Chimirri: Rising from the swamp to the sunlight

Marcelo Chimirri, photo: Revistazo.com

Update on article: Chimirri resigns, Hondutel raided



Marcelo Chimirri's future is looking brighter. The head of the state-owned telephone company disappeared after his home and office were raided by government officials last Friday morning. Calling in to a Honduran radio show that same day, he expressed his outrage and indicated that he would resign from his government position. Chimirri also stated to the media that if he had been at home, he would have used gunfire against the authorities to defend his family.

He most recently has been accused of abuse of authority and telephonic espionage. The wiretapping charges relate to 12 taped telephone conversations between President Mel Zelaya, other high level functionaries of the Honduran government, and Chimirri, which have since been posted on YouTube by user JuanaPueblo.

Prior accusations have included involvement with grey traffic, unwarranted raids of businesses and illegal confiscation of their equipment, acceptance of bribes, sexual abuse of Hondutel employees, and threats and assault of news reporters. He reportedly still is considered a person of interest in the 1998 death of his former girlfriend, Yadira Miguel Mejía. The Arcadia report charged that Chimirri's "personal wealth has increased substantially in a very short period without the benefit of a parallel growth in visible and legitimate earnings."

In addition to threatening and physically attacking members of the media, Chimirri also has filed multi-million dollar lawsuits against several reporters and newspapers in an effort to intimidate the Honduran media. President Zelaya has had a longstanding bad relationship with the media. An outspoken radio journalist was recently murdered and other members of the media have left the country in fear of their lives.

Authorities attempted to take him into custody in La Ceiba on Friday, where he was visiting on business, but he couldn't be found. They searched for him for days and speculation was variously that he and his bodyguards had left the country, had taken refuge in the Honduran Presidential Palace, or that he had taken asylum in the Italian Embassy, since he is also an Italian citizen. Word from his attorney was that he would turn himself in on Monday − it never happened and neither did his resignation.

In the course of the hunt for Chimirri, authorities searched a luxury La Ceiba hotel and detained various bodyguards and four attractive young Colombian ladies wearing short shorts, ages 19-24, who claimed to be Chimirri's security team. Illegal arms were confiscated from these people, his home, and the hotel room where he and/or his "security team" were staying.

Things began to look brighter for him (and sadder for the country of Honduras) when President Mel Zelaya returned from Chile. In press conferences, President Zelaya says that he will not comment on the case until he gets the report from the Fiscalía (District Attorney) AND hears Chimirri's side of the story.

But in the meantime, Mel Zelaya has expressed his outrage at not being informed in advance of the planned raid on his "close friend" and "political campaign supporter", accusing the Minister of Security of wasting the time of 200 officers with this when he should be tracking down drug traffickers. Ironically, Zelaya personally filed the denuncia (official complaint) regarding the taped conversations and was reported to say that he wanted the persons responsible prosecuted and jailed.

President Zelaya qualified the raid as a brutal assault, even though officials stated that all procedures were performed in accordance with the law and that there were only 15 officers involved in the raid of Chimirri's house. Zelaya suggested that authorities merely needed to have sent Chimirri a note and he would have presented himself − a little disingenuous since Chimirri was missing in action for five days, knowing full well that the authorities were searching for him.

Today, after five days as a fugitive, he has turned himself in. He stated that he had not responded to the judges because he had other matters to attend to. In regard to the illegal weapons charge, he stated that they were the property of Hondutel, not his. After meeting with the judges today, he has been released with the provision that he report to the court every Tuesday and not leave the country.

Meanwhile, the other two Hondutel executives charged also have been released by the judges under substitute measures. While they are forbidden to return to work at Hondutel during the judicial process, apparently Marcelo Chimirri will be under no such restriction.

The judge threw out the charge of violation and revelation of secrets, saying it was a private, not public matter. The initial hearings on the charges of abuse of authority and illegal weapons are scheduled to begin on December 5. Hondutel employees abandoned their work today to protest in support of Chimirri to pressure the judges to release him. Liberal political party members are saying "To attack Chimirri is to attack the Liberal party."

After a few days of excitement, it's back to business as usual in Honduras, where the poor go to jail while the rich and powerful sit back and laugh at the judicial system.


More information on Chimirri and the Honduras grey traffic scandal and other escapades of Chimirri can be found here. The articles include links to several newspaper articles.


Photos: La Prensa, El Heraldo, La Tribuna, links included above.

Attack on freedom of expression in Honduras

July 25, 2007,
La Prensa, Honduras

Attack on freedom. That's what the headline said.

Marcelo Chimirri, head of Hondutel, the government-owned telephone company, in an act of governmental intimidation and intolerance, filed a L.500 million defamation lawsuit (US $26.5 million) against La Prensa (San Pedro Sula) and El Heraldo (Tegucigalpa) for the newspapers' reports of the scandals and corruption in Hondutel and, in particular, by Chimirri. The newspapers have been accused of defamation and of being publications with ties to corruption.

The newspapers have been demanding investigation of Chimirri and Hondutel. They say that this action looks to stop the campaign for transparency and rendition of accounts from government agencies.

Photo: Marcelo Chimirri, Director of Hondutel (La Tribuna)

The newspapers have reported stories of what they call "the rottenness of Hondutel." Tráfico gris (grey traffic: illegal phone traffic in which international calls are reported as local, reducing the payment as well as the related income and sales tax for the communication) has been the primary charge, along with tolerance of businesses who operate irregularly, threats against other businesses, apparent electronic erasures ordered by Chimirri to eliminate evidence of corruption, and use of Hondutel personnel and equipment to provide telecommunications to high government officials including Chimirri and President Mel Zelaya.

A week earlier, Charles Ford, the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, recommended publicly that U.S. companies not do business with Hondutel until the acts of corruption are "clarified."

Official investigations are ongoing. The Fiscal General, with the support of the National Congress, has requested technical assistance from the U.S. and the International Telecommunications association in Britain because of the technical aspects for which the Fiscalía is not equipped to investigate as well as to provide impartiality and transparency to the investigations.

Over the past year, Chimirri has ordered the closure of over 50 telecommunication businesses that he has accused of tráfico gris. He sometimes personally led the forces (as shown by newspaper photos) of Hondutel employees, fiscalía, and heavily armed military who have invaded the companies, intimidated employees, destroyed property, and confiscated equipment, records, computers, cellphones, and money, including that of customers and employees.

These companies were accused, without benefit of independent investigation or trial, of the very same crime of which Chimirri is now being accused. Only in the case of one company, owned by a high-level government official, was the property returned to the business owner. No reports of trials or opportunities for businesses to defend themselves have appeared.

A complaint has also been filed against Diputado (congressman) Valentín Suárez for insulting and slandering the management of Hondutel by accusing them of irregularities.

Photo: Valentín Suárez, Diputado, Congreso Nacional (La Prensa)

Suárez replied, "What they want is to avoid the investigation of the million dollar fraud against Hondutel. Chimirri himself dismantled 50 local businesses to verify that numbers of operators, suboperators, and Hondutel were making tráfico gris and now there is a great number of citizens who monthly receive adulterated bills with calls to other cities that they haven't made. There are complaints 24 hours per day, 365 days per year regarding the cloning of calls."

Suárez explained that with the billions in "grey calls" that Hondutel manages, health, education, and infrastructure (of Honduras) could be improved if the illegal calls became legal. Ironically, this is the same thing that Chimirri said a few months ago when dismantling private businesses.

Suárez, assuring that he will not retract his denuncias, estimates that 50% of international calls are illegal, affecting income taxes and sales taxes. "Honduras could be losing L.3.6 billion per year (US $190.5 million) and for this, I demand that it be investigated where this fraud is coming from. One thing is certain and that is they are using land lines and mobile numbers owned by Hondutel."

Suárez has also accused Chimirri of pulling his pants down in front of congresswomen.

A denuncia (complaint) has also been filed by Chimirri against the legislator's son, Carlos Suárez, former head of International Management of Hondutel, who was terminated two months ago for irregularities. "We have the case almost ready for abuse of authority, breach of official duties, and fraud. The state has lost L.100 million because of his (Carlos Suárez) inefficiency," said head attorney for Hondutel.

The attorney stated, "La Prensa and El Heraldo have created a campaign of sensationalism to the detriment and deterioration of the nation of Honduras. This campaign has caused a great loss to the state of Honduras and the Honduran public." He added that they have revealed corrupt situations that, according to him, are not true. "Only these two media outlets have campaigned directly against Hondutel and the government of Manuel Zelaya."

By comparison with the media in the U.S., the media of Honduras is very weak. It's not at all unusual for public officials to simply refuse to speak to the media or to provide data for reports or investigations. Reports of corruption are often vague and don't name names. This may be partly because of inability to obtain the underlying facts, but more often it is blamed on political or financial pressure and just plain fear of reprisals up to and including murder.

At this point there is no way for the average citizen to know if Chimirri is corrupt or whether the charges made by Diputado Suárez were a result of retaliation for the firing of his son or whether his son was or was not another corrupto in the swamp of corruption that is Hondutel and the entire government of Honduras. It is entirely possible that this is a battle between three corruptos! May the most powerful corrupto win!

If history is any predictor, we will never know all the facts nor will any of the corruptos ever be held accountable for their actions, because only in the rarest cases are corruptos ever convicted of their crimes and those few are generally lower level government employees. Of 2,000 corruption denuncias, only 11 have resulted in convictions.

One thing that is obvious, though, is that if the media is further intimidated from investigating and reporting charges of corruption, there is no hope for cleaning up the government of Honduras.

Individual citizens will rarely report corruption knowing the danger it may put them in. Even when they do, their complaints must face the hurdle of corruptive influences at every step of the way. Most people will not file complaints because they know that it is a waste of time.

Honduras passed a transparency law eight months ago after pressure from international organizations but has yet to name a committee to administer it. Agencies are required to render accounts to the public. Government employees by law must provide personal financial statements. The simple fact is that these laws are merely window dressing to appease pressures from international aid organizations and are rarely, if ever, enforced.

In more recent news, Roberto Micheletti, president of the National Congress and member of President Zelaya's own liberal party, advised that no one, regardless of their power, can restrict the freedom of expression in this country. Additionally, the InterAmerican Society of Newspapers met in Tegucigalpa and express their concern about the tension between the executive power and the media and the fact that not all newspapers are treated equally.

Other recent threats to freedom of expression in Honduras have been the forced television shows, the threats against Revistazo.com, and President Zelaya's attempt to censor the media.

For more information on the Hondutel/Chimirri situation, in Spanish, see:

La Tribuna, Confrontation: Suárez vs. Chimirri, 7/19/07 - juicy stuff here if you read Spanish
La Tribuna, Suárez: Chimirri is a pig, 07/24/07
La Prensa, Million dollar demand, 7/25/07
La Prensa, Tráfico gris, 7/25/07
La Prensa, Harmful threats, 07/26/07
La Prensa, Tension worries SIP, 07/27/07
La Prensa, Congress promises freedom of the press, 07/27/07
La Tribuna, Suárez will go to court with 80 congressmen, 07/27/07
La Prensa, US and TSC to aid in investigation, 07/28/07

Interesting that liberal La Tribuna had very similar articles as nacionalista La Prensa, but they weren't sued.

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Update 07/31/07: What does Chimirri spend his money on? See for yourself in his online photos. Hurry! Look quick before it's gone.

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Bonus cartoon translation:

Man: How is the Poverty Reduction Strategy going, comrade? (referring to the World Bank program)

Woman: Right now we're already reducing lunch!

Chimirri for President!

Reborn: Marcelo Chimirri in white
(looks Miami Vice-ish to me)
Photo: La Tribuna, Honduras

What a difference a couple of days make.

During the five days that he was a fugitive from justice, Marcelo Chimirri, head of the Honduran state-owned telephone company, says that God has touched his life. He has requested a month leave of absence from Hondutel from President Mel Zelaya so that he may spend time with his family and consider his political aspirations. He hasn't ruled out the possibility of running for president of Honduras since he has seen the support of Liberal party members since his return.

Never mind that the constitution of Honduras states that candidates for President have to be Hondurans by birth. Anything is possible in Honduras. The constitution was reinterpreted in 2001 in order to allow former President Ricardo Maduro, born in Panama to Panamanian born parents, to run for president. According to this 2000 Honduras This Week Online article "Nationalities of candidates questioned" (halfway down the page), it seems that Honduras frequently has problems finding Hondurans by birth to run for president.

In regard to the raid of Chimirri's home, President Zelaya stated, "....that was really a total abuse of the authority in the sense of entering with disproportionate, brutal force the residence of a public official and at the same time to offend the dignity of his daughters, his wife and in his absence". He has also encouraged Chimirri to file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
Chimirri has called the Minister of Security a savage and says that the police put guns to the head of his 3- and 7-year-old daughters.

This was Chimirri two days ago, dressed in black like the gangsters he says he models himself after. I think this is his 'don't mess with me' look. According to his now sanitized Hi5 site, his favorite movies are all the Godfather and mafia-type movies. This photo was taken as he was leaving the courthouse. Photo: La Prensa, Honduras

Reader Mane tipped me off to this latest transformation. You can read Mane's scintillating and very depressing comments at the end of the article here. Mane knows the ins and outs of Honduran politics. I have no doubt about that, but this was just so far fetched that I had to check the online editions of the newspapers. Silly me. I keep forgetting that TIH − This is Honduras!

Well, there is more in the referenced newspaper articles (in Spanish), but right now, I think I'm going to be sick, so I'll just leave you with this short video of Chimirri celebrating.






If you are new to the tales of Marcelo Chimirri and the swamp of corruption in Hondutel, you can see all the articles here.

Chimirri resigns, Hondutel raided, President's cabinet asked to resign

Photos: Proceso Digital, La Tribuna, Honduras

Much is going on today in Honduras.

The Honduran state-owned telephone company Hondutel was raided this morning by DGIC agents, the investigative arm of the Ministerio Público (similar to the FBI according to Aaron). Employees were evicted from the premises while the agents confiscate computers and other evidence.

I don't know what possessed me to turn on the local TV channels this morning. I must have a sixth sense! I never turn on the TV in the morning, but when I did today − what excitement! Although they have been talking about this issue all day, officials haven't given much concrete information to the press.

Hondutel has been the subject of tens of thousands of denuncias (official complaints) over the years, including most recently credible charges that Hondutel management is involved with tráfico gris (illegal phone traffic) to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in loss of revenue to the country. My article, Part 3: Swamp of Corruption in Hondutel includes a list of articles (both mine and newspaper) with background information.

While Marcello Chimirri, head of Hondutel, was in La Ceiba today, his luxurious home in Valle de Angeles near Tegucigalpa and his Hondutel office were raided. His computers, guns, cell phones, and (reportedly) telephone espionage equipment were confiscated. During the day, he resigned from his government position. Homes of other Hondutel officials have been raided as well.

Interestingly, President Mel Zelaya, related by marriage to Chimirri, is out of the country today while all this is happening. He has been accused of being a protector of Chimirri in the past while some members of the government and other organizations have clamored for Chimirri's resignation.

Chimirri is being investigated as a suspect behind the controversial taped telephone conversations among himself, President Mel Zelaya, and other high level government officials. The 11 taped conversations (in Spanish, of course) are available from user juanapueblo at YouTube. 'Juana Pueblo' is a female version of 'John Q. Public'.

Mel Zelaya has indicated that he would like to see Juana Pueblo put in jail for exposing the illegally taped conversations. I say Hooray! for Juana and whoever provided the tapes to her. When the laws protect the criminals and the system doesn't work, as it obviously doesn't, it is time for drastic measures.

News reports are thin on facts, but some have stated that these raids are not to investigate the charges of corruption and criminal activities of Chimirri and Hondutel which have been circulating for months and years without any appearance of a serious investigation but rather to investigate the illegal recordings of government officials! If only the government of Honduras would put such efforts into combating corruption as they do in investigating those who attempt to expose it.

One of the most disappointing things to me is that in interviews of various Hondutel employees and other government officials, they say, "The raid is an abuse of authority," etc. I would have hoped that the employees, who are bound to know at least some of the corruption in this organization, would be saying "Thank God that something is finally being done about corruption!" (Reader Mane, I know what you will be saying! ;-o)

I find it so ironic that if Chimirri was involved with these tape recordings, he may fall, not from his own alleged corrupt activities, but instead from exposing the conversations of other government officials.

So many potential pitfalls could result in nothing of substance from any of these investigations. The DGIC might not find the evidence needed, they might not be capable of interpreting the evidence or of developing a solid case. Evidence frequently disappears. Police and fiscalías are often accused of compromising cases for their own personal benefit. The courts often throw out cases against 'important people' for lack of evidence or technicalities − which is often attributed to the judges being bought. The fact is that high level government officials are rarely prosecuted and never go to jail. Will we see a change this time? I'm guardedly hopeful, but realistically, based on history, probably nothing will come of it.

However, President Zelaya, in a shocking act from Chile today, requested letters of resignation from his entire cabinet, all of the directors, and managers of all the decentralized government agencies! I don't know if this is a 'show,' or if Mel is losing control.

Proceso Digital reported that one of the first to submit his resignation was Yani Rosenthal, a proposed presidential candidate, whose family was implicated in the tráfico gris scandal.

What does this mean? Is he trying to get rid of the corruptos or trying to get rid of those fighting the corruptos? Honestly, at this moment, I'm still confused about what is actually happening here.

Part 2: Swamp of corruption in Hondutel

Continuation of Swamp of corruption in Hondutel


Note: all links to articles or websites are in Spanish unless otherwise indicated.


What do the actors in the Hondutel grey traffic scandal say?


Leónidas Rosa Bautista, (Eng.) Fiscál General (Attorney General), is the top man in charge of the investigation. He has been accused of detaining investigations of celebrated corruption cases. Within the Fiscalía's office, former attorneys in charge of Organized Crime and Anticorruption have been transferred to the training or consumer divisions or have even left the country after being, what some say, a little too successful in their investigations.

On September 11, the Ministerio Público announced that all investigations would proceed in secret and that they won't divulge any information about the case. The Fiscál Contra Corrupción, Henry Salgado, announced that they would solicit information from Arcadia and, "if necessary," take a declaration from Rosenthal. (Secret investigations − the best friend of corruption. Out of sight, out of mind.)

On September 13, Chimirri announced legal action for "crimes against the economy of Honduras" against Robert Carmona Borjas, VP of Fundación Arcadia. He also announced undertaking of legal actions against El Universal, the Mexican newspaper which published the report in its original version. (Is he going to add CNN en Español that list?)

During a TV interview, Chimirri disclosed that Carmona Borjas signed a contract with Hondutel last June 2006 as representative of LD TeleCom to provide long distance minutes from the U.S. to Honduras. He claims that Borjas is a blackmailer who owes Hondutel U.S.$25,352 and that vengeance is the motivation for the report because he doesn't want to pay.

Yani Rosenthal denies any involvement with grey traffic and says that the allegations against his family's business CableColor are only an attempt to damage him politically in his campaign for president of Honduras. He says that CableColor was investigated last year (by Chimirri's Anti-Fraud group) and found to not be at fault for the grey traffic originating from the family business and he invites the Fiscalía to investigate CableColor.

His family newspaper, El Tiempo, paints a completely different picture than the other Honduran newspapers, with headlines such as "Hondutel reveals what is behind the black campaign", "Arcadia, besides lying, also operated illegally in the country", "Carmona committed espionage", and"CNN also unmasks Carmona."

Marlon Duarte, legal advisor to Hondutel, said that Arcardia and Carmona Borjas will be investigated because "we can't permit a foreigner to come inside an important agency like telecommunications in a independent country."

The former Fiscál of Organized Crime, Marcio Zúniga Sierra, who was in charge of raids on businesses alleged to be involved with grey traffic, is now an attorney working for Chimirri in Hondutel.

Rasel Tomé, president of the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Conatel), responsible for regulation of telecommunications, says that they have received no denuncias regarding grey traffic against Hondutel or the two suboperators (cell phone companies) which are the only entities authorized for international call traffic, or CableColor, therefore, he thinks the Arcadia report is "damaging the international image of the country."

The President of the Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ), Vilma Cecilia Morales, considered that if the Honduran government doesn't put a strong hand to this matter, the country could confront repercussions. The credibility of and possibility of corruption of the CSJ has been put in question several times.

Roberto Micheletti, president of the National Congress, says "We know there is a lot of grey traffic in the country. We have denounced it before."

Honduran President Mel Zelaya said that there is no proof against Chimirri. He had no comment about the investigations and said that if Arcadia has proof, bring it to Honduras. (That is a little disengenuous, since the original report was submitted to Hondutel management and the US Embassy in July 2006, not to mention the fact that if Robert Carmona Borjas comes back to Honduras, he will need to wear full body armor and be surrounded by a team of bodyguards.)

On September 19, CNN en Español aired an interview with Carmona Borjas under the banner "Corruption in Honduras." Many politicians and some citizens were outraged, but some seemed more upset about the international exposure and the deterioration of the country's image than they are about the corruption. President of the National Congress, Micheletti said, "the acts of corruption denounced in Hondutel are causing the state to lose millions." Estimates are that Honduras currently loses US$2 million per day to corruption or almost three-quarters of a BILLION US dollars per year. Some estimates are as high as US$1 BILLION and that the total may be US$48 BILLION.

US Ambassador to Honduras, Charles Ford, said the denuncias "no son nada nuevo" (aren't anything new). He's been talking about corruption for a long time. Ford says that his interest is that the U.S. has spent much money helping the institutions investigate the accusations and it is better that the Fiscál and the courts decide.

Ford says that the U.S. government had nothing to do with Arcadia, El Universal, or CNN's report and that when they have something to say, they say it directly to the government. The U.S. FBI's International Financial Crimes division has apparently been conducting investigations. President Zelaya admitted that he was informed 5 months ago that the U.S. was investigating Chimirri.


The coordinator of the Consejo Nacional Anticorrupción, Juan Ferrera, issued a petition for a rapid and clear investigation and the removal of Chimirri from his position.

In the September 19 issue, La Prensa speculated that Chimirri would leave his position in the next hours and made the cryptic comment that he was expected to "enter one of the embassies."

It's incredible that the Hondutel financial information can only be obtained through a third party and published in Mexico, after which it was reported in the Honduran newspapers as a big surprise. Where is the transparency? Why aren't the citizens given financial reports of government agencies?

Under Honduras' new "transparency" law (Eng), virtually any information can be withheld from the public or even destroyed before it can be made public. But the international aid organizations demanded transparency, so the corruptos passed a law to placate them. Ironically, "under the new law, all information about humanitarian aid is secret. The amounts of aid received and the uses to which they are put cannot be divulged."



Next: What does the author of the investigation say and disappearing websites

Hurry! Look quick before it's gone

It's a luxury to have a vehicle for this family

Hurry! Look at these photos quickly because I'll bet they are going to disappear from the internet.

The main protagonist in the swamp of corruption described in my last article, Attack on Freedom, is Marcello Chimirri, head of government-owned Hondutel. His personal photo collection is on the internet. Included are photos showing his luxury mansion and multi-building home complex in Valle de los Angeles, Honduras, his trips to Paris, Germany, and Korea, his horses, etc., etc.


Of special note are:

Chimirri's garage with 4 luxury cars and a Harley-Davison motorcycle. His caption reads "It pays to go to college." More likely it should be that it pays to be a government worker in Honduras.

Chimirri's multi-building home complex in Valle de los Angeles

Chimirri on his Harley-Davison.

Chimirri on his horse.

Chimirri in front of a Hummer. His?

Chimirri in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

His personal profile is informative, too. "Anonymous" wrote again:

"It's funny that he is accused of organized-crime activities by the press, and called the Godfather of Hondutel. I say it's funny because his favorite movies on his hi5 profile include all kinds of Mafia movies... the Godfather, Good Fellows[sic], Scarface, Carlito's Way, Casino, etc."

He seems to be successful in his quest to "meet beautiful and smart women."


Now, while those photos are fresh in your mind, compare them with the luxuries of the people he works for:






⇐ Malnourished, aged Garífuna woman, selling bread on the street to make a living.

⇒ Skinny, 50-something man, happy to have a job, so he works 24-hours straight every other day as a security guard so he can eat − but not too often from the looks of it.

Typical luxury wooden home of the people.










Home made of discarded construction scraps on land that doesn't belong to them, and which will flood when rainy season gets in full swing.


Shoeless little girl in mud house with palm frond roof, who will likely never go to school past 3rd grade. Her dirt-floored house lacks toilet, water, electricity, and of course, a Hondutel telephone.


Where is the outrage? Who is going to stop this kind of thing?


Thanks go to Anonymous for tipping me off to the link.

Donations toward my US $26 million legal fund may be sent to my Paypal account.

Part 3: Swamp of corruption in Hondutel

Continuation of Swamp of corruption in Hondutel


Note: all links to articles or websites are in Spanish unless otherwise indicated.

What does the author of the investigation say?

Robert Carmona Borjas, Executive Vice President of Arcadia Foundation and author of the undercover Hondutel investigation, admits that he did sign a contract with Hondutel but says that the U.S$44,078 charge was an "arbitrary and suspicious act of crude extortion." (No explanation was given as to why two different amounts are given − Marcelo Chimirri of Hondutel said it was US$25,352.)

Carmona Borjas said that the Hondutel bill was undocumented. According to his company's contract, Hondutel is required to give the time, dates, duration, and destination numbers of the calls, and that in no manner does this bill represent the correct amount. He also says that Hondutel has not cut the service of other companies such a Latinode, IPIP, WorldWide, Identidat Telecom, Metrocom, Huntington, and KDDI, who owe Hondutel a total of U.S.$2,686,000.

Carmona Borjas says that he has sufficient evidence to prove the veracity of the irregularities which were included in the report that directly involve Chimirri. He also stated that he is not interested in damaging anyone's political image but that CableColor needs to pay the consequences for the grey traffic.

In only 14 days in July 2006, his investigation was able to identify 340 telephone lines dedicated to grey traffic, but he fears that Hondutel officials could be deleting the call registers now, "erasing the fingerprints of the grey traffic".

In a radio interview, he pointed out that it should be easy for Honduran authorities to verify whether Chimirri has enjoyed illegal enrichment since public officials are required to submit personal financial information. He also pointed out that Honduran authorities should be able to determine if Chimirri's paid taxes on his wealth in prior years (since Chimirri claims that his wealth is a result of 30 years of work). He also believes that it is a crime under Honduran law for Chimirri's personal company to be receiving payments from U.S. telecommunications companies while he is a functionary of Hondutel.

Carmona Borjas says if it is true that the government wants help from the US in the investigation, they need to officially ask for it formally in writing, not just "pure bla, bla, bla for the microphones, without anything concrete" .

Carmona Borjas is a Venezuelan who received political asylum in the U.S. in 2002. He is an author and currently part-time faculty at George Washington University. His bio indicates that he has dedicated his life to the campaign for democracy in the region and to combat those who threaten it.

Disappearing websites

Chimirri's Hi5 page, which I wrote about in Hurry! Look quick before it's gone (Eng.), has been toned down, stripped of sexy innuendos, and his photo album has been made private (some photos are still available at El Proceso).

The Arcadia Foundation website (Eng.) has been stripped of all information and each page results in "under construction" or a 404 notice. Rosenthal said that a photo of former U.S. Ambassador Otto Reich was removed from the Arcadia website.

I was sure that I saw the title of a related article on the Revistazo website, but when I went back to read it, it was gone and no amount of searching could locate it. Revistazo does have a copy of one of the secretly taped recordings with a transcript described as an example of how they manage the power in Honduras.

El Universal's original article was no longer available by searching its website, although I was able to access the article through a Google search.

Searches of CNN en Español came up with nothing related to the television report (although there were references to the Blogicito articles).


Emergency trip to Washington

On Wednesday, September 19, an emergency delegation was sent to Washington, D.C., to "prove" that Honduras has improved controls against corruption, a requirement for the the Millenium Challenge Account (Eng.) aid to continue. At risk is 60% of US$215 million designated for Honduras. Yani Rosenthal, whose family company CableColor is at the heart of the Hondutel scandal, was one of the members of the delegation as he is one of the five Honduras MCA board members.

Honduran officials have been claiming that Honduras has no corruption, only the perception of corruption. Last year, a World Bank report showed that the fight against corruption in Honduras has not improved.


Secret investigations, results hidden from public scrutiny, international aid in jeopardy, secretly taped telephone conversations, international bribes, dismantling of private businesses, international investments going to other countries, murder, sexual harassment, presidential candidate, lawsuits against newspapers....What a mess!


I hope that Hondurans listen to the message and don't "shoot the messenger." Demand a real investigation, and act swiftly without regard to where the message came from, who might be behind it, or how it damages the image of the country.

As far as corruption goes, Honduras' image was severely damaged long before this report was ever issued (Eng). The important thing is for Honduras is to take the first concrete step to put an end to the rampant corruption which is destroying the country. That is what will improve Honduras' image and give all Hondurans something of which to be proud.

I've received several warnings by email suggesting that it could be dangerous to write these articles. It seems outrageous to think that translating and summarizing information which has been published in at least half a dozen newspapers in at least two countries and aired on CNN could pose a personal threat to me. This may be the first English article about the scandal but for sure it won't be the last. Even Honduran corruptos can't control the internet.


Related articles:

Part 2: Swamp of corruption in Hondutel
Swamp of corruption in Hondutel
Hondutel-Chimirri scandal
Hurry! Look quick before it is gone
Attack on freedom of expression in Honduras
Will Honduras ever rise out of poverty?

Swamp of corruption in Hondutel

Crocodiles: They are always smiling, aren't they?

Robert Carmona Borjas, Vice President of Arcadia Foundation, confirmed that he has a report which will prove that high-level government functionaries and businessmen are involved in a multi-million dollar fraud against Hondutel, the Honduras government-owned telephone company.

Tráfico grís (grey traffic) is the name for long-distance calls which through technology are recorded and billed as local calls, reducing the income received by Hondutel. Fraud from grey traffic is estimated to be between 15 and 20 million minutes per month, representing a loss of US$1.5 to 2 million to Hondutel, and the Honduran people, each month.

Note: all links to articles or websites are in Spanish unless otherwise indicated.

On September 8, 2007, a respected Mexican newspaper, El Universal, printed an exposé of the swamp of corruption surrounding Honduras' state-owned telephone company Hondutel. The investigative report was prepared by Arcadia Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C.

According to the text of the article, between 2005 and 2006, the first year of President Manuel Zelaya's administration, Hondutel's income decreased 47%. International calls dropped from 306 million minutes in the first quarter of 2005 to 151 million minutes in the same period of 2006, resulting in a decrease in income from U.S.$70 million to U.S.$23 million in the respective years.

"Given that Hondutel is the only organization that can legally receive international calls, there is no logical reason to report the substantial decrease of more than 154 million minutes and U.S.$47 million in income," said Carmona Borjas. The only explanation is that the calls were billed to subcontractors and individuals as local calls by Hondutel through internal corporate fraud, instances of extortion, and political corruption at high levels, he indicated.

Background

During the first quarter of 2007, Hondutel registered another 18% reduction in gross income from US$49 million to US$40. Predictions are that Hondutel will close this fiscal year with the worst results in a decade.

The continual decreases come in spite of the fact that Hondutel and Chimirri personally with the help of heavily armed military units have violently dismantled 65 companies who were allegedly operating in grey traffic (Eng). The companies' equipment, records, computers, money, and cell phones were confiscated without benefit of trial or any indication that any of the companies will ever receive the right to defend themselves in court.

After a series of denuncias (official complaints) spanning years, in March of this year the Congreso Nacional requested that the Fiscalía investigate. Again in August of this year, the five political parties of Honduras petitioned the Superior Tribunal of Accounts (TSC in Spanish) to conduct a complete audit of Hondutel.

In addition to grey traffic, complaints regarding the Hondutel scandal have ranged from irregular contracts, abuse of power, irregularities in the contraction of personnel, excessive numbers of employees, illegal salary increases, abuse in use of cellular phones, and irregular management of state resources. Thousands of citizens have denounced fraudulent bills containing phantom long distance charges for years. TSC announced that they would perform a financial audit and that the technical issue of grey traffic would be turned over to the Fiscalía Contra Corrupción and international organizations. No word of those investigations has been reported.

Details of the Arcadia Report

Allegations were made that there are 340 phone lines being used for grey traffic by CableColor, a telephone and cable TV company. CableColor is owned by the wealthy, well-connected Rosenthal family who includes a former presidential candidate and his son, Yani Rosenthal, the current Ministero de la Presidencia (Secretary of State and right hand man to President Mel Zelaya) who is expected to be a presidential candidate in the 2008 elections. The Rosenthal family also owns the newspaper El Tiempo and television channel 11.

The report also alleged that the managing director of Hondutel, Marcelo Chimirri, (good friend of the President and family of the first lady) through one of his personal businesses, has received U.S.$70,000 in payments from two U.S. companies and that Chimirri's "personal wealth has increased substantially in a very short period without the benefit of a parallel growth in visible and legitimate earnings." The text also assured that Chimirri also has responsibility for fraudulent schemes and that the Fiscalía still considers him a person of interest in the 1998 death of his former girlfriend (Eng.), Yadira Miguel Mejía, as well as for threats and aggression against reporters.

Chimirri's escapades

Chimirri has also been accused of sexual harassment of female Hondutel employees in which the women who complained were fired and of pulling his pants down in front of congressmen and women. There is so much scandalous information about this guy that it would take a book to cover it all. In that same interview with La Tribuna, he freely admits to being "mafia" and capable of anything. He thinks it's "very pretty" that he doesn't have to register his trips to the Cayman Islands (The Caymans have secret banking laws.) Since he physically threatens and sues the reporters and newspapers who write about him (Eng.), I'm sure that the worst of it has never been printed.

Fourteen months of inaction

Robert Carmona Borjas says that the original denuncia (complaint) was submitted to Hondutel on July 4, 2006, with a copy going to the U.S. Embassy. The complaint was "investigated" by Hondutel's internal anti-fraud group and was swept under the rug and everyone was assured that there were just a few errors made, probably by some employees or outsiders, and that everything was okay now.

Apparently, the Arcadia Foundation went to Mexico's El Universal because they couldn't get the story published in Honduras. Previous stories have resulted in lawsuits against Honduran newspapers.

Carmona worries that Hondutel officials could now be deleting call registers to benefit wealthy business owners. Arcadia gathered the information for their report by infiltrating Hondutel. It seems obvious that Hondutel and/or other government insiders must have helped with the investigation, as well as possibly bank insiders, to have this level of detail.


Next: What do the actors say?


(Gentle readers, please forgive the delay and all the links but I had to document this article completely for fear of being sued, deported, or worse! Now, hopefully, some real investigators will pick up the story and expose this situation in English for the rest of the world. Are you reading, CNN?)