US embassy cable - 05QUITO1058

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 QUITO 001058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EC 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: CONGRESS STRUGGLING TO REPAIR IMAGE 
 
REF: QUITO 947 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  The Ecuadorian Congress' already low 
credibility was rocked by an inopportune sex scandal 
involving sordid events in a Lima hotel room.  Five 
Ecuadorian deputies, in Lima to attend the round of free 
trade agreement negotiations, allegedly caused thousands of 
dollars of damage to a Lima hotel, and one female deputy has 
accused a male deputy of making unwanted sexual advances and 
breaking her ribs.  Congress, desperate to improve its image, 
proposed a bill to extend its work week and showed new energy 
by voting on legislation to combat trafficking in persons. 
Congress will also likely approve the President's partial 
veto of the law to reorganize the Supreme Court and continue 
to reapportion its committees to penalize parties which 
supported ex-President Gutierrez.  End Summary. 
 
Congress Suspends Four Deputies 
------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) On May 6, in a closed session, Congress suspended the 
four deputies involved in a scandal that occurred in a Lima 
hotel on April 19, until their case can be reviewed by 
Congress' Disciplinary Committee.  The deputies Maria Augusta 
Rivas (PRE), Ivan Vasquez (PRIAN), Franklin Sanmartin 
(independent), and Jacobo Sanmiguel (independent) had 
traveled to Lima to participate in the round of free trade 
agreement negotiations.  Another deputy, Mesias Mora was also 
involved in the affair but had already been expelled from 
Congress on other grounds.  (reftel) 
 
3.  (U) Congress members have proposed that an eight-day 
investigation of what Lima press are reporting as an 
orgy/scandal be opened by the Disciplinary Committee. 
Afterwards, the Committee will present a report to the 
plenary which will analyze the extent of each deputy's 
culpability in the matter.  On May 10, the Disciplinary 
Committee, led by deputy Hugo Ruiz (ID), will travel to Lima 
to investigate the incident.  They plan to speak with 
employees of the hotel, a doctor that examined Ms. Rivas 
after the incident, and with Santiago Cadena, the former 
civil attache at Lima's Ecuadorian Embassy, who was called to 
the hotel during the early hours of April 19. 
 
Ecuadorian Attache's Version 
---------------------------- 
 
4.  (U) On April 19, the five deputies reportedly went to 
Sanmartin's hotel room sometime after midnight, after having 
dinner in a Lima restaurant, and ordered a bottle of whiskey. 
 The Ecuadorian civil attache in Lima, Santiago Cadena, 
received a phone call at four A.M. from the hotel, asking him 
to come to the hotel immediately.  Cadena said he found the 
hotel a disaster upon arrival.  Hotel reps told Cadena, they 
had sent a hotel staff member to open the door to Sanmartin's 
hotel room after various complaints at around two A.M. and 
caught Rivas and Sanmartin in a "compromising position." 
 
5.  (U) Cadena was told that ten minutes later Rivas stormed 
out of the hotel room, accusing the other deputies of having 
sexually assaulted her.  This is when, apparently, there was 
damage to hotel property, including broken lamps, objects 
thrown on the floor, and aggression towards hotel staff.  The 
hotel reported approximately $4,000 worth of damage.  To calm 
Rivas down, the hotel staff injected her with a tranquilizer. 
 A medical exam conducted at the hotel, whose results are now 
at the Ecuadorian Embassy in Lima, revealed that Rivas had 
been intoxicated and also found traces of Valium in her 
system.  Rivas claimed the Valium found was from medicine the 
doctors gave her after the incident.  The deputies went down 
to the lobby the following morning to pay for the damages, 
according to Cadena. 
 
Rivas Disputes Cadena's Version 
------------------------------- 
 
6.  (U) The deputies involved disputed this version of the 
story in the May 3 session of Congress.  Rivas claimed she 
was victim of a political persecution for being a member of 
Bucaram's Ecuadorian Roldosista Party (PRE) party.  Rivas 
also reportedly went to a Quito clinic on May 6, where she 
was found to have cracked ribs due to blows received from 
Sanmartin, when she defended herself against his advances. 
Rivas said Sanmartin had "disrespected" her and that she 
reacted by slapping him; he in turn punching her.  Rivas is 
reportedly considering charges against Sanmartin.  Sanmartin 
offered a televised apology to Rivas for having acted in 
excess; Rivas accepted the apology.  Rivas, returning on May 
5 from a subsequent trip to Lima, said she had sought an 
appointment with Cadena to clear up the matter, but he 
refused to see her. 
 
Cadena Dismissed from Embassy 
----------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Cadena was removed from diplomatic service three 
days after the incident.  Luis Narvaez, the Ecuadorian 
Ambassador to Peru, has said publicly that Cadena exaggerated 
the extent of the incident and that Cadena's version is "far 
from reality," yet claims Cadena's dismissal was for other 
reasons.  PolOff spoke with Cadena on May 9 who said that 
mainstream media's accounts of the events were generally 
accurate.  Cadena said he assumed he had been sacrificed in 
the name of bilateral relations.  Cadena received a letter of 
dismissal two weeks after the events, but two days before the 
scandal hit the front pages. 
Constituents React 
------------------ 
 
8.  (U) The scandal has provoked strong reactions among 
constituents of the Congress members involved, almost 
entirely negative.  In Ambato (Tunguragua province) on May 6, 
various local leaders met and decided that Sanmiguel should 
resign immediately.  In Cotopaxi province, various leaders of 
the Indigenous and Peasant Movement of Cotopaxi asked the 
same of deputy Vasquez.  In both provinces, there is a 
possibility of marches led by youth groups, some of which are 
still calling for "todos fuera" or "everyone out", referring 
to the Congress.  The "forajidos" or "outlaws" who went to 
the streets last month to protest Gutierrez are calling for 
mobilizations outside Congress on May 12 to protest Congress 
and Palacio's naming of Cabinet members who do not respond to 
their calls for fresh faces. 
 
Congress Desperately Changing Subject 
------------------------------------- 
 
9.  (U) In the face of this new scandal, Congressional 
leaders are trying to restore credibility to the institution. 
 Congressional president Wilfrido Lucero told PolOffs on May 
2 that his priority would be to "restore Ecuador's 
democracy," step by step.  After the Supreme Court bill has 
passed, the next step will be to reconstitute the electoral 
court, which has a role to play in the selection of a new 
Attorney General.  After a new National Judicial Council is 
named, Congress will turn to choosing a new constitutional 
court.  Lucero said he wants to maintain dialogue with the 
President, but will avoid any legislative submissiveness to 
the executive.  Lucero said pending issues included TIP (a 
personal concern of his), money-laundering, and the expulsion 
of more deputies who had supported ex-President Gutierrez' 
unconstitutional acts. 
 
Veto Likely to Pass 
------------------- 
 
10.  (U) Congress has 30 days from May 5 to decide whether to 
accept or reject the President's partial veto of the law 
concerning the make-up of the Supreme Court.  To approve the 
bill incorporating the President's veto, a simple majority is 
needed; to override the veto, 67 votes are required.  PRE 
party members have said they will not participate in the 
vote; the PRIAN party's position is unclear.  According to 
deputy Ramiro Rivera, the most controversial issues are 
whether to reduce the number of magistrates from 31 to 16, 
and the Supreme Court being left vacant while a new one is 
formed.  The congressional version had created a temporary 
court, to be appointed by Congress.  Lucero told us he too 
believed this was of dubious constitutionality, and would not 
object to a veto. 
 
11.  (U) Some worry that the Supreme Court, which already 
reportedly has a backlog of 8,000 cases, must be replaced by 
some interim judicial decision making body.  The house arrest 
of former President Gustavo Noboa on May 8 highlighted the 
vacuum created by the lack of a top court.  Noboa has charged 
the Minister of Government and Acting Attorney General of 
political persecution. 
 
Constitutional Trial Balloon 
---------------------------- 
 
12.  (U) During the week of May 2, Lucero publicly expressed 
interest in making a Constitutional change to reduce the 
one-year waiting period for constitutional reforms to a few 
months.  PSC leaders publicly objected that Lucero did not 
specify what reforms would be passed once this Constitutional 
"lock" had been removed.  Quito's protesters or "forajidos", 
however, think political parties see this as a way to revise 
the Constitution to serve their means. 
 
Silver Lining? 
-------------- 
 
13.  (U) Other issues Congress is working on in an attempt to 
show the public good faith include a bill that would seek to 
combat trafficking in persons and child exploitation and a 
bill to extend Congress' work week.  Unfortunately, Congress 
read and passed the wrong version of the TIP bill, and is 
expected to start over on May 10.  Congress will also begin 
reallocating the various commissions. 
 
Former First Lady Back in Congress 
---------------------------------- 
 
14.  (U) Former First Lady Ximena Bohorquez, wife of 
ex-President Lucio Gutierrez, is free to resume her position 
as a PSP Congressional deputy, according to Lucero. 
Bohorquez and her daughter have refused assylee status in 
Brazil on May 6 and reportedly returned to Ecuador on May 8. 
She has reversed her earlier request to step down from 
Congress, and was expected back in Congress on May 10. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
15.  (SBU) Salacious national and international headlines 
surrounding the Lima incident could not have come at a worse 
time.  Just when it thought it had gotten itself out of the 
spotlight by booting out "deputies for sale," news of the 
Lima scandal broke.  Congress is obviously still jittery that 
populist calls for "everyone out" of Congress will begin 
again.  We are cautiously optimistic that Congress' new 
vulnerability could actually advance USG interests, and will 
continue to press for Congressional action on key bills, 
including TIP and money laundering. 
CHACON