US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2210

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002210 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/PD, IIP/T/ES, IIP/G/WHA, OES, AND WHA/CEN 
EMBASSIES FOR PAOS, IOS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PREL, PGOV, SENV, KPAO, HO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON HURRICANE WILMA AND OTHER 
PHENOMENA, OCTOBER 26, 2005 
 
 
1. On 09/03 the Tegucigalpa-based liberal daily "La Tribuna" 
published an editorial entitled "Nature Inflamed." "This has 
been one of the most active hurricane seasons in a long 
time. Wilma has not yet exhausted all her power with the 
destruction she has yielded against dozens of coastal 
communities of the Gulf of Mexico." 
 
"As if these disturbances weren't enough anguish, this time, 
other violent natural phenomena have also done their harm. 
The tsunamis and earthquakes that have hit various countries 
in the Asiatic region with brutal devastation have been 
cataclysmic, competing with the mortal destruction of 
Hurricane Mitch in Central America, that hit Honduras 
especially hard, a terrifying example of what nature can do 
when agitated." 
 
"The North Americans, whose Southern citizens have 
previously experienced the impact of powerful hurricanes, 
especially in the state of Florida, suffered the 
unprecedented this time with Katrina, with New Orleans 
completely submerged under water. The magnitude of the 
damage was so extensive it is presumed the rehabilitation 
will go slowly, but that the city that brought so much 
tourism from all over the world will again be what it once 
was." 
 
"The supernatural on this occasion has been the frequency of 
these disasters. The eyes of the world had not yet finished 
focusing on the tragedy at hand to find another tragedy in 
another party of the world, with more deaths, desolation, 
and destruction everywhere. There is an epidemic of 
calamities that had not allowed one to focus neither 
attention nor the assistance needed for a reasonable period, 
now that the an immediate sense of urgency is lent to other 
disasters." 
 
"Hurricane Stan was rude to Central America, it was unable 
to capture the attention of the global community, aside from 
Queen Sophia of Spain who also helped Honduras and the other 
countries most affected during hurricane Mitch. Thank God 
that Wilma barely touched our coasts, we would not have been 
able to withstand another fatality, the dimensions of Mitch 
that scattered death, pain, and destruction throughout 
Honduras and left the country like a broken puzzle, in 
hundreds of pieces." 
 
"Because of the experience that we lived and the response we 
received, we feel sometimes that signs of solidarity have 
been lukewarm between us and those who now suffer through 
similar tragedies." 
 
Williard