US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA2014

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002014 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/PD (OHILTON), WHA/CEN (TKELLY), PM, AND INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PREL, KPAO, MOPS, PGOV, SNAR, HO, IZ 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION ON THE VISIT OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE 
DONALD H. RUMSFELD TO HONDURAS, AUGUST 20, 2003 
 
 
1. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" on 
8/23 entitled "Thanks".  "President Maduro made an opportune 
clarification stating that it was absolutely false that Honduras 
is getting prepared to install another U.S. military base in our 
territory, which will be supposedly used to fight against 
narcotrafficking.  According to Maduro, the U.S. Secretary of 
Defense Donald Rumsfeld came for a very simple reason: to thank 
the Honduran people for our support by sending troops for the 
pacification and reconstruction of Iraq, and there was nothing 
else." 
 
"Since we are very skeptical, there is a lot of people who 
believe that such an important visitor doesn't bother to come to 
a country like Honduras just to give thanks, that there must be a 
hidden agenda for his visit.  There have been several theories 
about the presence of Rumsfeld here in Honduras, especially when 
we were the only Central American country he visited.  Even 
though the governmental authorities have repeatedly explained the 
purpose of his visit, there are still many people wondering, why 
did Rumsfeld come to Honduras?." 
 
2. Editorial in San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "Tiempo" on 
8/23 entitled "Thank you, very much".  "We don't really know the 
real purpose of the visit of the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald 
Rumsfeld to Honduras after he went to Colombia.  Then, we should 
try to be satisfied with the official explanation that Rumsfeld 
came to thank the Maduro government for sending Honduran troops 
to help the British-American occupation armies in Iraq." 
 
"This expression of gratitude is truly extraordinary because we 
had already been visited by the Deputy Secretary of Defense and 
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, 
who also came to Honduras to thank us.  So, as we say, this much 
gratitude is getting confusing." 
 
"However, we can't avoid using our imagination.  Some people - 
ourselves included - have seen a relationship between the visit 
of Secretary Rumsfeld to Colombia and Honduras with the internal 
conflict in this South American country and its links with drug 
trafficking, and President Bush's war against terrorism." 
 
Palmer