VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #0289/01 1132104
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 232104Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0292

UNCLAS QUITO 000289 
 
INFO AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY LA PAZ PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MASS SNAR PTER EAID OVIP MOPS EC
SUBJECT: Scenesetter for President Carter: U.S. Engagement in Ecuador 
 
¶1.  Embassy Quito warmly welcomes former President Carter to Ecuador 
on April 27-29.  Your visit comes at a time of change, as Ecuador 
prepares to install new national and local officials elected on April 
26 and restructures its government institutions under the 2008 
constitution.  The Embassy's objective is to continue a partnership 
with Ecuador in areas where we have shared interests.  The 
information in this cable on USG engagement in Ecuador is designed to 
complement the background paper you received from the Department of 
State, which summarized political and economic developments. 
 
¶2.  The United States and Ecuador cooperate closely in many areas to 
address common priorities, such as poverty reduction, job creation, 
counternarcotics efforts, agricultural development, emergency 
preparedness, environmental protection, and strengthening democracy. 
In 2008, the USG spent more than $42 million on development, 
security, and other programs in Ecuador. 
 
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 
¶3.  The U.S. government has supported Ecuador's development since 
1962, working especially through USAID in education, health and 
family planning, environment, agriculture, micro-enterprise, 
alternative development, and economic growth.  USAID's current 
programs focus on strengthening democracy at the central and 
municipal levels, creating jobs and increasing incomes for poor 
people, and helping Ecuadorians improve their management of their 
rich biologically diverse heritage. 
 
¶4.  USAID's broader poverty reduction program promotes trade and 
competitiveness and encourages civil society and the private sector 
to participate in economic reforms.  The policy work is linked to 
support productive clusters that bring together small and medium 
enterprises to improve their product quality and access to new 
markets.  In FY 2008, the 23 value chain clusters co-founded by USAID 
created 3,000 new jobs. 
 
¶5.  Ecuador is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the 
world, so USAID's environmental programs focus on management of the 
National System of Protected Areas, indigenous territories, 
watersheds, and coastal lowlands and mangroves.  The program seeks to 
create economic benefits for communities in and around protected 
areas, providing the means and motivation for better conservation. 
It also seeks to improve the infrastructure of protected areas and 
create job opportunities in flood-prone areas.  In FY 2008, USAID 
assistance helped improve management of 65,974 hectares of critical 
ecosystems. 
 
¶6.  In addition to USAID activities, the United States Military Group 
has been constructing a number of Emergency Operation Centers 
strategically located throughout Ecuador for GOE use, and provides 
other humanitarian aid as well.  The Department of Agriculture is 
continuing to implement 31 agricultural aid programs that benefit 
more than 42,000 small farmers in 18 of Ecuador's provinces. 
Additionally it provides a short-term, practical training program for 
Ecuadorian agricultural professionals. 
 
SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY 
 
¶7.  Supporting Ecuadorian efforts to strengthen democratic 
institutions and respect for democratic norms is one of our highest 
priorities in Ecuador.  The United States is continuing long-term 
efforts to help build the technical capacity of central and local 
government institutions, support civil society oversight efforts and 
the rule of law, and enhance anti-corruption efforts.  Specifically, 
USAID supports local governments to implement participatory planning 
processes and to improve their municipal management practices.  It 
has provided more than 10,000 persons from vulnerable groups access 
to legal defense services and legal assistance in nine cities. 
Additionally the Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section is strengthening 
the capacity of justice sector institutions by providing programs and 
workshops that reinforce criminal justice professionals' knowledge 
and skills regarding the accusatorial trial system. 
 
¶8.  USAID supports civil society efforts to carry out oversight of 
local and national elections and of institutional restructuring under 
the new constitution.   It also assists in the participation of 
people with disabilities in democratic processes, promoting people 
with disabilities in the workforce, and combating trafficking in 
persons through trafficking prevention and victim protection 
activities. 
 
NORTHERN BORDER 
 
¶9.  Ecuador shares a 450-mile porous border with Colombia.  USG 
efforts in the area aim to prevent spillover of drug cultivation and 
trafficking and illegal armed group activity into Ecuador.  They 
include development assistance to improve the quality of life and 
spur licit economic growth; counter-narcotics aid to curb smuggling 
of precursor chemicals, cocaine, and heroin; and military-to-military 
assistance to strengthen Ecuador's ability to secure its Northern 
Border and control its territorial waters. 
 
¶10.  The Military Group provides counterdrug assistance by executing 
Department of Defense and NAS-funded programs to help the Ecuadorian 
military enhance its operational capacity in the northern border 
region.  The Ecuadorian military's First Joint Task Force (formerly 
Fourth Army Division) has engaged the FARC in a series of operations 
along the border and has increased its presence with additional 
personnel and assets.  The First Joint Task Force has taken the lead 
in efforts to control the Northern Border area and to remove 
incursions of armed insurgents within its territory by increasing the 
intensity of its operations. 
 
¶11.  USAID programs aim to increase the economic and social 
development of both the northern and southern border populations, 
which provides legitimate economic alternatives.  It generates job 
opportunities and licit income, strengthens local government 
capacity, and improves the production and marketing of local 
production chains both nationally and internationally.  To date 
nearly a million inhabitants on the southern and northern borders 
have benefited from new bridges, roads, water and sewage, garbage 
recycling, and irrigation systems.  Incomes from most participating 
farmers have more than doubled and approximately 11,000 new jobs have 
been created. 
 
¶12.  The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates there 
are at least 135,000 persons of concern in the northern provinces of 
Ecuador who have fled Colombia due to violence or threat of violence. 
 In FY 2008 and 2009, the State Department provided funding for 
refugees in Ecuador to UNHCR, the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM), the World Food Program, the International Committee 
of the Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, Hebrew Immigrant Aid 
Society, and the American Red Cross.  UNHCR carries out direct 
assistance projects to foster development, while IOM focuses on 
emergency assistance and local capacity building. 
 
COUNTER-NARCOTICS COOPERATION 
 
¶13.  Ecuadorian leaders have identified narcotics traffickers and 
other criminal organizations as threats to national sovereignty, and 
are focusing the police, military, judiciary, and others on 
disrupting and dismantling these organizations.  Since 2001, the 
Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) has provided almost $100 
million to enhance the capacity of the anti-narcotics police 
throughout Ecuador, assist the military in providing security for 
citizens and protecting Ecuador's sovereignty on the northern and 
maritime border, and improve the criminal justice system. 
 
¶14.  The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is also involved in 
counternarcotics activities in Ecuador.  DEA activities provide 
infrastructure works for the Ecuadorian National Police and 
information sharing on large drug-trafficking networks. 
 
¶15.  The U.S. Forward Operating Location (FOL) in Manta, Ecuador is 
an important asset in our regional counter-narcotics efforts. 
Flights from the FOL conduct counter-narcotics surveillance in the 
eastern Pacific.  Embassy efforts over the past two years to educate 
the Ecuadorian public about the FOL and its benefits have reduced 
misperceptions and negative views, especially in Manta itself, but 
were complicated by the March 1, 2008, Colombian incursion into 
Ecuador.  On July 29, 2008, the GOE sent a diplomatic note notifying 
the United States that it will not extend the agreement when it 
expires on November 11, 2009.  The United States is now planning its 
withdrawal from the facility. 
 
PEACE CORPS 
 
¶16.  Ecuador hosts one of our oldest Peace Corps programs in the 
region, which started in 1962.  Approximately 160 volunteers serve 
throughout the country.  Program areas include natural resource 
conservation, community health, sustainable agriculture, and youth 
and family development.  The volunteers also carry out projects and 
training in youth entrepreneurship and leaderships, HIV/AIDS and 
trafficking in persons (TIP) awareness and prevention education, 
micro-enterprise and community banking development, and gender 
equality education. 
 
HODGES