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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000933 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2029/11/05 
TAGS: PTER SNAR PGOV MARR EC CO
SUBJECT: Government Appointed Commissioner Warns of Narco-Democracy 
 
REF: QUITO 227; QUITO 233 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Hodge...



id: 233417
date: 11/5/2009 21:59
refid: 09QUITO933
origin: Embassy Quito
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 09QUITO227|09QUITO233
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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000933 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2029/11/05 
TAGS: PTER SNAR PGOV MARR EC CO
SUBJECT: Government Appointed Commissioner Warns of Narco-Democracy 
 
REF: QUITO 227; QUITO 233 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Hodges, Heather M, Ambassador, State, EXEC; REASON: 
1.4(D) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  Francisco Huerta, head of a government-appointed 
commission investigating the March 2008 Colombian bombing of a FARC 
camp in Ecuador, warned during October media interviews that 
Ecuador was becoming a "narco-democracy."  A member of Huerta's 
commission told us on November 4 that the group's report would not 
agree with GOE allegations of a U.S. role in the attack.  If the 
final report indeed reflects what we have heard so far, we expect 
the government to distance itself from the report, or discredit the 
commission.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Commission Highlights Narcotrafficker-Government Links 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Francisco Huerta's denunciation of the ills of 
contemporary Ecuador is likely not what the GOE had in mind in 
appointing him.  In support of his charge that Ecuador was on the 
road to being a narco-democracy, Huerta described Ecuador today as 
"half democratic" since it had a government chosen by popular vote, 
but infiltrated by narco-traffickers.  Huerta said there had been 
too many cases of judicial, executive and legislative branch 
members linked to narco-trafficking, which obviously corrupt a 
democracy.  He asked rhetorically who could compete in election 
campaigns against those with narco-financing.  Huerta noted that 
impunity was often thanks to complicity by those in the armed 
forces.  He did not hesitate to call the Revolutionary Armed Forces 
of Colombia (FARC) terrorists, a designation the GOE has avoided. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Huerta leads the five-member Truth and Transparency 
Commission investigating the March 1, 2008, Colombian military 
attack on a FARC camp in northern Ecuador, as well as the 
allegations of GOE-FARC ties (Ref A).  The Commission is often 
called the Angostura commission after the town closest to the FARC 
camp.  Huerta was appointed to represent the National Council for 
Higher Education and was considered left-leaning. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Responding to Huerta's comments during a BBC interview, 
President Correa claimed that Huerta was referring to problems near 
the country's border, where state presence had always been absent 
and where there were many narcotrafficking routes.  He affirmed 
that the GOE needed to pay attention to the area.  When pressed 
further, Correa highlighted what he considered Ecuador's successes 
against drugs, including the absence of coca cultivation and the 
large number of seizures, which he said made it unlikely Ecuador 
would become a narco-democracy. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (C) Commission member Walter Gellibert Larreta told us on 
November 4 that the influence of narco-traffickers in Ecuador had 
already been proven.  What the Commission was still trying to do 
was further document the ties between people of the government and 
the guerrillas.  He said the Commission did not yet have a fixed 
date for the report's release.  Larreta was nominated for the 
commission by the Ecuadorian Association of Radio Broadcasting; as 
a young man he lived for 11 years in the U.S. 
 
 
 
Indicators of a Fledgling Narco-Democracy 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6.  (C) Other events in recent weeks have added to the impression 
that narcotics trafficking organizations pose a threat to 
government institutions.  FARC threats were reported against police 
officers involved in the mid-October capture of 8.3 tons of cocaine 
 
which belonged to a Colombian drug trafficking organization, but 
with the FARC assisting in transportation and security and an 
Ecuadorian Army officer heading the transportation cell. 
Government and Police Minister Gustavo Jalkh said the GOE was 
taking the necessary measures to protect police officers who were 
part of operations that put them at high risk.  Also, the 
provincial prosecutor who would have handled the case requested 
that he be moved, which many observers attributed to his fear of 
narcotraffickers' retribution. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (C) The events described above build on concerns created by 
reports of former Security Minister Gustavo Larrea and former Under 
Secretary Jose Chauvin's ties to the FARC (Ref B).  In a related 
development, on October 23 an Esmeraldas judge found the Ostaiza 
brothers (whom Chauvin cooperated with) and nine other defendants 
not guilty of drug trafficking in conjunction with the FARC; they 
are now detained only on a money laundering charge. 
 
 
 
U.S. Role in 2008 Colombian Military Incursion 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
 
¶8.  (C) According to commission member Larreta, the Commission's 
report on the Colombian military incursion of March 2008 would 
include nothing damaging about the U.S.  He said the Commission had 
already completed the drafting of the section of the report about 
the attack.  Larreta told us the report would conclude that the 
Colombian military had the capacity to carry out the attack on its 
own and that there was no evidence to support the allegation that 
aircraft based at the U.S. Forward Operating Location (FOL) in 
Manta had been involved.  Larreta noted that one Commission member 
(unidentified) had insisted on including a statement about a FOL 
role, but that four other members refused to include an 
unsubstantiated allegation. 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The Ambassador met with Larreta and the other members of 
the commission (minus Huerta) at their request on April 28 at the 
start of their investigation.  In addition, the Ambassador 
responded in writing in late July to the Commission's written 
request for information.  The request focused on early U.S. Embassy 
notification of certain Ecuadorian officials about the Colombian 
military actions on March 1, 2008, and the capabilities and 
possible involvement in the attack of FOL aircraft. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶10.  (C) We are surprised by Huerta's courage in trying to issue a 
wake-up call to the Ecuadorian public on the dangers of increasing 
narcotrafficker influence over government institutions.  If indeed 
the Commission members stick to their guns and issue a report 
documenting government officials' links to narcotics traffickers, 
they would prove wrong the many skeptics who argued that the 
commission members were too aligned with the government and 
restricted in the information they would gather to conduct a 
significant and objective investigation.  Furthermore, if the final 
report absolves the USG, it would counter GOE charges that the USG 
played a major role in carrying out the March 2008 Colombian 
attack.  We imagine the GOE must be thinking hard about how to 
prevent such a public relations disaster, or discredit the report. 
HODGES 

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