US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA9595

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 009595 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, EC, CO 
SUBJECT: FORMER PRESIDENT GUTIERREZ TO RETURN TO ECUADOR, 
PREPARED TO FACE JAIL, WANTS TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood. 
Reason: 1.4 (b,d) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (S) Former Ecuadorian president Lucio Gutierrez told 
poloffs October 5 that he intends to return to Ecuador, 
perhaps within weeks, and expects to be jailed on his 
arrival.  Gutierrez said he wants to run for president in 
2006 and would like the U.S. to ensure that his life is 
protected while in jail and that any charges against him be 
tried fairly.  His former foreign minister, Patricio 
Zuquilanda, hopes to travel to the U.S. mid-October to brief 
the USG on Gutierrez's plans.  End summary. 
 
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Gutierrez to Return to Ecuador Soon, Plans Presidential Bid 
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2.  (S) Former Ecuadorian president Lucio Gutierrez told 
poloffs at a lunch October 5 that he would return to Ecuador 
"as soon as possible" and expects to be arrested and 
imprisoned.  "I am prepared to spend two, three, four months 
in jail to clear my name," he said.  According to Gutierrez, 
the GOE has "persecuted" him and his family.  The GOE would 
not be able to prove any charges against him, he predicted. 
Gutierrez said he would go back "shortly" after a book launch 
in Bogota October 12.  Gutierrez, who was accompanied by his 
former foreign minister Patricio Zuquilanda at the lunch 
hosted by prominent Colombian political figure/businessman 
David Turbay, said he intended to run for president in 
October 2006.  He claimed that public and private polls 
suggest he has a solid chance of victory if allowed to run. 
 
3.  (S) Gutierrez said he expected the Ecuadorian media to 
oppose his presidential bid, but with a less partisan tone 
than that which he claimed they displayed during his tenure. 
Both Gutierrez and Zuquilanda said the Ecuadorian media felt 
somewhat chastened by their role in the events that led to 
Gutierrez fleeing the country in April 2005.  Gutierrez 
acknowledged that he has few funds to mount a TV campaign and 
suggested that he would instead run a "people's campaign" 
that relied on personal meetings and rallies, although he 
implied that unnamed companies in Ecuador would supply funds 
as well. 
 
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Free Speech and Political Asylum Conditions 
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4.  (S) Gutierrez acknowledged that he faced certain 
restrictions on his conduct and speech while in Colombia as a 
result of the GOC's October 4 decision to grant his request 
for political asylum.  Gutierrez said he is not supposed to 
comment on internal Colombian or Ecuadorian politics, or do 
or say anything that would negatively affect 
Colombian-Ecuadorian relations.  He argued, however, that his 
planned October 12 book launch was an attempt to "set the 
record straight" on factual matters relating to his fall from 
power.  He also said he would respond to any questions posed 
by journalists; "I still have the right to free speech," he 
said. 
 
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Chavez is Threat to Entire World 
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5.  (S) Gutierrez and, especially, Zuquilanda, spent 
considerable time denouncing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez 
as a threat to "the entire world, not just South America." 
"We must unite as friends to combat Chavez," Zuquilanda said 
on several occasions.  Zuquilanda described a 2004 Cabinet 
meeting at which the GOE Defense Minister informed the 
Cabinet that the Venezuelan ambassador in Quito was using his 
embassy to fund travel to and training in Venezuela for 
Ecuadorian radicals, whose objective was "Marxist revolution" 
in Ecuador.  Zuquilanda said he called the ambassador in and 
told him he had in his desk a diplomatic note declaring the 
ambassador persona non grata unless he clarified the matter. 
Zuquilanda said the ambassador attempted weak explanations, 
then mumbled apologies, without denying the accusations.  The 
ambassador said he would ensure nothing like it ever happened 
again. 
 
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Gutierrez Claims Ecuador Heading in Anti-U.S. Direction 
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6.  (S) Gutierrez and Zuquilanda said that Ecuadorian 
president Palacio intended to close down the U.S. FOL at 
Manta.  If this happened, Zuquilanda said, it would be a 
"disaster" for the Manta economy.  In Gutierrez's view, 
Economy Minister Rafael Correa is strongly anti-American and 
intends to run for president in 2006 an on a populist 
platform that would "target American interests."  Both said 
that anti-American sentiment had increased in Ecuador in 
recent years and argued that the U.S. should "massively" 
increase public affairs efforts. 
 
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FARC Bases in Ecuador 
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7.  (S) Gutierrez said "of course" the FARC has bases in 
Ecuador, but he said that when he was president he tried to 
attack them when discovered.  Gutierrez said the 600km-plus 
border with Colombia makes it tough to police; "how can you 
tell who is and who is not FARC if they all wear civilian 
clothes?" he noted. 
 
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Former Foreign Minister Plans U.S. Travel 
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8.  (S) Zuquilanda said he wanted to travel to the U.S. 
during the second or third week of October to brief USG 
officials on Gutierrez's plans.  When asked if that travel 
proposal meant that he would not return to Ecuador until 
Zuquilanda returned, Gutierrez said, "no, I want to go back 
as soon as possible." 
 
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Comment 
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9.  (S) Gutierrez seemed calm and did not appear concerned 
about being jailed, a prospect he clearly believes is likely. 
 He did not ask for any U.S. assistance, except to ensure 
that the GOE protected him while in jail and, if possible, 
ensure that any charges against him were tried on the merits. 
 Zuquilanda was considerably more "political" in his 
comments, evidently trying to persuade the U.S. that the 
Gutierrez/Zuquilanda combination would be a strong U.S ally 
in combating Chavez and the FARC. 
WOOD