MEDIA REACTION - CAFTA

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001675 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, WHA/EPSC STATE FOR INR/IAA, PM, INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC CI ETRD TRADE SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - CAFTA On August 7, conservative, influential newspaper-of- record "El Mercurio" (circ. 116,807) ran an editorial entitled, "Free Trade in Central America." Quote: "By a narrow two-vote margin the U.S. House of Representatives approved a free trade agreement between the United States and Central America (CAFTA).... Beyond the terms of CAFTA lie implications for the President Bush's leadership: the expansion of free trade, the eradication of poverty, and an alternative to Venezuela's demagogy--as no country has achieved development or integration without international trade." KELLY