VZCZCXYZ0019
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #0909 1022155
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 122155Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4097
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 5551
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1695
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ APR 9786
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 0516
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 0282
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS QUITO 000909 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EC
SUBJECT: INDIGENOUS TO REGROUP, PROTESTS UNLIKELY NEXT WEEK 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Both evangelical indigenous of the 
organization FEINE and indigenous of the CONAIE organization 
have told us that they will be meeting at the local level to 
evaluate the political and economic situation and decide on 
next steps.  An Embassy police contact told us that the 
CONAIE organization does not have sufficient funds to stage 
another large-scale anti-free trade agreement (FTA) protest 
anytime soon.  With FTA negotiations on hold, it is likely 
indigenous protests will also remain on hold for the time 
being.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Marco Murillo, president of indigenous evangelical 
group FEINE told PolOff on April 7 that his group would 
propose public debates on the FTA.  Murillo feels that 
Ecuador is ill-prepared for the inevitable globalization that 
will affect Ecuador, he said.  He said his group would be 
meeting the week of April 10 to evaluate the current 
political and economic situation. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Santiago de la Cruz, vice president of Ecuador's 
largest indigenous organization CONAIE told PolOff on April 
12 that this week would be spent celebrating Holy Week, with 
meetings to reorganize at the local level to be held the week 
of April 17.  De La Cruz also told PolOff on April 7 that 
there has been no CONAIE coordination with FEINE.  De La Cruz 
said they considered the GOE repressive in its reaction to 
the strikes. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) An Embassy contact within the Ecuadorian police 
intelligence division told us that while CONAIE leader Luis 
Macas would like to continue protesting in order to raise his 
profile in an election year, CONAIE was lacking funds to 
replicate its mobilizations of last month. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Due to a reported lack of funds and the current 
pause in FTA negotiations it is unlikely that indigenous 
protests will resume as soon as the week of April 17. 
However, this being an election year, indigenous are likely 
to want to continue attention-getting moves in the next 
months. 
 
BROWN