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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000801 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: TWENTY YEARS 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO EC
SUBJECT: CORREA,S STEADY VERBAL ASSAULT ON MEDIA CREATES 
HOSTILE CLIMATE 
 
REF: A. QUITO 00791 
     ¶B. QUITO 00437 
 
Classified By: Amb...



id: 223441
date: 9/2/2009 21:35
refid: 09QUITO801
origin: Embassy Quito
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 09QUITO437|09QUITO791
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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000801 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: TWENTY YEARS 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO EC
SUBJECT: CORREA,S STEADY VERBAL ASSAULT ON MEDIA CREATES 
HOSTILE CLIMATE 
 
REF: A. QUITO 00791 
     ¶B. QUITO 00437 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Heather Hodges for Reasons 1.4 (b, d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Upon being sworn in for his second 
presidential term on August 10, Rafael Correa showed no sign 
of letting up his verbal assault against the privately-owned 
media.  On the contrary, Correa proclaimed the press to be 
his "greatest adversary" over the last 31 months of his first 
term.  Verbal aggressions against the press have become a 
regular feature in his weekly radio and television addresses, 
and the increase in harassment cases against journalists have 
many in the profession concerned about the intensifying 
hostile climate.  Many perceive the President's systematic 
attacks as an intentional strategy to discredit the press and 
further consolidate power, although how far he will go 
remains unclear.  END SUMMARY. 
 
CORREA'S CRY FOR BATTLE 
 
¶2. (SBU) On August 10, in his 90-minute inaugural address, 
Correa once again lashed out at the press, which he referred 
to as his "greatest adversary," apparently more important 
than troubled relations with Colombia, worsening border 
security, and growing urban crime.  Furthermore, Correa 
discredited the press for having a "clear political role in 
spite of not having any political legitimacy."  This type of 
rhetoric is a continuation of the tone of Correa's weekly 
radio and television addresses (reftel B).  In March, Correa 
dismissed the Inter-American Press Association's mid-year 
report, based on the organization's lack of "moral authority" 
due to the fact they never won an election.  He regularly 
refers to the privately-owned press as "mediocre and 
corrupt," and asserts that it "manipulates public opinion," 
"lies" and "publishes garbage."  In May, Correa stated that 
the press was "a grave political enemy (that) needs to be 
defeated" and listed the alleged "worst" media outlets in 
terms of corruption--Hoy, El Universo, and La Hora. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The national privately-owned media has been the 
primary target of Correa's criticism, with the less affluent 
and less influential provincial and local newspapers 
receiving less attention and therefore less pressure. 
According to Correa, independent media outlets and their 
elitist owners have "historically lined up with the 
oligarchy," and "there exists a contradiction" between their 
commercial agendas and the social service of providing 
information that the press is obliged to fulfill.  A number 
of Embassy sources, including journalists, editors, and 
representatives of professional associations and nonprofit 
media think tanks and NGOs, stated that in spite of the 
President's complaints about elitists, his tactic of 
generalized vilification of the press is hurting journalists 
on the front line and not the owners. 
 
CORREA SPENDS $11 MILLION ON PUBLICITY--TELEAMAZONAS GETS 
$1.3 MILLION 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ironically, Correa's strategy to discredit the press 
would be less effective without the press itself and 
specifically the private press.  According to a recent report 
by Vanguardia, the presidency, excluding ministries and other 
dependent entities, has spent 11 million dollars on 
television, radio and newspaper publicity since the beginning 
of 2008.  Based on figures provided by the Under Secretary 
for Image, Publicity and Promotion of the Presidency, the 
greatest recipient of this spending has been Teleamazonas, 
the independent station threatened with closure by the 
administration (reftel A and B), with almost 1.3 million 
dollars in state advertising funds. 
 
CALCULATED STRATEGY TO DELEGITIMIZE THE PRESS 
 
¶5. (C) The stream of public attacks and criticism by the 
Ecuadorian government against the press has been a cause for 
concern among those in the profession.  Various media 
contacts of the Embassy have described the current climate 
for journalists as "hostile" and a direct result of Correa's 
public censure of the press.  They also described Correa's 
"systematic" aggression against the media at large as a 
calculated "strategy" to "delegitimize" the only noteworthy 
opposition to the current government.  According to Embassy 
contacts, Correa's approach does not allow for any due 
process or formal rebuttal from the press because they are 
not legal actions but verbal accusations (although reftel A 
 
and upcoming septel detail legal actions taken).  In spite of 
rough patches with past governments, there is consensus that 
this steady assault by Correa's administration is an 
unprecedented phenomenon in Ecuador.  They also noted that 
Correa's repeated attacks against the press have set an 
example for other high-level government officials to exhibit 
similar behavior. 
 
CLIMATE OF FEAR 
 
¶6. (C) Correa's verbal attacks of the private media are being 
increasingly emulated among the general public.  According to 
the Ecuadorian media advocacy and watch group, Fundamedios, 
instances of harassment, threats and physical attacks against 
journalists and other media professionals are on the rise. 
Statistics show that the average number of incidents since 
July 2008 was less than seven per month but with a steady 
increase throughout the year, and June and July of 2009 
exhibiting the highest numbers of 12 and 16 incidents, 
respectively.  Cesar Recaurte, Fundamedios director, also 
noted that in many cases, the attackers repeat Correa's 
language of a "corrupt and mediocre media." 
 
¶7. (C) Well-known Teleamazonas anchorman Jorge Ortiz told 
Embassy Public Affairs officers that there "clearly exists a 
climate of fear and danger for journalists."  Ortiz, a 
straight-talking and often aggressive interviewer on his 
daily morning talk show, has been the target of numerous 
verbal and physical assaults this year, including having his 
car sideswiped while he was driving near the TV station, 
another physical assault while he was walking down the 
street, and most recently, a verbal insult in a Quito 
shopping center by a stranger yelling out "How much does the 
CIA pay you?," a direct reference to allegations made by 
Correa's ex-Security Minister Gustavo Larrea. 
 
SELF-CENSORSHIP--A REAL CONCERN? 
 
¶8. (C) Although the occurrence of self-censorship is a real 
concern, the jury is still out as to the degree of its 
prevalence.  Intimidation felt by journalists and the 
management of media outlets to tone down any criticism of the 
government is much more difficult to quantify than an upsurge 
in harassment cases or minutes Correa dedicates to his weekly 
address to insulting the media.  However, a few high-profile 
cases of individuals quitting due to political pressures have 
demonstrated that some level of self-censorship exists.  In 
March of this year, Jose Toledo, former vice president of 
news for the government-confiscated stations (GamaTV, TC 
Television and CN3 Cablenoticias) resigned due to what he 
claimed to be political pressure to favor government 
candidates in April's elections.  The following month, Carlos 
Vera, a former star of Ecuavisa left the station after 
Ecuavisa management put restrictions on his program's 
content.  While the station may have been giving into 
government pressure, other factors may have been involved. 
That said, Vera later claimed that freedom of expression was 
being restricted by the climate created by Correa's attacks 
against the press.  Journalists from local and provincial 
media outlets have told EmbOff that they are cautious not to 
be critical of the current administration because they feel 
vulnerable. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶9. (C) The current hostile climate created by Correa's verbal 
confrontation with the press is disconcerting for many 
long-time media professionals.  As Alfredo Negrete, former 
editor of El Comercio and current president of the Ecuadorian 
Press Editors Association, noted to EmbOff, Ecuador is far 
from being a country in which journalists fear for their 
lives.  However, the "direction in which we are heading is 
unclear."  Correa's weekly public scoldings have journalists 
and editors fearful and is potentially limiting the space for 
free expression. 
 
¶10. (C) Correa has also shown himself to be somewhat of a 
pragmatist.  In spite of his nearly constant criticism of 
Teleamazonas, a station that he has singled out and 
threatened with closure (reftel A and B), he has yet to make 
any explicit illegal moves.  A few days following Correa's 
August 29 public demand to shut down Teleamazonas for airing 
a clandestine audio of Correa regarding alleged illegal 
changes to the constitution's text (reftel A), the 
administration's spokesman threw some water on the fire and 
said that "the President does not necessarily know the laws" 
 
and that the station can only be fined, not shut down.  That 
said, septel will provide more details on the regulatory, 
economic and legal actions Correa has taken to restrict the 
press within the limits of the law. 
HODGES 

=======================CABLE ENDS============================