MEDIA REACTION ON CAFTA, OCTOBER 26, 2005

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002191

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 26, 2005



1. On 10/21 the Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna"
published an editorial entitled "Thunder and lightning."
"The subjects that will cause disagreements in the Summit of
Americas, which will take place in the first week of
November of this year, are the agricultural subsidies and
the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The nations of
MERCOSUR demand the end of agricultural subsidies by the
industrial powers and other developed nations."

"The demand goes fundamentally against the U.S., the
European Union and Japan which maintain agricultural prices
through subsidies in which the poorest and less developed
countries are highly competitive."

"Opposed to the Mar del Plata Summit, the `Summit of the
People' was created to reunite a hundred social and
political organizations of Latin America with the purpose of
presenting an alternative to the FTAA. This meeting is
offered as a parallel engagement to the Presidential summit
with the purpose of dividing the attention and coverage that
the international press will give to the events."

"Venezuela announced that it would try to make "adjustments"
with Andean countries that sign an FTA with the U.S. The
greatest promoter of an FTA membership is Colombia, hoping
that Ecuador and Peru join. The Colombian president, a main
ally of Washington, says that he will sign a FTA, `thus
there is thunder and lightning.'"

"Hugo Chvez thinks that the FTA is a `version' of the FTAA,
suggesting that it would only benefit the great North
American economy; in contrast he proposes the Bolivarian
Alternative for Latin America and the Carribbean (ALBA).
While Chvez is strongly lobbying against the FTAA and is
counting on the dollars received from petroleum to exercise
his influence, Uribe has just met with his counterpart in
Ecuador in order to resolve any differences and to avoid any
delay of the established calendar."

"President George Bush, who has CAFTA in his pocket, will be
present in the Summit of the Americas in Argentina. This
summit is especially important for President Bush since it
is offered as a forum in which he can bring up issues that
have been forgotten or delayed in his dealings with the
Latin American nations. By the nature of the rivalries that
glimpse the summit, it promises to be interesting and
controversial."


2. On 10/26 the San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "Tiempo"
ran an editorial entitled "CAFTA and SMEs." "In a recent
seminar on CAFTA and its effects on small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) that took place in San Pedro Sula, it was
emphasized that these enterprises should be incorporated
with no fear to the free trade regime."

"Manuel Rosales, Associate Director of the U.S. Small
Business Agency, who accompanied the U.S. Secretary of
Commerce on his tour of Central America, insisted on the
success of the SME in free trade, with Mexico as a great
example."

"In Honduras the SMEs' situation has improved, but more
slowly than the rest of the Central American countries; this
has to do with the weakness of the government's economic
policies, or better yet, by the lack of an economic policy."

"The external support isn't enough to boost and improve the
SME in Honduras. It is necessary and urgent to make reforms
in the monetary, fiscal, financial and labor systems, not
only for SME benefits but also for all production and
Honduran enterprises."

Williard