Demonstration against Central American summit held in Honduras
People’s Daily, Beijing
June 30, 2005
Demonstration against Central American summit held in Honduras
Students, teachers and indigenous residents demonstrated Wednesday in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, against the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Central America and the United States and a regional summit held there, reports reaching here said.
Demonstrators shouted slogans in the streets against the United States and the FTA, which is pending ratification in four Central American countries.
They then gathered near the hotel where the 7th Summit of the Tuxtla Gutierrez Consultation and Negotiation Mechanism took place.
The demonstrators also protested against the privatization of the public sector.
Carlos Reyes, organizer of the march, accused the leaders participating in the summit of seeking to speed up privatization of telephone, electricity, education and health services.
Demonstrators sent a letter to the leaders expressing their rejection of "the integration of the transnational oligarchies."
The meeting was attended by presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the prime minister of Belize.
Source: Xinhua
