US embassy cable - 05QUITO1420

UNCLAS QUITO 001420 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EC 
SUBJECT: INDIGENOUS FEDERATIONS FOCUSING ON ECONOMY 
 
1.  Summary:  In the second month following the ouster of 
ex-President Gutierrez, indigenous groups are biding their 
time on the political front and focusing on economic 
concerns.  FEINE, representing Ecuador's evangelical 
indigenous, is waiting for the new government to stabilize 
and for earlier backlash over its alleged support of 
Gutierrez to subside.  Leaders of CONAIE, Ecuador's largest 
indigenous organization, have been in contact with Minister 
of Economy Correa, but have not yet met with Palacio himself. 
 They support Correa's social spending agenda and are wary of 
the Andean Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but appear willing to 
dialogue.  End Summary. 
 
FEINE Avoiding Political Confrontation 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2.  In a June 14 meeting FEINE President Marco Murillo told 
PolOffs that until Palacio's government stabilizes, he is 
planning to avoid the political arena as much as possible. 
Murillo explained that because of FEINE's perceived support 
of Gutierrez, he is in a no-win situation.  If he meets with 
members of Palacio's government he will be labeled an 
opportunist, but if he comes out against them he will be seen 
as resentful.  As a compromise, he is doing neither.  Since 
Gutierrez's ouster, CONAIE has taken back control of DINEIB, 
the bilingual education division of the Ministry of 
Education, but Murillo is not planning to fight CONAIE on 
that front.  He is disillusioned with the way bilingual 
education has become completely politicized, saying that was 
not the original intention.  At this juncture, there have 
been no efforts at dialogue between FEINE and CONAIE, but 
Murillo says that if necessary, he is willing to step down as 
FEINE president to allow for a more open discourse between 
the organizations, should CONAIE ask for dialogue. 
 
CONAIE Wary of USG Economic Policies 
------------------------------------ 
 
3.  CONAIE VP Santiago de la Cruz, in a June 15 meeting with 
PolOffs, seemed convinced that Gutierrez would not return, 
despite much speculative media buzz on the issue.  CONAIE 
seems content enough with the Palacio administration, 
especially new Minister of Economy Correa.  They have met 
with him, and are in favor of his social spending agenda.  De 
la Cruz wondered aloud why the USG is not in accord with 
Correa's policies, and said there was a general perception 
that the USG views indigenous movements as a serious threat. 
He is also afraid of the FTA being imposed on the people of 
Ecuador, without their opinions being taken into account. 
Despite this view, De la Cruz was open to hearing the USG 
position on the current political situation in Ecuador, and 
wanted more information on potential benefits of the FTA to 
Ecuador's indigenous. 
 
Comment 
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4.  These meetings with leaders of CONAIE and FEINE reveal a 
divided indigenous movement caught in the same morass of 
chronic political instability as the rest of the nation.  The 
indigenous organizations' current focus on economic issues, 
as opposed to political ones, has both positive and negative 
aspects.  On the positive side, they are open and interested 
in dialoguing with the USG and learning more about the 
benefits of the FTA.  The flip side of that is that both 
FEINE and CONAIE are skeptical of free trade, and CONAIE may 
try to use its new-found political space under the Palacio 
government, and possibly its contact with Econ Minister 
Correa, to fight the FTA.  FEINE suggested, however, that the 
USG could win potentially useful indigenous goodwill through 
more development projects.  Overall, we are pleased by both 
organizations' openness to dialogue and interest in USG 
views, and will continue to work with these contacts in the 
future.  We will also provide information to them to counter 
common Ecuadorian misperceptions about free trade and what is 
sound economic policy. 
Kenney