MEDIA REACTION ON TPS, JULY 20, 2004

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001598 SIPDIS FOR PD/WHA (OHILTON),IIP/G/WHA, EB/EPPD INFO IIP/T/ES EMBASSIES FOR PAOS, IOs E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP PREL SMIG KPAO HO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON TPS, JULY 20, 2004 ¶1. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" on 7/20 entitled "Neither yes or no." "Despite the fact that Washington hasn't accepted or refused a new TPS extension, the Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs is optimistic, and President Maduro has planned a trip to the U.S. in September to negotiate a fifth extension. The Salvadoran President, who presented a similar request, has recently returned from Washington with dismay, where he even promised to send another contingent of Salvadoran troops to Iraq, but we can't lose hope." "The Honduran government anticipates that a massive deportation of so many Hondurans and other Central Americans living illegally in the U.S. just wouldn't be possible, and this fact wouldn't give Washington another chance but to keep extending TPS every time the deadline approaches. Besides, the U.S. is considering the human implications for our countries and our economies, which will be severely affected because they are mostly dependent of the millions of dollars we receive every year as remittances." "These negotiations aren't only a task for the Honduran or the Salvadoran president, but for all Central American presidents that should organize a diplomatic offensive in Washington, to achieve a migratory amnesty or any other definite solution for this issue." Palmer