US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA1462

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001462 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, EB, DS, AND INR 
STATE PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ETRD, SOCI, PREL, ECON, ELAB, ASEC, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: ANTI-CAFTA PROTEST ANTICLIMACTIC 
 
 
1.  Only 100-200 protesters turned out on June 18 to voice 
their opposition to CAFTA negotiations, signaling that there 
is little focused, popular resistance in Honduras to the 
U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).  The 
demonstration, which so far has been the only organized 
protest to occur during this round of talks, went on for less 
than two hours outside the conference hotel and ended after 
lead Honduran CAFTA negotiator Melvin Redondo met with 
protest leaders. 
 
2.  EmbOffs, having received notice by e-mail had alerted 
delegates by mid-day that there would be an afternoon protest 
in front of the main entrance of the Clarion hotel.  By 4:00 
p.m. the protest was underway, with demonstrators blocking 
traffic in front of the hotel and carrying ten-foot-tall red 
banners denouncing CAFTA and the Free Trade Area of the 
Americas.  The protest was organized by the Popular Block 
(PB), a left-leaning organization that claims to represent 
teachers and workers, whose leader, Carlos H. Reyes, read a 
declaration to the press.  Congresswoman Doris Gutierrez, who 
belongs to the small Democratic Unification Party (a remnant 
of the 1980s socialist movement), also addressed 
demonstrators. 
 
3.  Eyewitnesses estimate that police outnumbered protesters 
2-1, with uniformed officers surrounding the entire hotel. 
The police nearest to the demonstration wore helmets, carried 
riot shields, and were armed with batons rather than 
firearms.  The protest subsided after lead Honduran CAFTA 
negotiator Melvin Redondo met with protest leaders and 
received a list of their grievances. 
 
4.  COMMENT:  The lone anti-CAFTA protest during this round 
of negotiations turned out to be a non-event.  The small 
number of demonstrators stopped traffic on one street and 
delivered their standard anti-free trade message, but talks 
were not impeded in any way.  This level of protest indicates 
that here in Tegucigalpa CAFTA is an issue too nebulous to 
inspire extensive resistance, and attests to the lack of 
widespread, organized opposition to CAFTA in Honduras.  In a 
conversation with LabAtt June 19, labor leader Dinora 
Aceituno (CTH Secretary General) dismissed the demonstration 
as ineffective and counterproductive.  END COMMENT 
Palmer