US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO6492

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 006492 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR; AGRICULTURE FOR FAS; DEPT/WHITE HOUSE 
PASS USTR FOR A MALITO, S CRONIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: DR, EAGR, ETRD, PGOV, PREL 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN AGRICULTURE SECRETARY DEFENDS FREE TRADE 
AGREEMENT 
 
 
1.  On December 1 Dominican Secretary of Agriculture Amilcar 
Romero replied to an anti-trade-agreement diatribe at a 
national ceremony with a reasoned defense of the free trade 
agreement with the United States and Central America (CAFTA) 
and advised ranchers and farmers that agriculture will have 
to move away from traditional protectionism to a more 
competitive approach. 
 
2.  The Dominican Association of Ranchers and Farmers 
(Asociacion Dominica de Hacendados y Agricultores or ADHA) 
held its annual merit awards ceremony for outstanding 
ranchers and farmers on December 1.  The ADHA is the oldest 
livestock and agricultural association in the Dominican 
Republic (DR) and second in importance only to the Patronato 
Nacional, which is strictly a livestock group.    Dominican 
President Leonel Fernandez and Secretary of Agriculture 
Amlcar Romero both attended the event, as is traditional. 
Embassy Agricultural Counselor attended the event as a 
special guest, as is customary. 
 
2. The two featured speakers were Csar Contreras, President 
of ADHA, and Secretary of Agriculture Romero.  (President 
Fernandez did not give remarks and declined to speak to the 
press as he was leaving the event.)  ADHA President Contreras 
spoke first and repeated several of the scare statistics of 
the effects of the implementation of CAFTA --  500,000 jobs 
would be lost in the agricultural sector (100 percent of all 
jobs in agriculture) and the country could never compete with 
U.S. products benefiting from USD 40 billion in subsidies. 
Contreras said that the Dominican agricultural sector lacked 
the infrastructure and access to credit necessary to be 
competitive.  He called upon President Fernandez to defend 
the Dominican agricultural sector and renegotiate the 
agreement.  Adamantly anti-CAFTA literature was placed at 
every seat at the event:  the bi-monthly publication of the 
Dominican dairy association (APROLECHE) and a handout from 
the Agricultural Emergency Committee (Comite de Emergencia 
Agropecuaria --organized and funded principally by sugar and 
fertilizer interests). 
 
3.  Agriculture Secretary Romero delivered a strong, 
economically sound counter-message.  In front of an audience 
that had just heard that the free trade agreement would be 
the death of the Dominican agricultural sector, he gave a 
reasoned and moderate speech, commenting that the old ways of 
protecting producers through quotas, tariffs, and customs 
restrictions were things of the past and that structural 
change was necessary in the Dominican agricultural sector to 
make it more competitive.  Romero acknowledged the 
apprehension in the agricultural sector with respect to the 
free trade agreement.  He emphasized, however, that the 
country cannot remain isolated and agriculture must turn 
weaknesses into strengths.  The message he was delivering, 
with President Fernandez seated beside him, was that the DR 
has to pass the FTA and then make the structural changes in 
the agricultural sector necessary to compete in the world 
economy. 
 
 Comment 
 
4.   It took a lot of courage for the Secretary to give this 
speech to an audience that had just given a resounding 
applause to President Contreras,s anti-FTA remarks. 
Although President Fernandez did not take an active role in 
the event, his presence was a silent endorsement of the 
content of Secretary Romero,s speech. 
HERTELL