VZCZCXYZ0040
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #1351/01 1641651
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 131651Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7198
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2209
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 6714
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 2583
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUN 0626
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 1716
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 2440
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001351 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: TEN YEARS 
TAGS: PGOV PREL INRA MARR CO EC
SUBJECT: GOE TO GET TOUGHER ON ILLEGAL ARMED GROUPS; 
LOOKING TO DEEPEN SECURITY COOPERATION (C-AL7-00365) 
 
 
Classified By: PolOff Jarahn Hillsman for reasons 1.4 (b&d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Correa's national security minister 
coordinator, Fernando Bustamante, told the Ambassador on June 
8 that the GOE planned to strengthen its security posture in 
the north to restrict the activities of Colombian illegal 
armed groups in Ecuador.  He said Correa was very concerned 
over the GOE's lack of control over the region, and asked for 
additional USG security support.  In a previous meeting with 
Embassy officials, Bustamante acknowledged that security 
cooperation with the U.S. is a sensitive issue here and would 
need to be carefully managed, but said that one of Plan 
Ecuador's foremost policy objectives - control of illicit 
activities, requires continued and enhanced cooperation. 
Ecuador has traditionally been more inclined to blame 
Colombia for its border problems rather than squarely face up 
to their own side of the equation.  Correa's order appears to 
signal a welcome and potentially significant new pragmatism. 
End Summary. 
 
Biographical Information: Fernando Bustamante 
 
¶2.  (U) Fernando Bustamante, 56, was born in New York to an 
Ecuadorian diplomat.  He did his undergraduate work in 
Sociology at the Catholic University of Chile in Santiago. 
He holds advanced degrees in Urban & Regional Planning from 
the Latin American Institute of Economic and Social Planning 
and Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of 
Government.  Bustamante pursued advanced study at the 
Catholic University of Chile and the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology.  His professional background is academic, 
serving mostly as a researcher, analyst, consultant, and 
professor.  He taught at the University of San Francisco with 
President Rafael Correa. Bustamante currently serves as 
Correa's Minister Coordinator for Internal and External 
Security, charged with charting the GOE's national security 
policy objectives.  His office is charged with coordinating 
Plan Ecuador. 
 
Ambassador Seizes Opportunity; Presses Security Cooperation 
 
¶3. (C) The Ambassador met with Bustamante at her residence on 
June 8 to discuss his upcoming trip to Washington to lobby 
for ATPDEA renewal and to discuss security cooperation.  The 
Ambassador explained that Congress will decide on ATPDEA 
extension, and that the Administration supports a short-term 
extension for all countries.  Bustamante asked for advice on 
how to make the GOE case for ATPDEA most convincingly.  He 
specifically asked about the sensitivities of making the 
geopolitical argument, saying that within the Correa 
administration there is a group of moderates (he included 
himself, the Foreign Minister and the Defense Minister in 
this group) who argue with the harder line advisors who want 
to take the government farther left.  He said that 
non-renewal of ATPDEA would greatly strengthen the hand of 
the hard line contingent. 
 
¶4.  (C) Turning to security cooperation, the Ambassador 
offered Bustamante assistance from the Defense Department's 
Center for Civilian-Military Relations to build capacity for 
Ecuadorian defense ministry personnel newly under civilian 
leadership.  Bustamante eagerly responded to the offer asked 
for more information (note: a meeting between Bustamante and 
the Center has been scheduled for during his visit). 
Responding to Bustamante's desire to deepen technical 
security assistance to Ecuador, including tracking of 
airspace in the Northern Border region, the Ambassador 
explained the Cooperative Nations Information Exchange System 
(CNIES) currently pending before the Foreign Ministry.  She 
explained that CNIES, which was cutoff in mid-2005 for 
failure by Ecuador to sign an agreement on use of the 
information, would give Ecuador real-time radar tracking 
information.  Bustamante was very receptive, expressing 
surprise that the GOE had not moved on this opportunity.  He 
vowed to find the holdup and push forward.  The Ambassador 
expressed USG concerns over reports that the 25 Special 
Forces Battalion permanently deployed in the northern 
province of Esmeraldas might be recalled to the 9th Special 
Forces Brigade in the central highlands city of Latacunga, 
Cotopaxi province. Bustamante appeared unaware of the rumored 
shift and promised to look into it. 
 
Bustamante Offers More on Plan Ecuador; Stresses USG Support 
 
 
¶5.  (C) USAID Director and PolOff met with Bustamante on May 
31 to discuss Plan Ecuador and clarify the role of the 
Northern Border Development Unit (UDENOR) - USAID's current 
interlocutor.  Bustamante said that Plan Ecuador is a 
national security plan focused on improving the lives of 
northern border residents through development.  Increased GOE 
presence and control of the area will be necessary to achieve 
this, he admitted.  Bustamante explained that the GOE under 
Plan Ecuador will for the first time have a nationally 
coordinated strategy to address conditions in the north.  The 
plan, he noted, has seven objectives in the areas of 
institutional strengthening; education; health; basic 
services, control of illicit activities; human rights; and 
territorial integrity.  International donors, through the 
Foreign Ministry's coordination unit (INECI), would be able 
to select an area of interest under the seven pillars to 
support.  This will allow the GOE to channel support into 
previously identified areas of concern and hopefully see more 
significant results, he explained. 
 
¶6.  (C) Director General for Border Relations with Colombia 
Mario Guerrero told PolOff on June 12 that the GOE is 
currently completing the second phase of Plan Ecuador 
planning - identifying and assigning inter-agency roles.  He 
confirmed that MFA-INECI would oversee international donor 
contributions, and the Northern Border Development Unit 
(UDENOR) would only serve as a technical implementing agency. 
 Guerrero said that an inter-agency body, headed by 
Bustamante, would identify project areas, secure funding for 
these projects, and assign them to UDENOR and other agencies 
for implementation.  He admitted, however, that other 
governments and international partners had expressed some 
anxiety over the lack of details surrounding the plan, and 
asked for patience while the GOE works out what he believes 
to be a very serious policy agenda. 
 
Bustamante Makes a Surprise Pitch for U.S. Military Assistance 
 
¶7.  (C) As the May 31 meeting was coming to a close, 
Bustamante made an unpredicted push for greater security 
cooperation.  He said that Correa in a May 29 security 
briefing on the northern border ordered him to find ways to 
secure Ecuador's border.  He asked for USG assistance to 
build up to 35 new military posts along the Ecuador-Colombia 
border, and to increase the Ecuadorian military's radar and 
technological capabilities.  The government is serious about 
this and our efforts to increase national security will also 
help the U.S., Bustamante affirmed.  Switching to English, he 
told PolOff that military cooperation with the U.S. remains 
sensitive here, but that Plan Ecuador's fifth objective 
(control of illicit activities) was specifically designed to 
give the GOE political cover. 
 
Comment 
 
¶8.  (C) Bustamante's position and authority exceed those of 
the Defense and Foreign Ministers, and he has Correa's 
confidence on the most important national security matters. 
We consider him to be increasingly pragmatic about security 
cooperation with the U.S. as he gains experience and 
knowledge about regional threats facing Ecuador. 
Bustamante's visit to Washington offers an important 
opportunity to engage with a key Correa administration player. 
JEWELL