NICARAGUA LOOKING FOR BALANCE ON WTO ISSUES

UNCLAS MANAGUA 002443 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD ECON PREL WTO NU SUBJECT: NICARAGUA LOOKING FOR BALANCE ON WTO ISSUES REF: A. SECSTATE 152545 ¶B. MANAGUA 2223 ¶C. MANAGUA 1847 ¶1. (SBU) On November 6, Econoff delivered Ref A demarche, on the risk to World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha negotiations presented by ongoing Argentinean and Brazilian efforts to avoid cutting tariffs on industrial goods, to Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Development (MIFIC) Director General for International Trade Sonia Somarriba. She responded that, while she is unfamiliar with the specifics of the Argentinean and Brazilian efforts, Nicaragua seeks "commitments for balanced market access" in ongoing Doha Round World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations among industrialized countries, larger developing economies such as Brazil and Argentina, and smaller developing economies such as Nicaragua. Somarriba told us that MIFIC would not join the Nicaraguan delegation, led by President Ortega, to the November 8-10 Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: Ortega, in his September 25 U.N. General Assembly speech and in other forums, has roundly criticized free trade and market economics (see Ref B). Nonetheless, MIFIC officials, especially Somarriba (a holdover from the previous administration) and to some extent Minister Orlando Solorzano (see Ref C),are quietly supportive of U.S. positions on trade. Given President Ortega's plans to lead the Nicaraguan delegation and the exclusion of MIFIC, we believe it would be counterproductive to ask the Nicaraguan delegation to raise this issue with Argentinean and Brazilian counterparts in Santiago. End Comment. TRIVELLI