US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA2179

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002179 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/PDA (OHILTON), IIP/G/WHA, IIP/T/ES, NEA/NGA, WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PREL, KPAO, PGOV, HO 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION ON 9/11, SEPTEMBER 12, 2003 
 
1. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" on 
9/12 entitled "A date we should never forget".  "Yesterday, the 
world remembered two events that changed history, and they are 
not only related because they happened on a September 11, but 
also because both of them are terrorist acts: the coup d'tat 
against Allende in 1973, and the devastating attack against the 
U.S. in 2001." 
 
"While the U.S. and other countries still remember with anger and 
pain the everlasting image of commercial planes used as gigantic 
missiles which shattered the symbol of the American economic 
power and partially destroyed the Pentagon, their symbol of 
military power, Chile and Latin America commemorated the military 
blow against democratic institutions that was the starting point 
of one of the most vicious military regimes in history." 
 
"Still, the Americans and the relatives of the 3,000 victims weep 
for their loved ones two years after such tragedy, and angered by 
the fact that the mastermind of the attack, Osama bin Laden, is 
still on the loose and making threats from his inexpugnable 
retreat.  Meanwhile, in Latin America and other countries, the 
relatives of the thousands of victims of the Pinochet regime also 
remembered their loved ones and President Salvador Allende, who 
preferred to die before giving up the Chilean democracy to the 
repressive military leaders." 
 
"We hope we never see similar events in the future.  Neither 
Chile nor the U.S. should become victims of terrorist attacks by 
Muslim fanatics or those who try to foster their own expansionist 
and imperialistic agenda." 
 
2. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna " on 
9/12 entitled "A war economy".  "We have arrived to a new 
anniversary of the terrorist acts on that dreadful September 11 
against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. 
This brutally destructive event changed the world in several 
ways." 
 
"The 9/11 attacks altered the global economy, causing serious 
losses to tourism and distrust in the market, which debilitated 
the national economies worldwide that now exist under the 
influence of geopolitical factors and the risk of terrorist 
attacks." 
 
"We are now aware we are living in a world that has become more 
dangerous.  Now, more than ever before, we are living under a 
constant threat of terrorism." 
 
"The U.S., which suffered the most of the negative consequences 
of the terrorist attacks, the most human losses, the destruction 
of properties, and the inestimable damage to businesses, trade 
and industry, is still going through a framework of a war 
economy." 
 
"As President Bush said it from the beginning, the struggle 
against terrorism is expensive, long-lasting, and requires a 
great deal of sacrifice.  The feeling of pain, anxiety and 
distress is immense when we remember those painful hours during 
that September 11 that change the world.  We hope it does for the 
best." 
 
Palmer