US embassy cable - 05QUITO721

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000721 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CCA, DRL/MLA, AND IO/SHA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, CU, EC, CHR-1 
SUBJECT: FM FIRM ON CUBA ABSTENTION, BUT WILLING TO TALK 
 
REF: QUITO 682 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney for Reason 1.4 (B&D) 
 
This is an action request for the Department.  See para 7. 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  FM Patricio Zuquilanda indicated to the 
Ambassador on March 31 that the GOE will again abstain from 
voting on the upcoming U.S. resolution on human rights in 
Cuba.  He also requested a meeting in Washington with 
Secretary Rice on the margins of the OAS extraordinary 
 
SIPDIS 
session on April 7.  We recommend that an appropriate 
Department official meet with Zuquilanda to discuss Cuba and 
OAS issues further.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador called on the FM to raise the Cuba 
vote and OAS SecGen race (SepTel).  PolChief made similar 
points in parallel to MFA U/S for Multilateral Affairs, Jose 
Piedrahita. 
 
Open to Dialogue 
---------------- 
 
3.  (C) The Ambassador told the FM that she had raised the 
Cuba issue with President Gutierrez (RefTel), that the Cuba 
human rights situation and the non-polemic U.S. resolution 
warrants consideration, and that he or the president might be 
called about the issue by U.S. officials.  Zuquilanda said he 
would be glad to discuss the issue further and assured the 
Ambassador that he personally and his government are strong 
allies of the U.S.  He decried leftist inroads in South 
America, and expressed interest in meeting with Secretary 
Rice or other senior department officials on the margins of 
the OAS session he would attend on April 7. 
 
All About Me 
------------ 
 
4.  (C) Zuquilanda said he had met the same morning with a 
visiting Cuban vice minister (of education, we believe).  The 
VM had lobbied for a no vote, which Zuquilanda claimed to 
have strongly rebuffed.  "I told him he must be joking, 
considering Cuban support for Ecuadorian indigenous movements 
represented politically by Pachakutik, a party calling for my 
impeachment," he huffed.  Agitated, he provided the 
Ambassador a copy of the impeachment motion, which faults him 
for permitting (or not protesting) Colombian aerial 
fumigation, the sinking of Ecuadorian alien smuggling vessels 
by the U.S. military, and the operation of foreign 
(Colombian) agents on Ecuadorian territory. 
 
Firm on Abstention 
------------------ 
 
5.  (C) Asked by the Ambassador how Ecuador would vote, the 
FM said "we have always abstained."  The Ambassador noted 
that Ecuador had voted in favor in 1999, and asked Zuquilanda 
to consider voting in favor again.  Zuquilanda simply 
repeated his abstention mantra. 
 
6.  (C) Separately, Piedrahita said Ecuador had firmly 
decided to refrain from supporting country-specific 
resolutions except in extraordinary cases of massive and 
egregious human rights violations.  PolChief argued that the 
situation in Cuba met that standard; Piedrahita said the GOE 
would abstain. 
 
Comment and Action Request 
-------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) Despite the GOE's clear inclination toward 
abstention, we see value in receiving Zuquilanda in 
Washington at a reasonable level.  Such a meeting would offer 
an opportunity to further explore the Cuba and OAS SecGen 
issues.  However, we should use such a meeting to raise other 
priority concerns over democracy, trade (Oxy), and Venezuela. 
 
KENNEY