US embassy cable - 05QUITO589

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 000589 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE, PLEASE PASS TO DS/IP/WHA, DS/OSAC, DS/ITA, AND 
CA/ACS/OCS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, ASEC, PTER, EC 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S WAVE OF VIOLENCE:  POLITICAL ROOTS? 
 
REF: QUITO 536 
 
1.  Summary:  Almost a dozen prominent opponents of the GOE 
have been victims of assaults since February 2004.  The 
attacks have taken place in two waves; the latest began in 
December 2004, and the frequency of violence has increased 
over the past two months.  Ecuador recently agreed to the 
Organization of American States' Interamerican Commission on 
Human Rights' (CIDH) call to provide protection for seven 
individuals believed to be at the great risk and agreed to 
form a special unit to investigate.  Opposition groups claim 
the violent incidents represent a pattern of government 
participation, although they lack evidence.  Ecuadorian law 
enforcement and military believe at least some of the cases 
may be fraudulent.  End Summary. 
 
Most Notable Cases of Violence 
------------------------------ 
 
2.  The series of possibly politically-motivated violent 
events began with the February 1, 2004, attack on Leonidas 
Iza, president of CONAIE--Ecuador's largest indigenous 
organization.  Eight days later Carlos Munoz, president of 
national television station Telesistema, was shot at and his 
driver was killed.  An improvised explosive device exploded 
at the house of the president of the Supreme Tribunal 
Electorate, Nicanor Moscoso, on February 18.  On March 1, 
Ivan Toral's, director of the newspaper El Tiempo, house was 
shot at.  There have been no arrests in any of these cases. 
 
3.  The violence dissipated temporarily, only to reappear on 
December 15, when the offices of prominent businessman and 
well-known government critic, Blasco Penaherrera, were shot 
at.  Former vice-president Leon Roldos was attacked by an 
unruly leftist student mob on January 26, 2005, and a week 
later unidentified suspects shot at the house of Quito city 
council member Antonio Ricaurte's  mother.  Shortly 
thereafter, a bomb exploded at a radio station owned by a 
member of the Ecuadorian NGO and AID democracy program 
grantee "Citizen Participation" (PC), and former government 
minister Patricio Acosta suffered an attempted kidnapping. 
Socialist congress member Enrique Ayala Mora was shot at on 
March 5, and two days later PC's offices in Quito were 
attacked (reftel).  Two students were arrested on charges of 
attempted aggression in Roldos' case, but no other arrests 
have been made in any of these incidents. 
 
Opposition Cries Foul 
--------------------- 
 
4.  The opposition accused the government of carrying out the 
aforementioned assaults for political reasons.  One 
left-leaning human rights group, ALDHU, claimed there have 
been 43 cases of political violence during Gutierrez's term. 
However, no evidence demonstrates the government's 
involvement.  The opposition does concede that the recent 
attacks on Governor of Esmeraldas Rosa Cabezas and the 
manager of the Guarantor of Deposits Agency Carlos Arboleda 
prove that pro-government forced too have been attack victims. 
 
Ecuadorian Government Responds to International Outcry 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
5.  On February 25, the CIDH urged the GOE to provide 
protective measures to seven people deemed "at risk" 
including Penaherrera, Ricaurte, and Acosta.  The CIDH urged 
the government to determine what occurred in the previous 
attacks, charge the perpetrators, and ensure victims receive 
reparations.  The government offered to meet with these 
individuals on March 11 and has offered to provide 
protection.  Transparency International also expressed 
concerned about "threats, aggressive behaviors, and attempts 
. . . (in) a situation where the opposition is not being 
confronted by the institutional framework but rather 
political terrorism." 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6.  GOE opponents like ALDHU have inflated the number of 
cases of political violence, including incidents that are not 
politically motivated in their count, and accused the 
government of ordering the crimes, likely for their own 
political gains.  While they claim the government is behind 
the attacks, initial results of investigations by the 
Ecuadorian military and law enforcement authorities believe 
that several of these cases may be fraudulent, perpetrated by 
the victims themselves for personal and/or political gains. 
We have encouraged the government to investigate these events 
thoroughly and improve security measures. 
KENNEY