US embassy cable - 05QUITO1522

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 001522 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/AND, CA/VO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS, PREL, KCOR, EC 
SUBJECT: FURTHER BACKGROUND ON POTENTIAL INTENDING 
IMMIGRANTS 
 
REF: QUITO 1391 
 
1.  (U) Reftel requested Department concurrence regarding 
Embassy-recommended visa revocations.  This telegram provides 
additional background on the visa holders, all associated 
with the administration of former Ecuador President Lucio 
Gutierrez.  We no longer seek to revoke the visa of one, but 
remain confident the others remain flight risks. 
 
2.  (SBU) POVEDA ZUNIGA, Jorge Moises Fernando.  The Embassy 
has determined there is one criminal charge outstanding 
against Poveda, yet there are no active police investigations 
into his conduct during the tumultuous week before Gutierrez 
fell (despite human rights organizations alleging Poveda 
orchestrated "repression" against Quito street protesters). 
Embassy contacts canvassed indicate the former police chief 
appears confident he can weather the storm and evinces no 
signs of imminent flight.  As such, we retract our request 
for Department concurrence in visa revocation. 
 
3.  (U) AYERVE ROSAS, Oscar Rene.  Ayerve was Gutierrez's 
last minister of government (interior minister-equivalent), 
with responsibility over the national police.  Even before 
the government changed, he was in hot water over a harassment 
campaign he allegedly ordered against one-time Gutierrez ally 
(but current enemy) Patricio Acosta, now an unofficial 
advisor to President Alfredo Palacio.  Media reported May 21 
that Ayerve faces attempted kidnapping charges stemming from 
the Acosta incident.  He purportedly paid a Quito court 
$8,000 in bail, which brought him out of hiding.  On June 22, 
Quito's El Comercio newspaper reported that a judge in Azuay 
province will commence July 13 formal investigations against 
Ayerve for bribery.  This action will attempt to prove 
widespread rumors that Ayerve bought national legislators' 
votes in the November 2004 presidential impeachment effort. 
Guayaquil's El Telegrafo reported June 11 that the Fiscalia 
(Attorney General's office) is investigating Ayerve's (and 
Gutierrez's) responsibility in the April 19 death of street 
protester Julio Garcia.  Last, Embassy law enforcement 
contacts June 24 prepared us a summary of legal proceedings 
opened against Reftel subjects.  The printout showed seven 
(7) active cases against Ayerve. 
 
4.  (U) ARBOLEDA HEREDIA, Carlos Rafael.  Arboleda was 
minister of energy and head of the depositors' guarantee 
agency (AGD) during the Gutierrez administration.  A favorite 
professor of then-cadet Gutierrez, the two have remained 
close for 20 years, and Arboleda reportedly enjoyed excellent 
access to the president until the latter's final hours. 
Guayaquil daily El Universo reports the Fiscalia has begun 
initial investigations over accusations Arboleda "incited 
rebellion" in recruiting counter-protesters to combat 
anti-Gutierrez forces.  The newspaper also claims the former 
minister is fighting accusations by Ecuador's Anti-Corruption 
Commission that he diverted AGD funds to cover the 
counter-protests' costs.  The legal proceedings summary shows 
five active cases against Arboleda. 
 
5.  (SBU) VILLA BARRAGAN, Gualberto Napoleon.  El Universo 
reports that Villa, married to presidential sister Janeth 
Gutierrez (see below), fled Ecuador for Colombia May 16 using 
a false name.  A founding member of the former president's 
Patriotic Society party, Villa was rewarded with a series of 
government positions, yet his spotty resume and dubious 
ethics caused each to be short-lived, the president demanding 
and obtaining his resignations under heavy media/opposition 
pressure.  Villa also was linked to Cesar Fernandez, a former 
provincial governor-turned-druglord currently serving a long 
prison term, although no formal charges materialized. 
Considered perhaps the president's most-corrupt crony, 
Villa's livelihood depended upon his ties to an in-power 
Gutierrez.  Law enforcement contacts here reveal a fraud 
charge exists against him; initial Fiscalia investigations 
commenced in September 2004. 
 
6.  (SBU) GUTIERREZ BORBUA DE VILLA, Janeth Alicia.  The 
Gutierrez administration's "tandem couple," presidential 
older sister Janeth Gutierrez provided the brains to Villa's 
brawn.  She, too, dined with drug-dealer Fernandez and his 
Mexican moneymen/clients, as reported by various Quito media. 
 That there are no criminal charges nor media indignation 
against her says more about Ecuadorian male chauvinism than 
her culpability.  Gutierrez joined husband Villa in the May 
16 escape to Colombia. 
 
7.  (SBU) BORBUA ESPINEL, Anibal Renan (believed to be in the 
United States).  The president's cousin and boyhood pal, 
Borbua won election to Congress in 2002, yet was forced to 
resign amidst corruption allegations in 2004.  As Gutierrez's 
chief ally on the coast, critics tab Borbua the architect of 
the president's campaign to utilize Guayaquil-sourced party 
faithful to confront street protesters who sought Gutierrez's 
resignation.  Like Arboleda, media report he faces criminal 
charges in Quito for inciting riots (confirmed by our 
source). 
 
8.  (SBU) GONZALEZ ARGUELLO, Bolivar Napoleon (believed to be 
in Russia).  Bolivar Gonzalez, a wealthy attorney who once 
represented failed banks' defrauded depositors, labored as 
Gutierrez's deputy social welfare minister.  Critics and 
allies alike credit him for masterminding the president's 
divide-and-conquer strategy toward Ecuador's indigenous, 
necessary after they left the governing alliance in 2003. 
Gonzalez's ministry became the final redoubt of pro-Gutierrez 
forces April 20; there occurred one of the three fatal 
incidents of the tumultuous turnover.  He disappeared that 
day, and despite televised, "Cops"-like searches of his homes 
and offices, remains alight (perhaps holing up with relatives 
of his Russian-born wife).  Criminal charges (our printout 
shows two) against Gonzalez allege he contracted known 
"hitmen" to guard his ministry. 
 
9.  (SBU) ZUQUILANDA DUQUE, Jose Patricio (believed to be in 
Colombia).  Zuquilanda was minister of foreign affairs during 
most of President Gutierrez's tenure.  Perceived as arrogant 
and pursuing personal, not national interests, the former FM 
was (and is) fiercely unpopular with Congress and the media. 
He departed Quito for Bogota during Gutierrez's dying throes 
and has remained there since, technically on a leave of 
absence.  El Universo reports that MFA sources claim 
Zuquilanda wishes to remain a diplomat, but serving only 
overseas.  Congress June 7 initiated censure proceedings 
against the ex-FM, as he purportedly failed to protect 
national sovereignty in his "tepid, kowtowing" response to 
accusations that U.S. warships had sunk Ecuadorian merchant 
and fishing vessels.  If the censure uncovers criminal 
violations, Congress can recommend the Fiscalia commence 
formal investigations.  Without naming targeted individuals, 
current FM Antonio Parra revealed June 23 two internal 
investigations, one into allegations the former 
administration inappropriately secured embassy jobs for 
Gutierrez family members, the other (with Fiscalia 
involvement) concerning the alleged sale of over 6000 
Ecuadorian visas to unqualified Chinese applicants.  Media 
link Zuquilanda to both.  Our proceedings summary shows no 
active cases yet initiated against Zuquilanda, however. 
Kenney