MEDIA REACTION ON THE UN, SEPTEMBER 21, 2005

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001940

SIPDIS

FOR IIP/G/WHA AND IIP/T/ES,
FOR WHA/PDA, IO/UNP, AND WHA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP PREL AORC KPAO PGOV KDEM HO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON THE UN, SEPTEMBER 21, 2005



1. On 9/21 the San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "La
Prensa" published an op-ed by Roger Martinez Miralda
entitled "UN's difficulties." "Although my points of
convergence with the Venezuelan president are few and his
way of making his expositions be taken seriously do not seem
the most suitable to me, but I agree with him when he says
that the UN is more and more inoperative."

"The war in Iraq is a clear example of how a third world
country (Iraq) ignores the UN's warnings and, at the same
time, the first world power country (U.S.) pulls aside the
majority of the international community and does what it
desires to protect itself with the denominated right of
`preventive' defense."

"It is also true that one perpetual difficulty is that the
central offices of the UN are located in a country whose
protagonism in the world-wide political panorama is so big
that, as a sovereign state and guardian of the security of
its citizens, it can deny entrance of a Chief of State
(President Chavez) to its territory and limit the
representation of nations in a forum created so they can all
express themselves.

"It is not true that it (the UN) is useless, as Chavez said,
but it certainly needs to be more agile, reduce its
personnel, remember that is not a super state that is above
the governments of the big and small countries, and this is
urgent and fundamental, to free itself from the influence of
death lobbies so that it will be truly representative of the
entire world's aspirations for peace."

Williard