Public Declaration from the Mayor's Office

Public Declaration
The Mayor's Office of Tegucigalpa, Central District

The Municipal Secretary of Tegucigalpa, Central District makes the following public declaration to the general public by means of the present document. This declaration responds to the journalistic entry, published on Monday, the 20th of January in the year 2003 in the La Tribuna newspaper section "Pildoritas", which referred to the article published in the web site "REVISTAZO.COM" related to the prohibition of acts and contracts in several communities located in the municipality of the City of Comayagüela. The article made public that the Municipality of the Central District is negotiating outside of the courts with Oscar Siri Zúñiga, Esq. The municipal government declares that this is totally false and counter to the truth. Mayor Miguel Rodrigo Pastor Mejía has clearly demonstrated that he has not negotiated at any time with Mr. Oscar Siri Zúñiga, since these lands are not the object of negotiation because they belong to the Municipality of the Central District.

For further clarification, at no time has the Municipality of the Central District, much less the current administration led by Mayor Miguel Rodrigo Pastor Mejía, been indifferent or incompetent in claiming and distributing its property. The administration's only interest is that all city residents have their real estate legalized and available for use according the terms set by the Constitution of the Republic and the present Laws of the Country and that the problematic situation in which the majority of the land of the Capital City is submerged be resolved once and for all.

The statement that the Municipality of the Central District has not even presented itself in court cases involving the capital city, especially in those lawsuits related to land, is totally false. In order to refute this false accusation, I will permit myself to make the following summary and to clarify to the residents of the Communities affected by the prohibition of real estate acts and contracts in the City of Comayagüela: That on the 9th of March, 1994, the Municipality submitted a Common Lawsuit for the absolute annulment of registered land titles against Rafael Zúñiga Castillo, Luis Gerardo Zúñiga Castillo, Delia Rosa Zúñiga Castillo y Oscar Siri Zúñiga. The said lawsuit can be found in the Registry under number 3613 of the Second Civil Court in this Department of Francisco Morazán.

Regarding this same lawsuit, Mr. Siri Zúñiga, has interposed a series of exceptions and appeals before the Court of Appeals and in the Honorable Supreme Court of Justice and all of these actions initiated by Oscar Siri Zúñiga, Esq. have been rejected by the respective Tribunals. In these actions the Municipality of the Central District has been the party discrediting the supposed rights that Siri Zúñiga claims.

For example, on the 13th of August, 2002, during the current administration under Miguel Rodrigo Pastor, the municipal legal Cabinet worked to have Oscar Siri Zúñiga's appeal to the Second Court of Appeals denied and to have Siri Zúñiga fined. This was done thanks to the diligence and ability the Mayor cultivates in his legal team.

For this reason, we declare to the residents of the communities affected by the said prohibition that the Municipality of the Central District will follow through with the corresponding legal actions. There is nothing going on under the table. We will continue with the transparency that the Mayor has publicly manifested. There is no need to be afraid. The courts will decide this case and the Municipality is confident in the sufficient legal evidence that identifies the city as the only owner of the said properties.

Moreover, we emphasize that the legalization of lands in the Capital City is one of the priorities of Mayor Miguel Rodrigo Pastor Mejía, as demonstrated by the significant number of open assemblies in which he has committed himself to the legalization of the land for the benefit of all the residents of the capital city. For this reason, in the specific case of the Communities affected by the prohibition of carrying out contracts, THERE WILL BE NO NEGOCIATIONS because this land belongs to the Municipality of the Central District.

We manifest to the residents that these lands are MUNICIPAL lands and that they can be given no other name, though some citizens would like to make it appear otherwise for the purpose of confusing public opinion and the Judges and Magistrates of the Tribunals.

Respected residents, we known our Mayor and the work he has done in the first year of his Government. He is an honest man who is only interested in the benefit of all the citizens of the Central District. We will not tolerate and participate in any action that is outside of the legal arena. We publicly present this declaration so that there will be no misunderstandings. For any additional information you may contact our personal staff of the Municipal Secretary and the Legal Cabinet. We are happy to clarify any doubts with respect to this matter in order to continue developing Transparency. Do not forget that together we are building a new era for the Capital.

Pavel Andrey Espinal, Esq.
Municipal Secretary, Central District

Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., January 21, 2003.

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