US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2223

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/EPSC, EB/ESC 
STATE PASS USTR FOR AMALITO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECIN, EINV, ECON, ETRD, HO 
SUBJECT:  Honduras and Nicaragua Re-Open Borders For Cargo 
After Brief Stand-Off 
 
 
1. Honduran truck drivers opened the Honduran - Nicaraguan 
border for cargo transport Friday, October 21, after 
blockading several key highways for approximately 48 hours. 
The blockage was in response to a similar move by Nicaraguan 
truckers a day earlier. Following a formal note of protest 
from GOH Foreign Minister Mario Fortin to Nicaragua, the 
situation escalated, becoming headline news in Honduras. 
The matter was quickly taken up and resolved by Honduran 
President Ricardo Maduro and Nicaraguan President Enrique 
Bolanos at the Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) 
summit in El Salvador on October 20. 
 
2. Nicaraguan truck drivers first blocked cargo shipments on 
October 17 in response to a traffic ordinance (CT-140/2005) 
that had been interpreted as denying entry into Nicaragua by 
any cargo trucks that did not have Nicaraguan license 
plates.  The traffic ordinance, recently promulgated by the 
Nicaraguan customs office, was denounced by the Honduran 
Transport Association (HTA) as a "bad interpretation" of a 
Nicaraguan Transport Law. "The law was intended to promote 
employment opportunities for Nicaraguan workers," said an 
Association spokesman, not to halt cross-border trade.  In 
response, the HTA organized a counter-blockade on the 
Honduran side of the border. 
 
3. The dispute highlighted the potential for problems within 
the nascent CAFTA-DR free trade zone.  Honduran businesses, 
which send significantly more cargo to Nicaragua then they 
receive, were incensed.  "What the transporters are looking 
for is a monopoly in their country," said Enrique Mejia 
Ucles, a member of the Honduran Counsel of Private 
Businesses (COHEP).  "It's ridiculous because Honduras and 
the other Central American countries would simply do the 
same." 
 
4. Presidents Maduro and Bolanos were quick to find a way to 
end the crisis from the summit in San Salvador, where U.S. 
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was also in attendance 
as part of his recent three-country tour to promote CAFTA- 
DR.  As part of the agreement, a technical advisory team was 
sent by SIECA (Secretariat for Central American Economic 
Integration) to meet with the Nicaraguan truck drivers and 
better understand their concerns. 
 
5. At a luncheon with Secretary Gutierrez on October 19, 
President Maduro signaled his deeper concern and his clear 
intention to take up the issue the following day at the 
presidential level, when he said, "Everyone is talking about 
this blockade.  The issue is not the blockade; the issue is 
democracy."  Maduro has repeatedly joined with his regional 
counterparts, both individually and in the Organization of 
American States (OAS), in condemning what he considers 
increasingly anti-democratic developments in Nicaragua. 
 
Williard