US embassy cable - 02TEGUCIGALPA3140

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 003140 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR OES/OA, L/OES, WHA/CEN, WHA/CAR, AND WHA/MEX 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PBTS, PREL, ETRD, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAS SUPPORTS MEXICO'S CARIBBEAN MARITIME 
BOUNDARY INITIATIVE; MFA GIVES UPDATE ON PENDING BORDER 
DISPUTES 
 
REF: STATE 214982 
 
1. PolOff discussed Mexico's Caribbean maritime boundary 
initiative (reftel) November 5 with MFA DG for Foreign Policy 
AMB Mario Fortin.  Fortin said that the GOH had attended the 
first conference in May and welcomed the Mexican initiative. 
(Fortin told PolOff November 18 that the GOH had "registered" 
its Caribbean boundary disputes with Mexico.) 
 
2. Fortin said November 5 that with respect to Honduras' 
boundary dispute with Nicaragua, the GOH was only using the 
International Court of Justice (ICJ) process, and not the 
Mexican initiative.  Post notes that although the overall 
issue of the Honduran-Nicaraguan Caribbean border is still 
pending, the ICJ recently ruled in favor of the GOH's 
petition against Nicaragua's 35 percent tariff on Honduran 
imports. 
 
3. Fortin said that the GOH had negotiations underway with 
Cuba and Jamaica on boundary disputes, had recently completed 
negotiations with the United Kingdom on the Grand Cayman 
Islands, and had helped support the OAS process of 
negotiations between Guatemala and Belize. 
 
4. In addition, Fortin noted that the ICJ had yet to rule on 
El Salvador's September 10 request for a revision of the 1992 
ICJ ruling that laid out shared areas of control in the Gulf 
of Fonseca and established the land border between Honduras 
and El Salvador. 
PALMER