HONDURAN REQUEST FOR BORDER MAPPING

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000654 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PBTS PREL ES HO SUBJECT: HONDURAN REQUEST FOR BORDER MAPPING REF: A. SAN SALVADOR 324 ¶B. TEGUCIGALPA 533 ¶C. SAN SALVADOR 629 ¶D. CUMMINS-PFORZHEIMER DELIVERY OF CD-ROM ¶1. Per refs A, B, C, and D Honduras and El Salvador are looking to move forward on border demarcation via a binational border commission but progress has been stymied due to outdated maps. Their joint request, received at both Embassy Tegucigalpa and San Salvador, is for maps at scale of 1:25,000 (ref C). ¶2. Ref D material has been reviewed by Raul Andino Torres, President of the Honduran Special El Salvador-Honduras Border Demarcation Commission and a number of technical engineers. Mr. Andino Torres informed Poloff March 7 that the information in ref D, while informative, was at too large a scale to be useful for border demarcation purposes. ¶3. Post notes that the border demarcation issue has received broad press coverage in both El Salvador and Honduras. The process has been stalled for some time and tensions have been mounting. Post concurs with ref C and urges the State Department to contact NIMA at the earliest possible moment in order to request appropriate assistance. Palmer