US embassy cable - 05QUITO934

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 000934 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, ASEC, EC 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: TENSIONS LOWER, GOE REGROUPS 
 
REF: QUITO 912 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, Reason 1.4 (b&d) 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  With the situation in Quito approaching 
normalcy, the Ambassador met with FM Antonio Parra on April 
26.  Convening for the first time since swearing in President 
Palacio on April 20, Congress met in Quito to vote in a new 
Congress president, and debate purging its ranks of ethics 
violators and name a new Supreme Court.  Wilfrido Lucero of 
the Democratic Left (ID) party was elected as the new head of 
Congress with 65 votes.  Palacio told the press on April 25 
that he would respect the agreement that allows USG use of 
the Manta air force base and will continue free trade 
agreement negotiations.  The Presidency is preparing a list 
of Vice Presidential candidates to be submitted to Congress 
next week.  An OAS Mission and South American Community 
delegation are arriving in Ecuador to analyze the political 
situation.  End Summary. 
 
Embassy Actions 
--------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) The Ambassador met with FM Antonio Parra on April 
26 (septel).  The Ambassador also has meetings scheduled for 
this week with the new Ministers of Defense and Government. 
Next week, the Ambassador will also meet with the Minister of 
Commerce and the Commander of the Joint Chiefs. 
 
Congress Elects New President 
----------------------------- 
 
3.  (U) In its first session since the naming of Palacio as 
President, Congress voted in favor of Wilfrido Lucero (ID) to 
fill the vacant position of president of Congress.  Lucero 
was elected with 65 votes from the ID, Pachakutik, PSC, DP, 
MPD, and Socialist parties.  Omar Quintana (the recently 
removed president who left the session before voting began) 
received three votes, 15 Congress members abstained, one vote 
was nullified, and six did not vote. 
 
4.  (U) Congress is still in session as of this writing and 
is considering the sanctioning and dismissal of 11 deputies, 
elected from party lists who subsequently abandoned their 
parties to become independent, accused of ethical violations. 
 Vincente Olmedo (member of the G5 independent block), one of 
the deputies possibly facing sanction, pre-emptively resigned 
from Congress on April 26.  Luis Almeida (ex PSC) also 
resigned before Congress began its session, saying he was 
obeying the public's mandate that all deputies resign. 
Carlos Vallejo (PRIAN) also reportedly resigned before the 
session.  The final topic on the day's agenda was the law 
governing the naming of the new Supreme Court magistrates. 
 
5.  (U) The brother of former President Gutierrez, 
Congressman Gilmar Gutierrez (PSP) attended the session, 
denying reports that he would seek to destabilize the country 
with pro-Gutierrez protests.  The Ecuadorian National Police 
informed RSO that university students would be marching to 
the Congress the morning of April 26 to protest.  As of 1400 
local time, only approximately 100 vocal, but peaceful 
protesters, were outside the Congress building. 
 
Palacio Will Respect Manta Agreement 
------------------------------------ 
 
6.  (U) Palacio told press on April 25 that his government 
would respect all signed international treaties, including 
USG use of the Manta air force base.  On Plan Colombia, 
Palacio said that Ecuador should not intervene; troops should 
be mobilized only to defend Ecuadorian territory.  Unless 
fumigations can be proven scientifically to be harmless, they 
should not continue, he said.  Palacio also said Ecuador 
would continue free trade agreement negotiations, but will 
seek common benefits.  Palacio said he hoped relations with 
the US would be strong and based on equality.  On the 
Occidental petroleum company commercial dispute, Palacio said 
that national and international laws be respected. 
 
Vice President to be Selected Next Week 
--------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) The President's spokesman has announced that a Vice 
President will be chosen next week from a list of three 
candidates to be sent to the Congress.  President Palacio 
indicated that the names will feature candidates from the 
highlands, since he is from the coast.  Indigenous leader and 
former FM Nina Pacari was rumored to be a possible candidate. 
 Pacari said publicly, however, that she would not accept the 
position.  An MFA source speculated that another strong 
possibility was Diego Cordovez, a former FM under President 
Borja and former UN Undersecretary under Boutros 
Boutros-Ghali.  Pablo Piedra, a student representative from 
Quito's Catholic University, called on the government to 
include Santiago Guarderas, the dean of Law at the 
university, on the short list for the post. 
 
OAS Mission Arriving Shortly 
---------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) An OAS Mission will arrive in Quito the evening of 
April 26; they will meet with OAS Ambassadors on arrival. 
The OAS is seeking meetings with the GoE, Congress, mayors 
and prefects, judges and lawyers, former Presidents and Vice 
Presidents, Ecuador's UN office, business groups, Church 
representatives, human rights organizations, indigenous, and 
civil society groups.  The OAS mission will be led by OAS 
SecGen Luigi Einaudi, and include US Ambassador Tim Dunn and 
representatives from Chile, Honduras, Venezuela, Mexico, and 
an as-of-yet undetermined Caribbean country.  The Canadian 
Ambassador to Ecuador will also accompany the Mission on its 
meetings.  Einaudi and the Peruvian representative will be 
the Mission's spokespersons. 
 
South American FMs Arriving 
--------------------------- 
 
9.  (C) Another delegation of South American Community 
Foreign Ministers is also arriving in Quito on April 26. 
According to Brazilian DCM Jose Fiuza, the group has no 
preconceived agenda except to meet with President Palacio and 
FM Antonio Parra on April 26.  The delegation will include 
Brazilian Subsecretary for South America Luiz Filipe de 
Macedo Soares Guimaraes, and the Peruvian and Bolivian FMs. 
According to Fiuza, the delegation will be forward-looking 
and is not seeking to judge Ecuador.  The delegation intends 
to complement OAS efforts, and demonstrate South American 
support for Ecuador.  An agenda for the delegation has yet to 
be decided. 
 
EU Statement Misinterpreted as Recognition 
------------------------------------------ 
 
10.  (C) Local press reported on April 26 that the European 
Union had announced its formal recognition of the Palacio 
government.  The Dutch Ambassador denied the report in an 
April 26 meeting with the Ambassador.  EU FM Solana's 
comments were misquoted by local media.  Instead, his 
comments were that relations had never been broken.  EU 
Embassies are not yet authorized to engage with the new 
government.  Spanish Ambassador confirmed this in a meeting 
with the Ambassador on April 26.  He said the GOS is 
considering arranging a fact-finding visit by the Club de 
Madrid. 
 
Other News 
---------- 
 
11.  (U) Other recent news: 
 
--Ex-President Abdala Bucaram arrived in Panama from Lima on 
April 26 and is seeking political asylum. 
 
--In Tena, the Amazonian hometown of Gutierrez, approximately 
300 peaceful protesters demonstrated in favor of ex-President 
Gutierrez on April 26. 
 
Bio Note 
-------- 
 
12.  (C) This is the third time Wilfrido Lucero Bolanos will 
serve as president of Congress.  Lucero was first elected 
president of Congress in 1988 when his party (DP) was in 
coalition with the Democratic Left (ID).  He was reelected 
president in August 1989.  He served as Congressional Deputy 
for Carchi province from 1988-1990.  Lucero says he left the 
DP for the ID because he felt the DP moved too far right.  He 
is respected as an honest Congressional leader with a social 
conscience.  As president of the Andean Parliament, Lucero 
fought to bring the fight against narco-trafficking into 
public focus.  Lucero is a lawyer by profession and has been 
a valuable Embassy contact.  Lucero was born on December 29, 
1935 in Tulcan, Carchi province (on the Colombian border). 
KENNEY