The 14 asked for more transparency consuls of Honduras in the United States at Secretary of Foreign Relations in relation to the $1.8 million (L44.4 million) obtained in the mobile consulates. The mobile consulates were held between November and December 2023 and covered eight American cities where there are no permanent consulates.
The letter from the consuls was sent to Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina and they specify that the National Migration Institute (INM) committed to providing detailed reports on the settlements of income generated during the 2023 mobile consulates.
However, to date, no Honduran consular representation involved in the consulates has received information about the liquidations, the heads of mission said.
The letter signed by the 14 consuls establishes that there is a “lack of transparency and communication on the part of the National Migration Institute that has generated concern in our consular representations.”
At the same time, they add that “being under the exclusive administration of the INMthe financial aspect and in the absence of detailed reports, it is difficult to verify income obtained during mobile consulates and confirm that the data collected by mission representatives coincide with the billing records of the INM”.
Since January of this year, complaints from migrants began, who paid in advance to obtain a passport, but to date they still have not obtained the booklet.
“There are many people who made payments, who were not attended to and there has not been a clear path that allows the issuance of the passport or the return of the money,” the consuls maintain.
THE PRESS was able to confirm that at least two thousand Hondurans paid for their passport and for various reasons could not obtain the document, without their money being returned.
This represents that it was paid to State of Honduras at least 156 thousand dollars, about 3.8 million lempiras, for two thousand passports valid between five and ten years.
Answer
The Vice Chancellor of Consular Affairs, Antonio Garciarecognized the problem and stated that there has been no lack of transparency in the collection and management of funds.
The diplomat began by saying that “there were people who did not arrive or were missing some requirement to have a passport and we know that approximately two thousand people were not able to complete the process.”
García clarified that the proceeds did not go through the INM nor for Immigration, but rather it fell to the General Treasury of the Republic.
“Right now we are looking at Finance And well, it has been handled in history that when money enters, it cannot leave. The money that is paid to the General Treasury of the Republic cannot leave and it is a reality where the law must be reviewed… We are seeing with them if there can be a reimbursement modality.”
However, the vice chancellor anticipates that it is almost impossible to return the money to the Hondurans and the proposal they make is to reschedule the appointments to deliver the passports.
“That money was immediately given to the coffers of the General Treasury of the Republic, it did not go through Immigration or the Chancellery; It is money that is in Finance and it is with them that we are talking. What we can do is reschedule the appointments because they have already paid for the service,” the official stated.
Juan Flores, president of the September 15 Foundationcondemned that “it was a charge that was made to the diaspora and neither the service nor the refund was given, months have passed and there are no answers.”
The migrant leader urged an investigation and said that this case will be presented to the United States Department of State.
“It is very delicate because he is using the bank of USA practically to defraud Hondurans and we are going to expose it in a meeting that we will have with the State Department, we ask that an investigation be opened,” he said.
Finally, Flores commented that this can happen again with the advance payment system that Chancellery will be implemented in Los Angeles in May and will serve as a pilot test.
“If they have this problem, the same thing could happen to them when they want to implement this new charging system through credit, debit or prepaid cards,” Flores concluded.
