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DE RUEHQT #1947/01 2361545
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RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS QUITO 001947 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MARR MASS MOPS SNAR PTER EC CO
SUBJECT: USNS COMFORT VISIT TO ECUADOR 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The USNS Comfort stopped in Manta, 
Ecuador, on August 15-21 during its humanitarian assistance 
deployment in the region.  In coordination with Mission 
Ecuador personnel, NGOs and Ecuadorian authorities, members 
of the medical ship provided some 51,000 instances of 
medical, dental and veterinary services and training to local 
citizens and their communities, including physicians and 
medical students, hospitals and schools.  Senior members of 
the Ecuadorian military and federal and local governments 
participated in a tour of the Comfort's operations, as well 
as the Manta Forward Operation Location.  The visit received 
extensive local and national press attention and was 
portrayed as a positive, humanitarian contribution by the USG 
to the people of Ecuador.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On a 120-day humanitarian assistance deployment to 
Latin America and the Caribbean, the USNS Comfort stopped in 
Manta, Ecuador, on August 15-21.  Members of the U.S. Navy, 
Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, Canadian 
forces, and the NGO Project Hope were assisted by multiple 
Embassy sections, and the U.S. Forward Operating Location in 
Manta.  They coordinated with Ecuador's MFA, Joint Command, 
Navy, Air Force, the Manta Ministries of Health and Education 
and other local institutions to provide humanitarian 
assistance to the people of Ecuador. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Medical services included Project Hope,s medical 
training for doctors, nurses and medical students at the 
Rodriguez Zambrano General Hospital, and were tailored 
specifically to the needs of the hospital, covering subjects 
ranging from high-risk pregnancy to HIV prevention and 
infectious disease control.  Seabees from the Construction 
Battalion Maintenance Unit built one mobile and 13 concrete 
disability ramps, and provided construction services to a 
hospital and four schools.  Medical supplies worth $13,405 
donated by Project Handclasp were delivered to the Rodriguez 
Zambrano Hospital.  Preventative medicine physicians and 
technicians provided veterinarian services to farmers and 
animal owners in Arroyo, Ecuador, that included vaccinating 
livestock, vaccinating domestic animals against rabies, 
applying de-worming medications to cattle, and providing 
education and training to prevent future infestations.  An 
estimated 51,208 encounters, including medical and dental 
services, examinations, procedures, vaccinations and 
prescriptions, as well as training conducted by Project Hope 
volunteers, were provided to Ecuadorian citizens. 
 
¶4. (U) Fourteen Navy musicians from the U.S. Navy Show Band 
livened up the visit by entertaining several hundred 
enthusiastic citizens of Manta with a musical performance at 
Manta's boardwalk on August 19.  They held a Sunday concert 
in Montecristi, symbolically-charged birthplace of Eloy 
Alfaro, Ecuadorian ex-president and leader of the Ecuadorian 
Liberal Revolution, which will be the meeting site of the 
upcoming Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly. The Mayor and 
hundreds of town residents showed up for the event. The band 
also played for hundreds of people waiting to be treated at 
the medical treatment sites. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The USNS Comfort visit drew participation from 
senior members of the Ecuadorian military as well as local 
and central governments, and contributed significantly to the 
Embassy's campaign to create a more favorable climate for 
possible renegotiation of the Manta FOL agreement, by 
reinforcing the positive humanitarian contribution the U.S. 
military can and does make in Ecuador.  During the ship's 
Distinguished Visitor (DV) program, Colonel Eduardo Cardenas, 
Commander of the Ecuadorian Air Force 23rd Wing at the Eloy 
Alfaro Airbase in Manta, toured the Comfort and helped 
facilitate an impromptu visit to the Manta FOL by senior GOE 
officials, including MFA Undersecretary for Bilateral Affairs 
Diego Stacey, MOD General Under Secretary Miguel Angel, 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs S. Ward 
Casscells, and Under Secretary of Health Ricardo Canizares. 
Local officials, such as Manabi Province Governor Vicente 
Veliz and Manta Mayor Jorge Zambrano Cedeno also 
participated.  This distinguished delegation was escorted 
through the FOL by its Commander, LTCOL Robert Leonard -- the 
first such visit by any Correa administration official, 
followed by a lunch with Charge d'Affaires Jeff Brown, 
Military Group Commander Frank Wagdalt, and key FOL members 
at the FOL dining facility. 
 
¶6. (U) Embassy pursued an aggressive press strategy to 
maximum the positive impact of the Comfort's visit, in line 
with our 18-month Manta FOL communications strategy.  Press 
coverage of the visit was very positive and it received 
considerable national attention.  National television 
coverage included 17 news reports on all national television 
channels for a total of 39 original on-air minutes, with 
follow-on reporting the mornings or afternoons following the 
original broadcasts.  There were at least another six 
regional television spots, including an interview with 
Guayaquil Consul General Douglas Griffiths, which appeared on 
Manabi province's number one television station.  In mostly 
factual reporting, the press dedicated considerable time to 
operations at the various treatment centers on the ground, 
but also included human interest spots on the "first-patient" 
story, the ship visit by Miss Ecuador with a group of 
patients with skin diseases, and a note about a 
Guayaquil-native Comfort ship member who helped operate on 
his cousin.  Articles in all national newspapers and major 
radio stations followed similar themes. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Project Hope, which participated in the Comfort 
visit, was very pleased with the results of the work it did 
in Manta.   Bill Fox, Project Hope,s Chief Operation 
Officer, is now planning a trip to Ecuador in September to 
continue its work and to discuss developing a joint project, 
perhaps in the form of a private-public partnership between 
Project Hope, Hutchinson, and the Beneficiary Council in 
Guayaquil to offer community health training in Manta.  This 
could become another opportunity for USG assistance and 
community outreach involvement. 
BROWN