VZCZCXYZ0008
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #0134/01 0431941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121941Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8454
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA IMMEDIATE 7319
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ FEB 0896
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA IMMEDIATE 2362
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS IMMEDIATE 2869
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA IMMEDIATE 0487
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL IMMEDIATE 3273

UNCLAS QUITO 000134 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR:R-GWELCH, WHA/PDA, WHA/AND, INR-SBIRD 
 
SIPDIS 
 
REFTELS: QUITO 915 (2007); QUITO 2235 (2005) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR PGOV EC PREL MARR MASS KPAO
SUBJECT: Measuring Transformational Diplomacy in Ecuador: Poll Shows 
Improved U.S. Image and Further Opportunities 
 
¶1.  Summary: A national poll commissioned by Embassy Quito and 
conducted in five Ecuadorian cities Jan. 10-14, 2008 shows an 
improved overall image of the U.S. among Ecuadorian publics, with 
regional variations that point to opportunities for additional 
transformational diplomacy (TD) efforts to improve the U.S. image in 
Ecuador further.  Eighteen months after the Department assigned a 
total of three new TD positions to Embassy Quito and Consulate 
General Guayaquil as part of Global Repositioning, the Mission's 
outreach and public diplomacy (PD) efforts to publicize USG 
assistance programs in Ecuador have made a measurable impact in the 
cities we have targeted.  The poll also revealed that in cities 
where we have deployed fewer of our TD resources, there is room to 
educate local publics on USG efforts to help Ecuador in order to 
improve the U.S. image.  End Summary. 
 
Poll Results Show Progress and Opportunity 
 
¶2. The 2008 poll was conducted by local polling firm Cedatos as face 
to face interviews among 1291 adults in the urban areas of Quito, 
Guayaquil, Cuenca, Manta and Portoviejo, with a 5 percent margin of 
error.  Overall, the poll results were more positive than we 
expected given negative local media coverage of bilateral issues 
such as ATPA renewal and FOL renewal, and represented significant 
positive movement from a year ago on general impressions of the U.S. 
 Key findings include: 
 
-- 46 percent consider the U.S. "a friend of Ecuador" while 45 
percent do not, an improvement from an August 2007 national poll 
also conducted by Cedatos that found only 33 percent considered the 
U.S. "a friend of Ecuador" while 59 percent did not. 
 
-- For those who responded that they did not consider the U.S. a 
friend of Ecuador, the top reason cited was "The U.S. seeks its own 
interests," by 37 percent. 
 
--To the question "How could the U.S. provide assistance to help 
Ecuador change," 27 percent responded "create jobs" while 17 percent 
each said "give student loans" and "reduce poverty." 
 
-- A majority of respondents felt positively about U.S.-Ecuador 
relations, U.S. relations with Latin America, U.S. promotion of 
democratic values worldwide, the U.S. fight against drug 
trafficking, U.S. efforts to solve environmental issues and U.S. 
commercial policies. 77 percent disagreed with the war in Iraq, the 
only negative result. 
 
-- 73 percent of respondents agreed that USG counternarcotics 
assistance benefits Ecuador. 
 
-- 60 percent of the sample said they had heard about a USG 
assistance program to Ecuador. Drilling deeper into these responses 
by city and cohort, some trends emerged that show where the 
Mission's TD and PD efforts have made a difference, and reveal where 
there are opportunities to improve the U.S. image through further TD 
and PD work. 
 
Guayaquil and Manta Very Positive, Quito somewhat lower; Cuenca much 
Lower 
 
¶3. Poll results by city show that larger publics in Manta, where the 
USAF has its Forward Operating Location, and Guayaquil, where the 
Consulate General is located, consider the U.S. a friend of Ecuador 
and have heard about USG assistance programs.  We attribute these 
positive numbers to the physical USG presence in these cities, 
periodic high-profile visits by Amb. Jewell and other Mission PD 
activities such as donations, which generate positive media 
coverage.  Publics in Quito, despite the presence of the Embassy and 
frequent public activities by Amb. Jewell and other Embassy 
officials, have a lower although still positive view of the U.S. and 
less awareness of USG assistance programs, which we attribute to the 
capital's saturated news environment that makes it more difficult to 
capture people's attention. To maintain the positive public opinion 
in Guayaquil and Manta, the Mission will continue its TD and PD 
efforts, including public events by the Ambassador, Consul General, 
and FOL Commander; scheduled upcoming events include an AID signing 
ceremony, an adopt-a-school improvement campaign run by entry level 
officers in Guayaquil, and a donation of 6000 backpacks to school 
children near the FOL.  In Quito, the Ambassador and other officers 
will continue to conduct public events and media interviews to reach 
the capital's opinion shapers and mass audiences. These traditional 
PD efforts will be augmented by TD efforts carried out by the 
Economics and Political Sections, including public speaking 
 
engagements, digital video conferences, and a high school essay 
contest. 
 
Engage with Regional Cities 
 
¶4. Regional variations in the overall poll results demonstrate that 
public opinion in the provincial cities of Cuenca, in the southern 
highlands, and Portoviejo, inland from Manta and the central coast, 
is more negative than in Guayaquil, Manta or Quito, and that in 
Cuenca only 26 percent has heard of a U.S. assistance program (that 
figure is 74 percent for Portoviejo, a byproduct of its close 
proximity to Manta and our FOL outreach efforts there).  Although 
the Mission has a number of positive programs in the Cuenca area, 
including USAID economic growth programs, Peace Corps volunteers, 
PL-480 projects, TIP programs and collaboration with Cuenca's 
Binational Center, the poll shows that the Mission needs to increase 
its messaging in Ecuador's third largest city, regional hub for the 
part of the country which has the largest number of denied visa 
cases and sends the largest number of illegal migrants to the U.S. 
We will design a specific plan for engagement with Cuenca and 
Southern sierra public opinion through Post's interagency outreach 
committee, to include more public speaking, media interviews, 
cultural and youth programming, publicity for Mission assistance 
programs, consular outreach and a Milgroup humanitarian exercise.  A 
similar, but smaller, effort will be made to educate publics in 
Portoviejo about USG assistance to the coastal region. 
 
Continue Youth Outreach 
 
¶5. The poll showed that 59 percent of the 18-24 year-old cohort 
responded no to the question "Do you consider the U.S. a friend of 
Ecuador," while the 25-39 year-old cohort tied at 46 percent, and 
the 40 plus cohort responded 54 percent yes and 35 percent no. The 
Mission has been using its three GRI positions extensively to 
conduct TD outreach to university audiences in Quito, and to a 
lesser extent in surrounding cities and in Guayaquil.  In light of 
the poll results, we will expand these efforts to more universities 
and more cities. 
 
Show Convergence of U.S. and Ecuadorian National Interests 
 
¶6. When asked whether they agreed that the U.S. "shares some 
objectives with the Correa government," or "helps Ecuador protect 
its sovereignty," only 36 and 39 percent, respectively, answered 
yes.  We believe this indicates that despite showing support for 
individual USG bilateral assistance programs such as 
counternarcotics and anti-crime, portions of the Ecuadorian public 
do not accept that there can be overlap between the U.S. and Ecuador 
national interests.  This attitude inhibits forming an opinion of 
the U.S. as a friend of Ecuador, as these persons believe that the 
U.S. preference for protecting its own national interests precludes 
it from finding common ground with Ecuador. To counteract this, the 
Mission will formulate and use public messages that show how U.S. 
and Ecuadorian national interests converge, such as in the areas of 
counternarcotics, open-markets, poverty reduction and other policy 
areas. 
 
¶7. Comment: As described in reftels, the Mission's TD strategy is to 
change attitudes and create new leaders in Ecuador by expanding our 
transformational activities with new audiences and leveraging much 
more outreach by the entire Mission. Using the poll to measure our 
progress has validated our TD strategy and exposed areas of 
opportunity, and will guide how we apply our TD and PD efforts over 
the medium-term future.  The Mission will conduct a follow-up poll 
in six months to continue to measure progress, and will also use 
these results to inform the FY10 MSP. End Comment. 
JEWELL