MEDIA REACTION ON CAFTA, JUNE 4, 2003

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001273 SIPDIS FOR PD/WHA (MBUCKLEY); IIP/G/WHA DIPASQUALE; EB/EPPD DCLUNE; USTR AGASH INFO IIP/T/ES EMBASSIES FOR PAOS, IOs, E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KPAO HO PA ETRD USTR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON CAFTA, JUNE 4, 2003 ¶1. Editorial on liberal daily "La Tribuna", Tegucigalpa based 6/4 entitled: "Obstacles for CAFTA". "The CAFTA, which is being negotiated by five Central American countries and the United States, is progressively facing more and more obstacles and disagreements from various social sectors all over Central America. They believe their interests and proposals are not being considered in the negotiations, even though the governments involved in this process have facilitated the participation of entrepreneurial groups, workers' unions and civil society organizations in an "adjacent room", next to the rooms where the official negotiations are taking place." "During the latest round of negotiations, some Honduran entrepreneurial groups were shocked by certain concessions made by Guatemala, which were believed to be a strategy to make up for the poor record in the fight against narco trafficking. As a result, Guatemala was accused of "selling the guitar" or undermining the basic principles of negotiation that the Central American teams have agreed upon." "The fact that the obstacles to CAFTA are not exclusively related to the "unyielding position" of the United States toward this process, but also to the severe disagreements between the Central American negotiation teams." Pierce