MEDIA REACTION ON CAFTA, OCTOBER 21, 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002174

SIPDIS


DEPT. FOR WHA/PD; IIP/G/WHA DIPASQUALE; AND IIP/T/ES
DEPT. FOR EB/TPP DCLUNE, WHA/EPSC AND WHA/CEN
DEPT. PASS USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KPAO ETRD HO USTR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON CAFTA, OCTOBER 21, 2005



1. On 10/21 the Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna"
published an editorial entitled "Reciprocity." "Who knows
what happened to the Nicaraguan government, which, after all
the support that the Hondurans have given to Mr. Enrique
during the entire political crisis, it seems sometimes that
there is no reciprocity. First it was the subject of the
petroleum concessions in the Honduran maritime, still not
resolved, and now this last blockage to Honduran merchandise
at border customs."

"It seems that the recent political agreement between Ortega
and Mr. Enrique will give tranquility to the government for
some time once the threats of an ouster are dissipated and
through a law in which the application of the constitutional
reforms that clip the Executive's powers are delayed until
the year 2007."

"To the group of congressmen loyal to Aleman had no choice
to join the initiative. The `sandinistas' were also scared
by the possibility that the liberal party and other
conservative groups would go against them in elections after
the surprise approval of CAFTA in the legislative chamber,
the product of the negotiation of a high official of the U.S
Department of State who recently visited the country."

"The subject of the blockade of Honduran carriers at border
customs, trying to apply a governmental resolution in which
the merchandise that circulate in and out of Nicaraguan
territory solely can only be transported by vehicles with
Nicaraguan license plate. Does the Nicaraguan government
know that this arbitrary resolution violates integration
treaties?"

"Thank heavens that at the SICA Summit in San Salvador, and
as a result of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce's trip, Mr.
Enrique announced in meetings between the regional transport
authorities the conflict has been resolved. This not only
prevented vehicles with Honduran plate from crossing the
border, but also affected truck drivers from Guatemala, El
Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama."


2. On 10/21, the Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El
Heraldo" published an editorial entitled "The Difficult
Integration of Central America." "The prohibition of
Central American carriers in Nicaraguan territory is once
more an example that the integration of the isthmus
continues to be a dream."

"Costa Rica's resistance to integrate completely with the
rest of Central America and its resistance with its own
CAFTA are also proof of the difficult integration process.
Costa Rica, which negotiated part of CAFTA with the United
States separately, is the only country that has not ratified
it."

"Yesterday former president Luis Alberto Monge and dozens of
academics, industrialists and politicians of diverse parties
published a declaration in which they ask President Abel
Pacheco to reject CAFTA because `it is inconvenient for
Costa Rica... it would be a ideological straight jacket that
prevents the freedom of choosing our own way of
development,' since `it will force the privatization of
state institutions that have allowed the development of the
country.'"

"The Salvadoran delays in the demarcation of the border with
Honduras are also linked to the chain of facts that
demonstrate that a certain reluctance to Central American
integration persists, something that long ago stopped being
an option and become a necessity."


3. On 10/21 the San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "La
Prensa" published an editorial entitled "Nicaragua Again."
"Nicaragua is again the stone in the path, the hair in the
soup or, rather, the bitter broth of regional integration
when it closed its borders to Central American transport,
violating therefore the agreements and preventing the
reforms necessary in the customs system agreed by CAFTA."

"Less than three months until the treaty is to be put into
effect, the reforms in the regional customs system are a
great obstacle to facilitating the commerce that is needed
to modernize the computerized systems and to improve
security."

"The Secretary of Commerce declared during that this is an
obstructionist attitude on a tour of the region before the
the agreement is put into effect with the American Union."

"The installation of a U.S. customs in the facilities of
Puerto Cortes makes possible greater speed and security in
exports that leave certified and enter into the North
American market without any extra requirements."

"The bet for integration is irreversible and dramatically
necessary, the desperate attempts do not do more than show
the impotence and the shortage of initiatives to face the
challenges of the world-wide economy."

Williard