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C O N F I D E N T I A L GUAYAQUIL 000125 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2019 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM EC
SUBJECT: EVANGELICALS CLAIM NEW LAW THREATENS FREEDOM OF 
RELIGION 
 
REF: CARACAS 00471 
 
Classified By: Consul General Douglas Griffit...



id: 209141
date: 5/28/2009 21:02
refid: 09GUAYAQUIL125
origin: Consulate Guayaquil
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 09CARACAS471
header:
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RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 3498
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0527
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAY LIMA 3912


----------------- header ends ----------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUAYAQUIL 000125 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2019 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM EC
SUBJECT: EVANGELICALS CLAIM NEW LAW THREATENS FREEDOM OF 
RELIGION 
 
REF: CARACAS 00471 
 
Classified By: Consul General Douglas Griffiths for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
 (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  Ecuador's growing evangelical movement is 
concerned that a 2008 presidential decree requiring churches 
to register with the government and identify their 
parishioners is a move to squelch the outspoken movement and 
could have implications for freedom of religion.  The decree 
groups all non-profit social organizations under the same 
governing regulations, whereas before churches were governed 
by the Ley de Culto (Law of Worship) and NGOs were governed 
by a separate set of regulations.  The GOE claims this is an 
attempt to ensure "more transparency and accountability of 
public funds."  However, our Evangelical contacts insist that 
they have never taken public funds, and should not be subject 
to government controls.  The pastors believe this change is a 
thinly-veiled attempt by the GOE to silence the often 
uncooperative Evangelical movement.   End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) PolOff met May 7 with a group of five evangelical 
preachers from the Guayaquil area including Pastor Francisco 
Loor, president of the Association of Evangelical Preachers. 
They emphasized their fears that elements in the GOE are 
attempting to co-opt the oft outspoken evangelical movement 
and note that similar models were  used in Venezuela (reftel 
) and Bolivia.  According to Loor, the model is as follows: 
Once all churches are registered as NGOs, they will have 
certain responsibilities to "periodically report" to the 
government.  They claim that it is unclear as to what should 
be reported and how often.  Any NGOs that do not comply with 
the law can be dissolved by the GOE and have their property 
seized.  The seized property will then be turned over to 
another NGO with the same goals. With churches now classified 
as NGOs, the group fears that this means the GOE will be able 
to seize church assets and give them to other churches that 
are friendly to the government.  Given the evangelical 
movement's open opposition to the Correa government (they 
campaigned heavily against the new constitution), they 
believe this is an attempt on the part of the Ecuadorian 
government to force cooperation from a very vocal and 
sizeable opposition block.  They believe that the very threat 
of government seizure is a direct violation of the separation 
of church and state. 
 
¶3.  (C) On May 6 Loor and his group of pastors lost a lawsuit 
against the government claiming that Presidential Decree No. 
982 of 2008 was unconstitutional.  However, they are 
convinced that the judge was pressured by the government to 
rule against them.  According to their attorney, the judge on 
the case heard part of the trial, and then went on vacation 
to Italy.  While in Italy, a different judge heard the rest 
of the case.  When the original judge returned from his 
vacation, he ruled against them on his first day back without 
hearing the rest of the case.  Loor's attorney will appeal 
the decision.  If the appeal fails, Loor plans to take the 
case to the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 
 
¶4.  (C) When asked why only the Evangelicals are speaking out 
against the change, Loor assured PolOff that other religious 
groups were concerned as well, but the Evangelicals were the 
most outspoken.  Among the groups, he claimed, are the 
Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.  The Roman Catholic Church, 
by far the largest denomination in Ecuador, was not subject 
to the new decree, as the Vatican has a separate agreement 
with the GOE.  However, a few of the pastors noted that 
concern in the Catholic Church is growing and that, although 
not openly opposed to the new regulations, the church was 
quietly supporting their opposition.   Indeed, in a recent 
discussion with the Consul General, the President of the 
Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Arregui, said that he was 
worried that the new law was the first step in a strategic 
effort to stifle dissent.   Arregui suggested that Correa 
would follow the "Chavez model" of picking fights with the 
Church in an effort to erode the prestige and authority of 
the Church hierarchy. 
 
¶5.  (C) Ministry of Government and Police Under Secretary Dr. 
Ramiro Rivadeneira told embassy officers that the 2008 decree 
was an attempt to ensure that the non-profit status that was 
granted to more than 2,200 registered religious groups by the 
1937 Ley de Culto was actually warranted by the groups' 
financial dealings.  Rivadeneira stated that the reporting 
requirements would be for those groups who received 
government funds to report how they were spending the 
government's money.  All reporting requirements were the same 
for both religious groups and NGOs since they were all 
 
non-profit organizations.  Rivadeneira claimed that the 
Ministry plans on convening religious leaders for a 
roundtable discussion to draft a new Ley de Culto later this 
year.  The new law will address many of the religious 
leaders' current concerns and will again separate religious 
groups from NGOs. 
 
¶6.  (C) Comment:  The Correa government has made several 
attempts to regulate the NGO sector (Quito septel), moves 
that could be interpreted as possible attacks on freedom of 
speech, religion, or association.  While the evangelical 
movement lost the first round of legal battles, we expect 
that its leaders will continue advocating for their autonomy. 
Evangelical churches in Ecuador have grown dramatically in 
poor sectors of Guayaquil (and elsewhere), and have a great 
deal of credibility.  Given Correa's fading popularity in 
some of these same areas, the GOE will have to act carefully 
in implementing the new decree or risk encouraging greater 
opposition. 
GRIFFITHS 

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