ANTI-CAFTA PROTEST ANTICLIMACTIC

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001462

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CEN, EB, DS, AND INR
STATE PASS TO USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ETRD SOCI PREL ECON ELAB ASEC PINR HO
SUBJECT: ANTI-CAFTA PROTEST ANTICLIMACTIC



1. Only 100-200 protesters turned out on June 18 to voice
their opposition to CAFTA negotiations, signaling that there
is little focused, popular resistance in Honduras to the
U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The
demonstration, which so far has been the only organized
protest to occur during this round of talks, went on for less
than two hours outside the conference hotel and ended after
lead Honduran CAFTA negotiator Melvin Redondo met with
protest leaders.


2. EmbOffs, having received notice by e-mail had alerted
delegates by mid-day that there would be an afternoon protest
in front of the main entrance of the Clarion hotel. By 4:00
p.m. the protest was underway, with demonstrators blocking
traffic in front of the hotel and carrying ten-foot-tall red
banners denouncing CAFTA and the Free Trade Area of the
Americas. The protest was organized by the Popular Block
(PB),a left-leaning organization that claims to represent
teachers and workers, whose leader, Carlos H. Reyes, read a
declaration to the press. Congresswoman Doris Gutierrez, who
belongs to the small Democratic Unification Party (a remnant
of the 1980s socialist movement),also addressed
demonstrators.


3. Eyewitnesses estimate that police outnumbered protesters
2-1, with uniformed officers surrounding the entire hotel.
The police nearest to the demonstration wore helmets, carried
riot shields, and were armed with batons rather than
firearms. The protest subsided after lead Honduran CAFTA
negotiator Melvin Redondo met with protest leaders and
received a list of their grievances.


4. COMMENT: The lone anti-CAFTA protest during this round
of negotiations turned out to be a non-event. The small
number of demonstrators stopped traffic on one street and
delivered their standard anti-free trade message, but talks
were not impeded in any way. This level of protest indicates
that here in Tegucigalpa CAFTA is an issue too nebulous to
inspire extensive resistance, and attests to the lack of
widespread, organized opposition to CAFTA in Honduras. In a
conversation with LabAtt June 19, labor leader Dinora
Aceituno (CTH Secretary General) dismissed the demonstration
as ineffective and counterproductive. END COMMENT
Palmer