US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA526

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000526 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN, PGOV, SNAR, GT 
SUBJECT: RESUMPTION OF FTAA TNC AND NEXT STEPS 
 
REF: STATE 30377 
 
With us on the Plurilateral Agreement 
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1.  (SBU)  EconCouns discussed resumption of FTAA Trade 
Negotiating Committee activities (reftel) with Vice Minister 
of Economy for Trade and Integration Eduardo Sperisen on 
March 1.  Sperisen fully agreed on the importance of moving 
ahead quickly and across the board on a high-quality 
plurilateral agreement among the G-14, and he looked forward 
to meeting in Puebla on March 17. 
 
But Not On Costa Rica as Representative 
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2.  (SBU)  Sperisen raised the smaller group meeting with the 
five allies and Mercosur in Buenos Aires.  He said he 
understood the thinking behind keeping the meeting small but 
was annoyed that Costa Rica had been chosen as the Central 
American representative.  He noted that Costa Rica had been 
used by the U.S. as coordinator with the Central Americans in 
Puebla despite not being represented at the vice ministerial 
level.  He also noted that Guatemala was president 
pro-tempore of the Central American Integration System (SICA) 
for 2004 and, should, per normal protocol, speak for the 
sub-region.  He lamented the damage done to Guatemala's 
reputation by the recently departed Portillo Administration 
and hoped that the recovery would not take too long. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Comment:  The Guatemalans are still annoyed with 
Costa Rican behavior at the end of the "final" CAFTA round in 
Washington and their lack of enthusiasm for building a 
customs union.  It was particularly clear that Sperisen 
disliked being "coordinated" in Puebla by Costa Rica's 
Fernando Ocampo, whom the Guatemalans seem to hold in 
particular contempt. 
HAMILTON