO
SUBJECT: WHA A/S VALENZUELA'S DISCUSSION WITH PRESIDENT FERNANDEZ ON 
HAITI AND HONDURAS 
 
REF: SANTO DOMINGO 23 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Alexander Margulies, Counselor for Political & 
Economic Affairs, State, ECOPOL; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
SUMMARY 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C) President Leonel Fernandez, in a 01/18/10 meeting with 
visiting WHA Assistant Secretary Arturo Valenzuela, described his 
efforts to centralize in the Dominican Republic international 
discussions aimed at developing a long-term strategic plan for 
Haitian reconstruction and sustainable development.  Fernandez also 
described his attempt to resolve once and for all the Honduran 
crisis by obtaining a written commitment from President-elect 
Porfirio Lobo on national reconciliation, followed by Fernandez' 
attendance at Lobo's inauguration with several Central American 
presidents, and culminating with Fernandez escorting by then 
ex-President Manuel Zelaya from the Brazilian embassy to an 
airplane to take him to the Dominican Republic for a brief period 
before Zelaya travels to Mexico.  A/S Valenzuela said that he 
favored Fernandez' approach to developing the international 
community's long-term Haiti strategy and would raise this in 
Washington.  With respect to Honduras, A/S Valenzuela recommended 
that any document signed by Lobo embody the commitments made in the 
San Jose-Tegucigalpa Accords and also seek to involve the 
Organization of American States in the process of verifying 
compliance with those agreements, as this would provide a mechanism 
that eventually could lead to readmission of Honduras to that 
organization following its suspension after the 06/28/09 coup.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) A/S Valenzuela, accompanied by Charge and Pol-Econ 
Counselor, met with President Leonel Fernandez for one hour the 
evening of 01/18/10.  Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso 
joined the meeting near its conclusion. 
 
 
 
COORDINATING HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS 
 
 
 
¶3.  (C) President Fernandez opened the meeting with a reference to 
the hemispheric preparatory conference on Haiti relief and 
reconstruction that he had hosted earlier that day (Reftel).  He 
said he was concerned about ensuring that the 01/25/10 meeting to 
be hosted by Canada in Montreal would not run on a separate track 
from the process commenced in the Dominican Republic (DR).  The 
President explained that he hoped the technical working group 
proposed at that day's meeting would hold its first session in 
February and continue meeting every two weeks to present a complete 
Action Plan at the follow-on conference he has called in April in 
Santo Domingo.  The Action Plan would be subject to revision at the 
April conference and then unveiled in May at or on the margins of 
the EU-Latin America Summit in Madrid. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (C) A/S Valenzuela agreed that international discussions on 
Haiti reconstruction and development should be held in the region, 
with strong Caribbean participation, and that, consequently, it 
made sense for the talks to be held in the DR.  He said that he 
would raise this issue with the Secretary of State upon his return 
to Washington.  Valenzuela then recommended that Fernandez move 
quickly to reconcile his and Spain's (speaking for the EU as well) 
proposed course of action with that being advanced by the 
Canadians.  The Assistant Secretary thought that this should not be 
a problem, based on his own conversations that day with Spanish 
Vice President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega and Canadian 
Foreign Minister for the Americas Peter Kent.  He informed the 
President that the French are floating the idea of a Haiti meeting 
in Martinique, adding that President Barack Obama and Brazilian 
President Lula da Silva discussed the Martinique option earlier 
that day.  A/S Valenzuela also questioned the desire to link the 
unveiling of a long-term strategic plan on Haitian relief and 
reconstruction to the EU-Latin America Summit in Madrid, noting 
that there did not seem to be a firm connection between one thing 
and the other. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (C) With respect to ongoing Haiti relief efforts, A/S 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000029  002 OF 003 
 
 
Valenzuela informed Fernandez that the USG had contacted the Cuban 
mission in Washington to say that the United States is prepared to 
provide supplies to the Cuban medical mission in Haiti.  When it 
comes to providing humanitarian relief to Haitians, he stressed, 
the United States is prepared to put politics and ideology to the 
side. 
 
 
 
NEW INITIATIVE RE HONDURAS 
 
 
 
¶6.  (C) Turning to the situation in Honduras, Fernandez commented 
that he does not see a solution coming before the 01/27/10 
inauguration of Pepe Lobo as de facto President Roberto Micheletti 
refuses to leave office until then.  He said that he has been 
talking with Lobo and Zelaya and both have agreed to an initiative 
he has proposed.  The plan, as outlined by Fernandez is for: 
 
 
 
n  Lobo to sign a document in the DR and prepared by Fernandez, 
agreeing to safe conduct for Zelaya, an end to persecution of 
anti-coup factions, and a commitment to strengthen democracy in 
Honduras; 
 
n  Fernandez would then have Guatemalan President Colom and Costa 
Rican President Arias join him in travelling to Honduras for Lobo's 
inauguration; 
 
n  Following the inauguration, Fernandez, accompanied by his 
Central American counterparts, will proceed to the Brazilian 
embassy and escort Zelaya to the airport, where Fernandez and 
Zelaya will board a plane for the Dominican Republic; 
 
n  Zelaya will stay in the DR for a few days, then proceed to 
Mexico, from whence he will seek admission to the Central American 
Parliament and obtain legal immunity. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (C) Fernandez added that he will be talking to Colom and Arias 
about accompanying him to Honduras.  He said he would be meeting 
later that evening with Brazilian Foreign Ministry Secretary 
General Antonio Aguiar Patriota to discuss this plan.  The 
Brazilians, the president confided, are concerned about what will 
happen with their embassy 
 
 
 
¶8.  (C) A/S Valenzuela asked what Fernandez would do if Micheletti 
attends Lobo's inauguration, noting that many regional countries 
are reluctant to attend the event because of this concern.  He 
noted that the USG had given Micheletti until January 15 to leave 
office or see further visa revocations of his supporters, but the 
de facto leader refused to budge.  On the other hand, A/S 
Valenzuela recounted, Lobo had assured the United States that 
Micheletti would not be there. 
 
 
 
¶9.  (C) Fernandez replied that he would not attend the inauguration 
if Micheletti were present.  If that happened, he would wait until 
after Lobo's acceptance speech, and then pay a call on Lobo before 
proceeding to escort Zelaya out of the country.  A/S Valenzuela 
emphasized the importance of having the Brazilians understand this, 
opining that they are moving toward accepting Lobo's legitimacy and 
that he would discuss this later with Patriota.  Fernandez agreed 
that the Brazilians seem to be coming around to the realization 
that there is no other option for Honduras, that Lobo was elected 
fairly without fraud, that the candidates were all selected before 
the coup, and that the alternative to Lobo at this stage is 
"anarchy and violence."  Zelaya's agreement to this initiative is 
also important, Fernandez stated, for his own domestic political 
situation, as he cannot be seen supporting a dictatorship. 
 
 
 
¶10.  (C) A/S Valenzuela then turned to the document that Fernandez 
is to prepare for Lobo's signature, stressing the importance of 
having it contain a requirement that Lobo comply with the San 
Jose-Tegucigalpa Accords, particularly the establishment of a Truth 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000029  003 OF 003 
 
 
Commission.  This, the A/S emphasized, will give Lobo increased 
legitimacy and can serve as a mechanism to get the OAS involved as 
the organization tasked with verifying compliance with the 
agreements.  He explained that a two-thirds vote of OAS members 
will be needed to lift Honduras' post-coup suspension from the 
organization, and that a stamp of approval from an OAS verification 
committee would help achieve this.  A/S Valenzuela concluded by 
pointing out that the USG has told Lobo he needs to form a national 
unity government, bring about the retirement of Armed Forces 
Commander Gen. Vasquez, and form the Truth Commission. 
 
 
 
¶11.  (C) With respect to Fernandez' appeal to Central American 
presidents to join him at the Lobo inauguration, A/S Valenzuela 
suggested that the Dominican leader also reach out to El Salvadoran 
President Funes.  Fernandez said he would consider this, noting 
that Colombia's Uribe may attend, while Mexico had suggested it 
would send its foreign minister.  A/S Valenzuela said that the USG 
was thinking about keeping a low profile at the inauguration, 
leaving it to regional governments to first show support for Lobo, 
and that he himself would wait for a reasonable period after the 
swearing in before visiting Honduras again.  Fernandez thought this 
was wise. 
 
 
 
¶12.  (C) Foreign Minister Morales joined the meeting at this point, 
stating that Lobo had just agreed to come to the DR on Wednesday, 
January 20 to meet with Fernandez and sign the document.  A/S 
Valenzuela recommended that they keep this visit under wraps until 
the document was signed.  Fernandez and Morales agreed, saying that 
they would say nothing beforehand, then stage a "flash press 
conference" following the meeting to announce Lobo's signature on 
the document. 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
 
 
¶13.  (C)  President Fernandez followed through on description to 
A/S Valenzuela of his Honduran initiative, hosting Lobo and five 
other Honduran political figures on 1/20, jointly signing with Lobo 
an "Accord for National Reconciliation and the Strengthening of 
Democracy in Honduras," and announcing publicly that he will attend 
Lobo's inauguration and then escort Zelaya back to Santo Domingo 
(Reftel). 
Lambert