id: 145524 date: 3/12/2008 21:17 refid: 08QUITO248 origin: Embassy Quito classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 08QUITO216|08QUITO228|08QUITO247 header: VZCZCXYZ0000 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHQT #0248/01 0722117 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 122117Z MAR 08 FM AMEMBASSY QUITO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8613 INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 7436 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 3864 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0757 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 2944 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR LIMA 2479 RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0497 RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 1761 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 3078 RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO 0212 RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 3396 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 000248 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2014 TAGS: PREL, PTER, PHUM, MARR, EC, CO, VE, MX SUBJECT: FOR CORREA, DISPUTE WITH COLOMBIA NOT OVER REF: A. QUITO 247 B. QUITO 228 C. QUITO 216 Classified By: DCM Jefferson Brown for Reasons 1.4 (b&d) 1. (C) Summary. The GOE plans to re-establish relations with Colombia by the end of March, although President Correa noted "it will be difficult to restore trust." Correa made his most anti-U.S. statements to date on March 8, criticizing U.S. support for Colombia and U.S. media dominance. On the other hand, Vice FM Valencia requested a meeting with the Secretary or Deputy Secretary for FM Salvador on March 17, SIPDIS indicating GOE interest in maintaining constructive ties with the U.S.; Correa himself displayed a somewhat calmer tone in a meeting with the Ambassador on March 12 (Ref A). The GOE presented its case in detail to the OAS delegation, but did not discuss its contacts with the FARC. An opposition party plans to ask the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to investigate alleged FARC support for the Correa campaign. The Constituent Assembly is apparently proceeding with plans to investigate a possible role by the Manta Forward Operating Location in the Colombian incursion. A local human rights group and the parents of the young Mexicans wounded or killed at the FARC camp accused the GOC of committing terrorist acts and violating human rights. End Summary. Correa Declares Victory at Rio Group Summit 2. (U) During his March 8 radio address, President Correa triumphantly stated that "the sovereignty of our country has been recognized." He said he had achieved the two things he sought at the Rio Group Summit: a Colombian "unconditional apology" and "commitment to never repeat this type of aggression with Ecuador nor with any other country." According to Correa, the resolution of the crisis "marks a milestone for a new era of diplomacy in Latin America...where principles, justice and international rights will take precedence; never again power..." 3. (U) Correa said, "We can never accept the principle of a 'preemptive strike'...that is a return to imperialism," calling the Colombian attack a premeditated massacre. He argued that Colombia should be humble enough to accept international help -- a peace force with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, et al. -- because its internal conflict affected other countries in the region. On relations with Colombia, Correa said that "it would be very difficult to restore trust" and that "I will never forgive anyone for this as long as I live." He expressed a willingness to fight illegality (guerrillas). Correa indicated during a March 11 press interview that "diplomatic ties would be re-established before the end of March." Correa expressed gratitude to Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan people, commenting that "Ecuador is not disloyal. When he needs us, we will be supporting the Venezuelan people." 4. (C) Correa criticized U.S. support for Colombia (economic, military, media) and the influence of the United States at the Organization of American States (OAS). He said that the U.S. position during the crisis was very clear and that several presidents told him that they were pressured to support Colombia and not Ecuador. Correa backed the proposal for the Rio Group to become the Organization of Latin American States and replace or supplement the OAS, claiming that the Rio Group had been much more efficient in solving the crisis. Ecuador Still Values U.S. Ties 5. (C) Vice FM Jose Valencia, meeting with the DCM on March 11, said the GOE recognizes that recent events, including the swirl of allegations about FARC links to Ecuador at different levels -- as well as the hot recent rhetoric from Correa -- have badly hurt Ecuador's image in Washington and left concerns that need to be addressed. They want to work with us to avoid lasting damage. He said they wanted to make clear that, while other existing and potential Latin American sub-regional forums are useful, they also strongly value the OAS. He formally requested a meeting with the Secretary or Deputy Secretary for FM Maria Isabel Salvador during her March 16-18 visit to Washington for the OAS ministerial meeting. 6. (C) Asked about a different pending issue -- the diplomatic note governing annual bilateral military training and exercises, Valencia said there was no political problem and they wanted those programs to continue. The delay in finalizing the note was based on the slow pace of their internal technical legal review, but he expected it to be finished within a few days. OAS Visit to Ecuador 7. (C) Acting OAS Representative Gisselle Lopez, meeting with PolCouns on March 11, called the OAS delegation's visit political since it did not include technical experts. She said President Correa, during his March 9 meeting with the delegation, emphasized that the delegation should confirm that the Colombian attack violated Ecuadorian sovereignty, stressing his interest in maximum transparency. Lopez explained that the delegation considered the presentations they heard from Internal/External Security Coordinating Minister Larrea, the military leadership, and the police more useful than the March 10 visit to the site given that the bodies had been removed and other changes made. (Note: Lopez herself did not accompany the group to the site.) She said the GOE gave the delegation copies of all the presentations and videos. According to Lopez, neither GOE contacts with the FARC nor the proposal for a multinational force on the Colombian border were discussed during the delegation's March 9 meetings with GOE officials. Lopez, an Ecuadorian who has worked with the OAS office in Quito for 18 years, expressed her personal opinion that Correa needs to think more objectively and rationally about the event and how the GOE should proceed. 8. (SBU) OAS Secretary General Insulza held a press conference the evening of March 10 before departing Ecuador. He stated that Colombia had violated Ecuadorian sovereignty. Insulza recognized that the Rio Group meeting had helped the process of restoring bilateral relations, saying he expected the countries would normalize relations in due course and that he was not there to mediate. Asked about the idea of a multilateral peace force along the border, Insulza said it would require a request from both Colombia and Ecuador. He added that he saw that possibility as more a matter for the U.N. to consider than the OAS, but that he did not see how it could work, as even the Colombian and Ecuadorian military and police, who knew the area, could not police it effectively. Insulza stated that the OAS report would be based on principles and law, with the goal of avoiding future cross-border incursions. Limited Prospects for GOE Investigation into FARC Ties 9. (C) After calling at the Rio Group summit for an Ecuadorian-led investigation into the accusations of GOE ties to the FARC, the GOE has done little to initiate it. Most press reports here have focused on the Interpol investigation of the computer files. 10. (C) Gilmar Gutierrez, head of the Patriotic Society Party (PSP) bloc in the Constituent Assembly and brother of ex-president Lucio Gutierrez, told the DCM on March 11 that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) would not investigate alleged FARC contributions to the Correa campaign in 2006 unless it received a formal complaint, which the PSP therefore planned to file. Since four of the seven members of the TSE are loyal to President Correa, it is doubtful that the investigation would be rigorous. FOL Investigation 11. (C) Conflicting reports continue about exactly what kind of "audit" of FOL operations during the period of the incident might be launched, and under which government auspices. We have been told privately that Fernando Cordero, Vice President of the Constituent Assembly, agreed that the Legislative/Oversight committee would lead it, rather than the Committee on Sovereignty, International Relations, and Latin American Integration. Others assert it should be a technically qualified commission outside the Assembly. Press reports continue to conflict, and no official notification of any kind has yet been received by the Embassy. As stated in reftels B and C, the Embassy already declared publicly, and privately to President Correa, that no flights from the FOL were involved. The only aircraft in flight at the time of the incident was a Coast Guard C-130H, hundreds of miles to the west over the Pacific Ocean. Claims of ColMil Terrorism and Human Rights Violations 12. (SBU) President of the Latin American Association of Human Rights (ALDHU) Juan de Dios Parra claimed on March 11 in a television interview that "the Colombian army committed an act of terrorism in Ecuador." He said that ALDHU presented a formal accusation before the national court of Colombia and planned to do the same in Mexico during the week of March 17. Dios Parra also stated that ALDHU would assume the defense of five Mexicans and two Colombians killed during the attack. When asked in the interview if ALDHU had lodged a similar formal accusation against the FARC when six Ecuadorian military and four policemen were killed during a patrol operation in the northern border in 2003, he said they protested, but admitted that they did not lodge a formal complaint. Parra said the two wounded Colombian women appear to have been performing a domestic service role (washing, cooking, taking care of the animals) for the FARC, against their will. He said one of the women had tried to escape twice, and was found by the Ecuadorian military chained to a tree. ALDHU has advocated that they be given refugee status in Ecuador. 13. (SBU) The parents of Mexican students Juan Gonzalez (deceased) and Lucia Morett (survivor), also appearing on national television, separately accused Colombia of state terrorism. Juan's father, Alvaro Gonzalez, claimed his son was not an insurgent and demanded the support of the Mexican government "in defense of Mexican civilians who believe this was a crime against humanity." Lucia Morett's mother claimed that her daughter was the victim of sexual assaults and that she heard shots killing injured insurgents by the Colombian military personnel involved in the attack. She defended her daughter's innocence, saying that she was not an insurgent but an academic who was doing "research." 14. (SBU) Ecuadorian media on March 12 featured extensive reporting based on Mexican government sources that the head and coordinator of the Mexican contingent that had attended the Quito Bolivarian Congress, and traveled both before and after the Congress to the FARC camp, was Mario Dagoberto Diaz Orgaz. The GOM alleges that Diaz is the FARC,s finance director in Mexico. Diaz, a university researcher at the Center of Engineering and Industrial Development (CIDESI) in Queretaro, Mexico, denies the charges. Jewell =======================CABLE ENDS============================