id: 145990 date: 3/14/2008 21:02 refid: 08QUITO264 origin: Embassy Quito classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 08QUITO263 header: VZCZCXYZ0001 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHQT #0264/01 0742102 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 142102Z MAR 08 FM AMEMBASSY QUITO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8631 INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 7444 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 3870 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 2951 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR LIMA 2487 RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 1771 RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 3407 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL ----------------- header ends ---------------- C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000264 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2018 TAGS: PREL, MOPS, PTER, PGOV, EC, CO, SP SUBJECT: ECUADOR: GOE OFFICIALS URGE COOPERATION WHILE CORREA INCREASES RHETORIC REF: A. QUITO 263 B. QUITO 251 C. QUITO 248 Classified By: DCM Jefferson Brown for Reasons 1.4 (b&d) 1. (C) Summary. In a series of meetings and phone calls, MFA and MOD officials have sought to maintain positive bilateral relations with the U.S. as well as to communicate GOE efforts against the FARC (see also reftels). The GOE also launched a media campaign to deny and counter continued accusations of GOE ties to the FARC. Military cooperation at the local level and joint exercise planning continues despite Ecuadorian-Colombian tensions. Meanwhile, President Correa responded to accusations of FARC ties with aggressive rhetoric directed at Colombia, the U.S. and Spain. (End Summary) MFA Conversations with Embassy and Anti-FARC Press Statement 2. (C) The Ambassador called the Foreign Minister on March 14 to discuss the upcoming OAS ministerial. FM Salvador was participating in a lengthy cabinet meeting and therefore not available, so Vice Foreign Minister Jose Valencia took the call. The Ambassador highlighted the fact that the USG had not mentioned Ecuador in public statements over the past two days, since Department Spokesman McCormack,s statement of March 11, as an indication of our efforts to lower the tone publicly and focus on constructive approaches to the way ahead. She noted that it would be helpful for the GOE to take the same approach in terms of public rhetoric. Valencia agreed. He lamented President Correa's recent rhetoric, which he acknowledged was unhelpful. He said the GOE recognizes that it would not be practical to have a multinational peacekeeping body along the Colombian border. He thought the OAS should instead establish some type of observer mission along the border. Valencia expressed the GOE's hope that the OAS observer mission would recognize what was really happening along Ecuador's northern border and how hard the GOE was trying in the fight against the FARC, noting that the GOE had issued a press bulletin condemning the FARC. 3. (C) Under Secretary of Bilateral Affairs Diego Stacey called the DCM earlier on March 14 to highlight that fact that the GOE had issued stronger statements against the FARC. He also voiced regret over President Correa's recent rhetoric, explaining that it responded to pressure from domestic leftist groups. 4. (U) The press bulletin issued by the MFA on March 13 states that "the members of irregular Colombian groups such as the FARC, the paramilitaries, or criminal organizations dedicated to narco-trafficking cannot be allowed to operate within Ecuador, as they violate national law, and Ecuador recognizes the Colombian government as the only, legitimate political representative of Colombia." It also states that "all individuals or groups of individuals that are found illegally in Ecuadorian territory will be detained and at the disposition of Ecuadorian judicial authority, or repelled by force if they resist." Correa Increases Rhetoric 5. (SBU) On March 13, President Correa spoke to a gathering of several hundred demonstrating students in support of Correa's foreign policy, some carrying banners and shouting anti-Colombia and anti-U.S. slogans such as "yanquis fuera" (Yankees go home). Reacting to comments by the USG from prior to March 12, as well as to an article appearing in the Spanish newspaper El Pais that accused the GOE of ties to the FARC, Correa decried what he considered unfounded charges and insinuations. He said that Ecuador was an unwilling victim of Colombia,s problem, and he facetiously challenged both the U.S. and Spain to send troops to patrol Colombia's southern border if Colombia is not up to the job itself. On the evening of March 13, Correa repeated similar comments. He accused the USG and Colombia of a media campaign in its accusations of GOE ties to the FARC. 6. (SBU) The GOE has launched a campaign to refute the accusations of FARC association. Defense Minister Wellington Sandoval and Secretary of Public Administration Vinicio Alvarado held a press conference on March 13 to deny any GOE association with the FARC and explain the GOE's efforts against the FARC. The MFA released the above referenced press bulletin the same day. Military to Military Relations Continue 7. (C) Despite the exchange of barbs, Ecuador, Colombia and the U.S. continue to pursue the planning of "TRIDENT", a Coast Guard-sponsored trilateral maritime exercise to combat the littoral flow of drugs, a result of the November 2007 trilateral maritime counter drug conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador. On March 10, JIATF-South hosted Quito country team members and Ecuadorian representative and Colombian Navy reps for the second planning session for the exercise, where all behaved cordially and professionally. The planning group is expecting an answer by March 25 from the GOE and GOC on whether the exercise will be conducted as planned on May 1-30. Separately, USG reps who met with local battalion commanders on both sides of the Colombian border were told that bilateral information sharing has continued as usual. Minister Sandoval also publicly said that the GOE planned to reconstitute the Binational Border Commission (COMBIFRON), a binational military-to-military coordination mechanism, while noting that rebuilding trust would be a long-term process. Jewell =======================CABLE ENDS============================