INVITATION FOR SECSTATE TO SPEAK BEFORE

UNCLAS LIMA 003870 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR S/S, R-KAREN HUGHES E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC PHUM PREL SOCI PE SUBJECT: INVITATION FOR SECSTATE TO SPEAK BEFORE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION REF: LIMA 00200 ¶1. Alejandro Miro Quesada, the President of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) and publisher of Peru's leading daily "El Comercio," has invited Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to address the opening session of the IAPA's General Assembly on 10/10 in Indianapolis, Indiana. A previous invitation was extended to President George W. Bush in January (See Reftel). The President recently declined. Miro Quesada orally extended the invite for Secretary Rice to the Ambassador. ¶2. COMMENT: Speaking before the IAPA General Assembly offers an excellent opportunity for Secretary Rice to explain U.S. Policy in the Americas to an audience of the region's leading media owners and opinion makers. The IAPA is the oldest press freedom association in the Americas and now consists of over 1300 members, including the most important Latin American media organizations and dailies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. The IAPA meeting is also timely, scheduled one month following Hurricane Katrina and one month before the Summit of the Americas meeting to be held the first week in November. The senior editors from several countries which offered aid to the U.S. following Hurricane Katrina will be in attendance. The event thus presents the Secretary with an ideal venue for communicating US policy to top opinion shapers at a time when the region's eyes and ears are focused intently on the US. END COMMENT. STRUBLE