US embassy cable - 05QUITO976

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 QUITO 000976 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ASEC, PINR, EC 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: EMBASSY CONTINUES OUTREACH, OAS CONTINUES 
MISSION, SITUATION CALM 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney for reason 1.4 (b&d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  The Ambassador met separately with Minister 
of Government Mauricio Gandara and First Lady Maria Paret de 
Palacio on April 28.  The OAS delegation continued its round 
of meetings with political parties, indigenous, civil society 
groups, jurists, and ex-presidents, and will meet with media 
and business representatives on April 29.  Congress called 
for an investigation into the incidents at Congress on April 
20, where President Palacio and the Congress were unprotected 
and sequestered for hours by an angry mob which proceeded to 
loot the building.  The GOE announced initiatives to promote 
national dialogue and boost social spending.  The security 
situation in Quito remains relatively calm.  End Summary. 
 
Ambassador Continues Outreach 
----------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador met with Minister of Government 
Mauricio Gandara (SepTel) and separately with First Lady 
Maria Paret de Palacio on April 28.  Paret told the 
Ambassador that she is a U.S. citizen and has lived in Miami 
for the past eight years with her children.  Her new job came 
as a surprise twist of circumstance--although it was not 
entirely unexpected, she said.  As Vice President, Palacio 
had tried to help Gutierrez but his advice was disregarded. 
Ultimately, she knew Gutierrez would be forced out of office. 
 As First Lady, she had already assumed the presidency of 
INNFA, the national children's organization.  Paret praised 
her predecessor, Ximena Borhorquez, for her work in the same 
capacity.  One of Paret's early interests would be providing 
services for street children.  Parents need to take 
responsibility for their children, and at a minimum should be 
enrolled in school if receiving government handouts.  The 
Ambassador expressed USG interest in cooperating with INNFA 
to help victims of trafficking in persons, and provided Paret 
with background material on the subject and child labor. 
 
OAS 
--- 
 
3.  (SBU) The OAS had a very full schedule of meetings on the 
afternoon of April 27 and met with several civil society 
leaders:  Maria Paula Romero of "Ruptura 25," Cesar Montufar 
of "Participacion Ciudadana," Cristian Bahamonde and Valeria 
Menino of the Corporation for Latin American Development, a 
Transparency International representative, and Minister of 
Defense under former President Jamil Mahuad, Gen. (ret.) Jose 
Gallardo.  The delegation met separately with each of the 
major political party (except the PRE and PSP), and with 
indigenous groups including CONAIE, and the Pueblo Originario 
Kichwa de Sarayacu, a the nation's largest indigenous 
organization. 
 
4.  (SBU) On April 28, the delegation met with noted jurists 
and former Supreme Court magistrates; ex-president Gutierrez' 
legal advisor; representatives of Gutierrez' Patriotic 
Society party (PSP) and (separately) Bucaram's Ecuadorian 
Roldosista Party (PRE); human rights groups; and former 
presidents Hurtado, Borja, Duran Ballen, and former VP Leon 
Roldos.  The OAS mission will meet on April 29 with media 
representatives, business groups, the Solicitor General, and 
international organizations.  They will not travel to 
Guayaquil. 
 
5.  (C) Ambassador Dunn told PolChief that the noted jurists 
(Ramiro Borja, Heinz Moeller, Cesar Trujilla, Fabian Corral 
and one other) concurred that the dismissal of Congress was 
constitutional and justified by the unconstitutional acts of 
the Gutierrez government.  Asked how the OAS could help, 
Moeller, a former FM and OAS Democracy Charter signatory, 
requested that the OAS apply the Charter to support Ecuador's 
democratic institutions.  Others requested international 
assistance to oversee the selection process for new 
magistrates, and rejection of safe haven for corrupt former 
GOE officials. 
 
6.  (C) Carlos Larrea, Gutierrez' legal advisor, couterargued 
that the Gutierrez government's actions were constitutional 
and Congress' dismissal of Gutierrez was illegal.  By rights, 
Gutierrez should be restored to the presidency; Larrea 
acknowledged that this would not be practical in the current 
political environment.  Gilmar Gutierrez of the PSP described 
a conspiracy of the oligarchy against his brother's 
government, aided by the corrupt media elite.  In the end, 
the oligarchy manipulated a tiny fraction of the population 
to destabilize the Gutierrez government through street 
protests.  He requested OAS protection, citing threats and 
slanderous charges being made against him. 
 
7.  (C) PRE leaders Adolfo Bucaram (brother of Abdala), Omar 
Quintana, Ernesto Valle and Fernando Rosero echoed Gilmar's 
conspiracy allegations.  PSC leader Leon Febres Cordero was 
to blame, they said, in 2005 as in 1997, when ex-president 
Bucaram was deposed.  His party was recouping positions of 
power lost during Gutierrez' tenure.  They criticized the OAS 
for not acting in 1997 to sanction the undemocratic removal 
of a president.  Not acting now would condone impunity and 
lead to future overthrows. 
 
SA Foreign Ministers Arriving April 29 
-------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) Brazil DCM Jose Fiuza told us that the South American 
Community troika, including Brazilian FM Amorim, will arrive 
from Santiago April 29 and depart April 30.  Amorim will be 
accompanied by Ecuadorian FM Parra and the Peruvian FM, also 
returning from the Community of Democracy meeting in 
Santiago.  They will be joined here by the Bolivian FM, and 
have a meeting confirmed with President Palacio.  The troika 
hopes for additional meetings at the MFA, and with Quito 
Mayor Moncayo, president of congress Wilfredo Lucero, and 
Democratic Left leader Guillermo Landazuri.  The troika visit 
is conceived of as complementary to the OAS mission, 
according to Fiuza.  We later heard from an MFA source that 
the Peruvian FM would not be coming to Ecuador, for health 
reasons, and would be represented by his Ambassador here. 
 
Congress Slows its Pace 
----------------------- 
 
9.  (U) Congress met briefly on April 27 and discussed a 
resolution urging the government to investigate the damages 
to the CIESPAL building, where Congress held its alternate 
session on April 20.  Protesters had prevented Congress and 
President Palacio, unprotected by police or military at the 
time, from leaving the building for several hours after 
Palacio was sworn in.  Several congress members were attacked 
by hostile crowds demanding their ouster as they tried to 
leave the building. On April 28, Congress called for an 
investigation into the events at CIESPAL on April 20.  PSC 
congressman Luis Fernando Torres accused military elements of 
trying to take political control during this period.  Due to 
a bomb threat, Congress was dismissed on April 28 after a 
one-hour session. 
 
Government Initiatives 
---------------------- 
 
10.  (U) President Palacio announced on April 26 that 
dialogue tables ("mesas de dialogo") and regional assemblies 
were necessary to get citizen input on possible structural 
reforms.  He did not specify the mechanism he would use, 
except to say that the government would seek support from 
international organizations to organize the meetings.  The 
goal would be to discuss social, political, and economic 
topics in a Jeffersonian model of direct democracy.  The 
meetings could help develop the agenda for a national 
referendum and possibly a constitutional assembly.  Palacio 
said he would meet with national and international 
organizations to discuss the matter in further detail. 
 
11.  (U) Minister of Economy and Finance Rafael Correa 
announced that the President will submit legislation to 
Congress to change the allocation of money from oil revenues 
in the Fund for Stability, Investment, and Reduction of 
Public Debt (FEIREP).  Currently 70% of the money is used to 
pay public debt and 10% goes to social programs; Correa's 
proposal would allocate 40% to generate economic development, 
15% to education, 15% to public health care, and 10% to 
science and technology research.  Correa said he expected 
"total support" from Congress for the proposal. 
 
Cabinet:  Four More Ministers Named, Three To Go 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
12.  (U) Palacio named four additional ministers on April 27: 
 Minister of Public Works Derliz Palacios, Minister of Social 
Welfare Alberto Rigail, Minister of Environment Anita Alban, 
and Minister of Housing Armando Bravo.  The ministers of 
labor, energy, and agriculture have not yet been appointed. 
 
Moves Against Former Government Officials 
----------------------------------------- 
 
13.  (U) President Palacio announced on April 26 that Ecuador 
would "shortly" request extradition of former president 
Gutierrez from Brazil.  Media reports noted commentary from 
legal experts that Brazil had before never granted 
extradition requests for individuals given political asylum. 
 
14.  (U) On April 27, former Supreme Court President 
Guillermo Castro was detained for four hours on charges of 
attempted bribery.  Castro reportedly offered a $1,000 bribe 
to immigration officials for a false Andean travel document. 
He was released after a habeas corpus petition by the mayor 
of Santa Rosa (a fellow PRE member) in El Oro province. 
 
Security Situation Still Calm 
----------------------------- 
 
15.  (U) The situation in Quito remains calm.  A peaceful 
anti-OAS protest of approximately 60 people took place 
outside the hotel where the OAS delegation is conducting its 
meetings.  Most of the protesters are Afro-Ecuadorians from 
Esmeraldas province, the heartland of the leftist Popular 
Democratic Movement political party (MPD).  Small groups of 
pro-Gutierrez protesters blocked roads in Tena and Los Rios 
provinces on April 27. 
 
 
KENNEY