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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/20 
TAGS: PGOV ECON MARR SENV PHUM PREL EC
SUBJECT: Celebration of Correa's Three Years in Power 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Andrew Chritton, Charge d'Affaires; REASON: 1.4(D) ...



id: 244517
date: 1/20/2010 21:05
refid: 10QUITO25
origin: Embassy Quito
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/20 
TAGS: PGOV ECON MARR SENV PHUM PREL EC
SUBJECT: Celebration of Correa's Three Years in Power 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Andrew Chritton, Charge d'Affaires; REASON: 1.4(D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: President Correa's PAIS movement celebrated on 
January 16 the third anniversary of the government of the 
"Citizens' Revolution."  The festive event gathered over 80,000 
people who cheered President Correa (although some attendees were 
reportedly coerced).  While listing his government's specific 
achievements, Correa sought to demonize the usual suspects, such as 
the private media, the traditional political parties, and the 
oligarchy.  He also played the nationalism card.  The event showed 
the government's ability to mobilize large numbers of people, and 
made the turnout at protests by teachers, students, labor, and 
indigenous over the last few months look insignificant.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
 
CELEBRATING BIG 
 
--------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) About 80,000 people attended the Proud and Sovereign 
Fatherland (PAIS) celebrations on January 16 to commemorate the 
Correa government's third anniversary.  The event took place on the 
streets of Ambato city, capital of Tungurahua province in central 
Ecuador.  The government set out 60 stands and nine stages where 
government officials explained their work and musicians performed 
to entertain the crowd during the daylong event.  Flags, signs, and 
light green clothing (the PAIS color) peppered the mass of 
Ecuadorians congregated to support their government.  Correa's 
cabinet and many other government officials were in attendance. 
 
 
 
¶3. (C) The opposition raised questions as to how the government 
paid for the celebrations, including transporting PAIS supporters 
from throughout the country to Ambato and feeding them.  While the 
organizers did not reveal the total cost of the event, they denied 
that public funds were employed and emphasized that PAIS government 
officials donated 10 percent of their salaries to the movement, 
claiming that those funds paid for the event.  There were reports 
that some recipients of government assistance were forced to 
attend, including an embassy official's employee, who had received 
a subsidy to help purchase a home. 
 
 
 
CORREA'S SPEECH: ATTACKING THE USUAL SUSPECTS 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Correa recalled that the citizens' revolution began after 
international pressure resulted in his resignation as Finance 
Minister in 2005, when with limited resources he and three or four 
friends started travelling the country advocating for political 
change.  The motto of the speech was "Do not forget!," an attempt 
to point out to Ecuadorians that they were better off now than 
before his government.  Correa described the past as a time when 
the "partidocracia" (ruling political parties) and "the oligarchy 
that speaks in Spanish but thinks in English" ruled.  He made 
several direct and indirect pejorative remarks about the Gutierrez 
administration (2000-05) throughout his speech. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Correa advocated for the restrictive Communications Law 
now under consideration in the National Assembly, mocked the 
private media campaign in favor of freedom of expression, and 
attacked the media: "We don't fear you."  He called the media the 
"voice of a few with money."  Correa stated proudly that his 
government had made bankers responsible for the 1999 banking 
crisis, introduced responsible management of natural resources, 
eliminated exploitative labor practices, and increased salaries. 
The President recalled an achievement from his days as finance 
minister under the Palacios administration, when he annulled a 
regulation by which public spending could not increase by more than 
3 percent per year. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In Correa's view, Ecuador's economic policy is now 
centered on the welfare of the Ecuadorian people by promoting and 
protecting national production and employment, in contrast with the 
past when it sought the applause of Wall Street and cocktail 
parties in Washington.  "Today, this country's economic policy is 
decided exclusively by Ecuadorians, the owners of this country, 
without interferences from any class, be it foreign powers, 
transnational companies, international bureaucracies and 
foundations, NGOS, or all those people who want to do in our 
countries what they could not do in their own," he concluded. 
 
 
 
EXTOLLING THREE YEARS OF GOVERNMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The second half of Correa's speech lauded the government's 
concrete achievements over the past three years in different areas. 
He praised the 2008 constitution and defended it against opposition 
charges that it would allow gay marriage or abortion.  Turning to 
public works, Correa said that his government increased investment 
on roads from $300 million per year to $1.3 billion during the 
government of the citizens' revolution. His description involved 
more promises than a list of finished projects: "the best is yet to 
come...the roads, the airports, the bridges...the hydroelectrical 
plants, the refineries, will be there." 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) In regard to education, Correa stated that his government 
had eliminated the $25 fee paid in public schools, hired 12,000 
teachers, improved teachers' salaries, built schools, provided 
technology to schools, and distributed uniforms and food among the 
poorest students.  He lamented that teachers' union leaders opposed 
the government's decision to evaluate the performance of teachers, 
but stated that his government won that fight.  In the area of 
health, he supported the work of Health Minister Carolina Chang, 
whom he thought was being politically persecuted through 
embezzlement charges (for allegedly not following proper procedures 
in procuring ambulances).  He said that public hospitals were for 
the first time equipped with sophisticated equipment such as CT 
scanners, fees for medical consultations were eliminated, and new 
hospitals were being built or remodeled. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Correa praised the work of Vice President Lenin Moreno 
with vulnerable groups, including the census of the disabled.  In 
the area of housing, he said that his government built 180,000 
houses in three years and increased the housing subsidy from $500 
to $5,000.  In agriculture, he said that previous administrations 
wanted Ecuador to enter an free trade agreement, which would have 
ruined local production.  Correa noted that the Banco de Fomento's 
work had improved and that his administration introduced the urea 
fertilizer subsidy for farmers.  He highlighted that his government 
invested in improving and increasing the equipment of the public 
security forces and raised the salaries of police and military 
personnel. 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Correa argued that the Yasuni-ITT initiative (under which 
petroleum would not be extracted from the Yasuni National Park in 
return for international support) belonged to his government and 
denied that his government had lost the green elements in it, a 
reference to the resignation of Foreign Minister Fander Falconi and 
the estrangement of former Constituent Assembly President Alberto 
Acosta.  He vowed to support the Yasuni-ITT project without 
compromising national sovereignty.  In comparing his foreign policy 
with that of former president Lucio Gutierrez, he said that his was 
sovereign while Gutierrez "shamefully accepted foreign bases" on 
Ecuadorian soil, a reference to the now-closed U.S. Forward 
Operating Location in Manta.  Finally, he argued that because the 
opposition was unable to win elections, and because "21st century 
invasions" (apparently meaning Honduras-like government overthrows 
inspired by outsiders) would be overly shameless, the opposition 
conspired to destabilize his government by creating the perception 
 
of chaos and by generating scandals involving government officials. 
CHRITTON 

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