US embassy cable - 05QUITO970

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000970 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EC 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: MINGOV LOSING SLEEP 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR KRISTIE A. KENNEY REASON 1.4 (B&D) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  In a meeting with the Ambassador, an 
unfocused Minister of Government Mauricio Gandara discussed 
his mostly theoretical goals for the (maximum) 18 months 
remaining for the Palacio government.  His top priorities 
were police reform and a referendum to propose a 
constitutional assembly and electoral reform.  Gandara said 
he would not reach out to the discredited Congress, expecting 
them to come to him instead.  End Summary. 
 
Police Reform a Top Priority 
---------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) On April 28, the Ambassador had a one-on-one 
breakfast with a tired Gandara to discuss the government's 
next steps.  Top on Gandara's agenda was police reform.  He 
believed police had behaved poorly during the recent protests 
and now had no credibility.  Police needed to focus on 
reforming itself to focus on human rights and justice 
weaknesses.  By his estimation, 90% of the public hated the 
police.  Gandara said he had met with various human rights 
groups early after taking office and was committed to 
cleaning up his ministry, which includes direction of the 
national police. 
 
Government Plans Evolving 
------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) Gandara said he would move forward with a referendum, 
which might possibly propose a constitutional assembly to 
change the Constitution and electoral reforms.  He was not 
sure how the assembly would mesh with President Palacio's 
proposed dialogue roundtables, announced on April 26.  Half 
of the members of any assembly should be composed of people 
aged 25-35.  Electoral reform would focus on limiting the 
number of political parties and eliminating the second round 
of presidential elections. 
 
4.  (C) Gandara said forming the new Cabinet had been 
challenging as family and friends of Palacio were coming out 
of the woodwork to request government posts.  Gandara said he 
insisted to Palacio that all Ministers be honest and warned 
against nepotism.  Gandara still had much work to do 
organizing his own Ministry, he said.  He wanted to propose 
some posts be reserved for youth, on a revolving basis, to 
give young leaders experience in governance. 
 
Too Proud To Approach Congress 
------------------------------ 
 
5.  (C) Gandara said Congress was very weak and discredited. 
Therefore, he would not approach Congress; they must come to 
him.  The Ambassador suggested that the government might use 
this opportunity to look at structural long-term reform, and 
urge Congress to pass important laws pending; Gandara did not 
bite. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6.  (C) Gandara was doing his best to be charming, but could 
not resist the urge to burnish his nationalistic credentials. 
 Gandara made a point of telling the Ambassador that he stood 
by his past editorials against the US and faulted El Comercio 
newspaper for "inappropriately" publishing an editorial by 
the Ambassador earlier this month. 
 
7.  (C) Clearly affected by a lack of sleep, he appeared 
tired and unfocused, and obviously had not had time to think 
through some policy proposals.  We will continue to promote 
US priorities with the Minister, while keeping in mind his 
anti-US bias and the need to handle him gently. 
KENNEY