US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2174

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002174 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT. FOR WHA/PD; IIP/G/WHA DIPASQUALE; AND IIP/T/ES 
DEPT. FOR EB/TPP DCLUNE, WHA/EPSC AND WHA/CEN 
DEPT. PASS USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KPAO, ETRD, HO, USTR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON CAFTA, OCTOBER 21, 2005 
 
 
1. On 10/21 the Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" 
published an editorial entitled "Reciprocity." "Who knows 
what happened to the Nicaraguan government, which, after all 
the support that the Hondurans have given to Mr. Enrique 
during the entire political crisis, it seems sometimes that 
there is no reciprocity. First it was the subject of the 
petroleum concessions in the Honduran maritime, still not 
resolved, and now this last blockage to Honduran merchandise 
at border customs." 
 
"It seems that the recent political agreement between Ortega 
and Mr. Enrique will give tranquility to the government for 
some time once the threats of an ouster are dissipated and 
through a law in which the application of the constitutional 
reforms that clip the Executive's powers are delayed until 
the year 2007." 
 
"To the group of congressmen loyal to Aleman had no choice 
to join the initiative. The `sandinistas' were also scared 
by the possibility that the liberal party and other 
conservative groups would go against them in elections after 
the surprise approval of CAFTA in the legislative chamber, 
the product of the negotiation of a high official of the U.S 
Department of State who recently visited the country." 
 
"The subject of the blockade of Honduran carriers at border 
customs, trying to apply a governmental resolution in which 
the merchandise that circulate in and out of Nicaraguan 
territory solely can only be transported by vehicles with 
Nicaraguan license plate. Does the Nicaraguan government 
know that this arbitrary resolution violates integration 
treaties?" 
 
"Thank heavens that at the SICA Summit in San Salvador, and 
as a result of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce's trip, Mr. 
Enrique announced in meetings between the regional transport 
authorities the conflict has been resolved. This not only 
prevented vehicles with Honduran plate from crossing the 
border, but also affected truck drivers from Guatemala, El 
Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama." 
 
2.   On 10/21, the Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El 
Heraldo" published an editorial entitled "The Difficult 
Integration of Central America."  "The prohibition of 
Central American carriers in Nicaraguan territory is once 
more an example that the integration of the isthmus 
continues to be a dream." 
 
"Costa Rica's resistance to integrate completely with the 
rest of Central America and its resistance with its own 
CAFTA are also proof of the difficult integration process. 
Costa Rica, which negotiated part of CAFTA with the United 
States separately, is the only country that has not ratified 
it." 
 
"Yesterday former president Luis Alberto Monge and dozens of 
academics, industrialists and politicians of diverse parties 
published a declaration in which they ask President Abel 
Pacheco to reject CAFTA because `it is inconvenient for 
Costa Rica... it would be a ideological straight jacket that 
prevents the freedom of choosing our own way of 
development,' since `it will force the privatization of 
state institutions that have allowed the development of the 
country.'" 
 
"The Salvadoran delays in the demarcation of the border with 
Honduras are also linked to the chain of facts that 
demonstrate that a certain reluctance to Central American 
integration persists, something that long ago stopped being 
an option and become a necessity." 
 
3. On 10/21 the San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "La 
Prensa" published an editorial entitled "Nicaragua Again." 
"Nicaragua is again the stone in the path, the hair in the 
soup or, rather, the bitter broth of regional integration 
when it closed its borders to Central American transport, 
violating therefore the agreements and preventing the 
reforms necessary in the customs system agreed by CAFTA." 
 
"Less than three months until the treaty is to be put into 
effect, the reforms in the regional customs system are a 
great obstacle to facilitating the commerce that is needed 
to modernize the computerized systems and to improve 
security." 
 
"The Secretary of Commerce declared during that this is an 
obstructionist attitude on a tour of the region before the 
the agreement is put into effect with the American Union." 
 
"The installation of a U.S. customs in the facilities of 
Puerto Cortes makes possible greater speed and security in 
exports that leave certified and enter into the North 
American market without any extra requirements." 
 
"The bet for integration is irreversible and dramatically 
necessary, the desperate attempts do not do more than show 
the impotence and the shortage of initiatives to face the 
challenges of the world-wide economy." 
 
Williard