US embassy cable - 05QUITO978

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 000978 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EC, OAS 
SUBJECT: WELCOMING FM PARRA TO WASHINGTON 
 
REF: QUITO 932 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, Reason 1.4 (b) 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Ecuador's new foreign minister, Antonio 
Parra, will travel to Washington to participate in the 
election of the next OAS Secretary General (slated for May 
2).  Parra, currently in Santiago for the Community of 
Democracies gathering, arrives in Washington May 1, 
accompanied by acting MFA Multilateral Affairs chief Julio 
Prado.  The FM seeks a call on the Deputy Secretary, whom we 
understand will be unavailable, and will visit AID Assistant 
Administrator Adolfo Franco.  Ecuador's Washington embassy 
likely will request further bilats, perhaps with the 
Undersecretary for Political Affairs or additional non-State 
principals.  Since Parra seems the most approachable, 
U.S.-friendly figure in the Alfredo Palacio administration, 
we recommend granting reasonable meeting requests.  Parra has 
spent little time in office and is unlikely to be fully 
schooled on key bilateral issues.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) Parra, a Guayaquil native, assumed command of the 
Foreign Ministry April 21.  He, Administration Secretary 
General Luis Herreria, and Government Minister Mauricio 
Gandara composed the first tranche of ministers Palacio 
named.  In an April 26 courtesy call with the Ambassador 
(Reftel), Parra emphasized his personal affinity for the U.S. 
and Ecuador's desires for close bilateral relations.  As the 
United States was Ecuador's largest foreign investor, donor, 
and export market, there was no alternative to engagement, he 
reasoned.  Unlike fellow Cabinet member Rafael Correa, the 
left-leaning economy minister, Parra believed Ecuador should 
continue with free trade talks.  He also voiced support for a 
money laundering crackdown and assistance for northern border 
residents to wean them from narco-economy dependency. 
 
3.  (C) "Open-minded, easy-going and approachable" describes 
our first impressions of Parra, an opinion shared by Embassy 
contacts.  Unfortunately, "uninformed, untested, and poorly 
staffed" fit as well.  Nonetheless, we rate him the likely 
voice of reason in the Cabinet.  As such, a Washington "charm 
offensive" seems in order, a lesser version of that extended 
in February 2003 to a visiting Gutierrez (which helped turn 
the then-populist U.S.-friendly).  While we don't necessarily 
want to embrace a government whose manner of arrival was 
dubious, we do want to help move its few U.S.-friendly 
members in the correct direction.  Points to cover in 
high-level meetings with FM Parra might include: 
 
-- The United State remains a steadfast ally of Ecuador, our 
nations bound by social, economic, and people-to-people ties; 
 
-- We never broke relations with Ecuador, despite the 
unexpected change in administrations; don't get caught up in 
"recognition" nonsense; 
 
-- Requesting and welcoming OAS assistance was the right 
move; the Mission's agenda was top-notch, its interlocutors 
spanned the spectrum, and the meetings were productive.  We 
look forward to seeing the analysis and after-action report; 
 
-- A positive development from the recent crisis is the 
increased attention from your neighbors and friends; suggest 
you re-inforce ties with responsible governments in Colombia, 
Chile, Brazil, and Spain; 
 
-- You have the USG's support for measures designed to 
strengthen Ecuadorian democracy, shore up stability, and 
secure Ecuador from harmful spillover from the Colombian 
conflict. 
 
5.  (C) As the "adult" in the Palacio Administration, Parra 
has a special responsibility to ensure that meeting the 
Ecuadorian public's short-term demands leaves intact 
heretofore good relations with the United States.  We might 
make the following points: 
 
-- We understand Palacio must distance himself from Gutierrez 
if he is to survive politically; be careful with populist 
turns, however; 
 
-- A couple of Cabinet choices concern us, although we're 
determined to work with, not against them; 
 
-- Government Minister Gandara is free to voice his anti-U.S. 
opinions, but we worry his attitude might threaten excellent 
bilateral law enforcement cooperation; 
 
-- Similarly, Finance Minister Correa's anti-free trade, 
anti-IMF stance has left investors, IFIs skittish; 
 
-- As Ecuador's pre-eminent foreign relations expert, you are 
well-placed to rein both in. 
 
6.  (C) Correa's comments have spiked fears that Ecuador will 
pull out of the Andean Free Trade Agreement negotiations or, 
by demanding the accord be approved in a referendum, will 
strangle it slowly.  Signing the FTA remains a USG regional 
priority, and we would rather Ecuador stay engaged. 
 
-- We are hearing mixed signals on the FTA's future in 
Ecuador; 
 
-- Our ambassador in Quito reports that you see "no other 
choice" but to sign; how are you pushing to save the 
agreement? 
 
-- Resolving commercial disputes (Oxy, primarily) and 
reforming labor code necessary before any accord gets inked; 
 
7.  (C) And why not push our pol-mil and law enforcement 
agenda?  Gutierrez deserved credit for okaying deployment of 
Ecuadorian engineers to Haiti and for buttressing the 
Colombian border, but failed us on Article 98. 
 
-- Kudos to Ecuador for contributing engineers to the UN-led 
Haiti peacekeeping mission; hope to see further Ecuadorian 
engagement in the hemisphere; 
 
-- Your troops there need protection from politically 
motivated persecution, as do ours; our Article 98 efforts 
don't seek immunity or impunity, but only protections from a 
faulty International Criminal Court; 
 
-- Colombian narcoterrorism poses great threats to Ecuador, a 
point shared by your armed forces and police.  There is no 
"neutrality" between an elected government (Uribe's) and 
armed gangs; 
 
-- Inflammatory media play to the contrary, Ecuador and the 
United States have done great work together from your base in 
Manta to prevent further Colombian narcotrafficking inroads 
in Ecuador; 
 
-- Money laundering can undermine an economy as surely as 
drug trafficking itself.  We commend draft legislation 
pending in Congress that gives Ecuador the tools to combat 
it. 
KENNEY