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O R 130005Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0324
INFO AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 
DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY CARACAS 
AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL
AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
AMEMBASSY LIMA
AMEMBASSY QUITO

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000951 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/12 
TAGS: PGOV ELAB EC
SUBJECT: CORREA AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: ATTACKS FROM THE LEFT? 
 
REF: QUITO 877 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Andrew Chritton, Charge d'Affaires; REASON: 1.4(D) 
 
¶1. (...



id: 234456
date: 11/13/2009 0:05
refid: 09QUITO951
origin: Embassy Quito
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 09QUITO877
header:
INFO  LOG-00   AF-00    AID-00   AMAD-00  CIAE-00  INL-00   DODE-00  
      ANHR-00  DS-00    EAP-00   DHSE-00  OIGO-00  VCI-00   H-00     
      TEDE-00  INR-00   LAB-01   L-00     MOFM-00  MOF-00   VCIE-00  
      NSAE-00  ISN-00   NSCE-00  NIMA-00  MCC-00   ISNE-00  DOHS-00  
      FMPC-00  SP-00    IRM-00   SSO-00   SS-00    NCTC-00  CBP-00   
      R-00     SCRS-00  DSCC-00  PRM-00   DRL-00   NFAT-00  SAS-00   
      FA-00    SWCI-00  PESU-00  SANA-00    /001W
    
O R 130005Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0324
INFO AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 
DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY CARACAS 
AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL
AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
AMEMBASSY LIMA
AMEMBASSY QUITO


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

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000951 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/12 
TAGS: PGOV ELAB EC
SUBJECT: CORREA AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: ATTACKS FROM THE LEFT? 
 
REF: QUITO 877 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Andrew Chritton, Charge d'Affaires; REASON: 1.4(D) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY.  President Rafael Correa now faces strong but 
fragmented opposition from leftist groups that were part of his 
political base.  In the last few months, the GOE has confronted 
striking teachers, students, and indigenous groups.  In each case, 
Correa has come to the table for dialogue with these groups, but 
complicated those dialogues by continuing his verbal blasts 
accusing them of everything from ignorance and selfishness to 
"infantile" behavior and manipulation by his enemies on the right. 
In the end, Correa has probably chosen his battles wisely, since 
many of these organizations do not have much support from the 
general population.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
------------------ 
Advantage: Correa 
------------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) Embassy contacts are almost uniform in their analysis that, 
despite a growing dislike for some of his rude public commentary, 
Correa's resolve when faced with protests from his left wing is 
generally good for Correa and for Ecuador, with its history of 
instability and governments held hostage by these interest groups. 
He has managed to divide each of the protesting groups by opening 
dialogues with some of the organizers, leaving other factions 
unhappy but weakened.  After the death of the indigenous protester 
in September, police are extremely cautious about reacting to 
protests with force, but are in the streets to maintain order. 
(Note:  Preliminary reports indicate the protestor was likely 
killed by another protestor.  End note)  Government ministers have 
clearly warned against the interruption of public services. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Correa is balancing his willingness to dialogue with 
repeated verbal sallies accusing all of the protesting groups of 
being on the "extreme left" and "doing the work of the rightists" 
and "imperialists."  In Bolivia last month for an ALBA meeting, 
Correa said the unions and indigenous groups were "infantile", and 
that their protests could actually impede the governments' attempts 
to create real change.  Each group of protesters has felt the 
verbal lash of the presidency, who often takes them to task during 
his weekly Saturday radio addresses. 
 
¶4. (C) It is ironic that Correa, the self-proclaimed "21st century 
socialist," is facing his most active opposition from the left of 
the political spectrum, all the while accusing them of falling prey 
to manipulation from the "rightists."  Rumors in the indigenous 
community suggest that corporate interests in Guayaquil, or the 
losers in the last presidential election, funded the most violent 
protests during the September indigenous strike.  Although there is 
no known evidence to back up that claim, it conforms exactly to 
Correa's much-publicized fears that his citizens' revolution is 
under attack from both sides. 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
Students and teachers march...again 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) Both students and teachers have taken to the streets to 
protest proposed laws on primary and secondary education and on 
higher education.  Students have been protesting on and off over 
proposals in the Law on Higher Education, occasionally with some 
violence.  Organizers say 15,000 students took part in marches 
nationwide on October 21.  Students protesting the proposed Higher 
Education Law did not like that universities will lose funds if the 
accreditation board determines that a program fails to meet 
academic standards, nor that rectors and "principal professors" 
must hold PhDs, or the equivalent, in their field.  University 
rectors and a few student leaders had met with President Correa at 
the presidential palace two days before the student strike, leaving 
some university leaders satisfied enough to keep their institutions 
away from the October 21 marches and sowing divisions among the 
educational elite.  Ongoing "tripartite" dialogue between 
university representatives, the National Assembly, and the national 
planning ministry (SENPLADES) kicked off on October 27.  Already 
some student leaders are unhappy, mostly because the universities 
selected the leader of one student organization to attend the 
dialogue.  The leader of another student group called for his 
organization to return to the streets, and protests continue the 
week of November 9. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The teachers have called for various strikes since March, 
when the GOE moved forward on teacher testing, with students 
protesting in larger numbers once the school year started this 
fall.  Again, Correa has managed the domestic disturbances with a 
firm hand.  The largest teachers' union, UNE, called for the latest 
nationwide teachers' strike on September 15.  Teachers did not like 
the articles in the proposed Education Law that would require 
changes to the career path and greater GOE control over the 
curriculum, as well as putting the Executive's teacher testing 
policy into law.  Even during the biggest march in the capital, 
however, most teachers remained in the classroom, leaving core UNE 
members to hang banners outside the presidential palace.  With 
President Correa out of the country, the teachers' union met for 
six hours of discussions on October 7 with Vice President Moreno, 
then called off the strike.  Moreno's agreement with UNE does not 
substantially change the law, but among other minor revisions, will 
give teachers who refused to be tested another opportunity, and 
allows those who fail a chance to retire or to attend remedial 
training with the Ministry of Education before taking the test 
again. 
 
¶7.  (C) Many Ecuadorians seem to think that the teachers get too 
many benefits without being held to any real standards, believing 
that explains why education in Ecuador is so poor.  Santiago Nieto 
of the polling firm Informe Confidencial told the DCM and Poloffs 
during a private briefing that over 60% of the population has a 
negative view of UNE. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------------- 
Correa circles the wagons, then makes peace with indigenous groups 
--------------------------------------------- --------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) The GOE dialogue with indigenous groups is the longest 
running of such talks.  The GOE has reportedly reached agreement 
with the largest indigenous organization, the Confederation of 
Indigenous People of Ecuador (CONAIE), on a few points, including 
some wording changes to the most contentious matter and the causus 
belli of the initial strike, the proposed water law.  At present, 
the agreements reached appear to be more form than substance.  The 
indigenous demand for a halt to mining in two eastern provinces and 
the investigation of the death of an indigenous protester at the 
end of September will probably be the most contentious issues in 
the dialogue.  It was this death that shocked both the Government 
and the protestors, and for the first time, brought Correa to the 
bargaining table with a group opposing him.  Before that incident, 
Correa had insisted that CONAIE completely end the protests of all 
its affiliate organizations before any discussions could start. 
Within days of the death, CONAIE representatives and Correa held an 
initial heated dialogue.  After an exchange of un-pleasantries on 
both sides, Correa handed the microphone to his more conciliatory 
Vice President, Lenin Moreno, who eventually closed the marathon 
session with the beginnings of a deal (Ref A and B). 
 
¶9. (C) Sandra Guzman, a National Democratic Institute staffer, told 
Poloffs that Ecuadorians recognize that the indigenous groups have 
suffered from years of discrimination and have some sympathy for 
their ongoing political activism.  However, the general public does 
not appreciate the civil disturbances and road closures, especially 
when the GOE stays on the message that the indigenous groups are 
misinformed, manipulated, and do not understand what is in the law. 
Guzman noted that Correa, who sees himself as acting in the best 
interests of the indigenous communities, will continue to manage 
with a "mano duro" (firm hand).  In her view, that will be the only 
way to bring real change to Ecuador. 
 
¶10.  (U) The fissures between indigenous groups and among the 
leadership of the indigenous movements have also helped Correa. 
CONAIE could not keep its Amazonian affiliates, CONFENIAE, in line 
when discussions to end the strike first began, leading to a very 
public chastisement of CONAIE's leadership.  Two of the other 
national organizations representing indigenous groups, the 
evangelical FEINE and labor-union base FENOCIN, publicly repudiated 
CONAIE's actions and their ongoing dialogue with the GOE.  Some 
radicals, mostly within CONAIE, are apparently expecting the GOE to 
agree to what are essentially mini-states within Ecuador, according 
to Kleber Naula, an academic now working for Chimborazo province. 
That kind of ideology, he said, will not attract more moderate, 
non-indigenous support, and does not have the support of the two 
other large indigenous organizations. 
 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Labor unions disgruntled but disorganized 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) Unionized workers currently only account for 2 percent or 
less of the workforce, and Correa's proposed Law on Public 
Enterprises would cut the number by roughly half.  The draft 
legislation prohibits public "technical and administrative" workers 
and those in "strategic industries" from joining unions, which 
includes everything from oil transportation workers to nursing 
aides.  Private sector workers are, for the moment, unaffected. 
Despite the looming threat, labor representatives are apparently 
unwilling or unable to organize into an effective opposition group, 
and so far have mounted only a few small protests. 
 
¶12.  (C) Patricio Contreras and Samantha Tate of Solidarity Center, 
an AFL-CIO-based group working across the labor spectrum, agree 
that unions generally have a bad reputation all around.  Younger 
workers see them as either communist or irrelevant, and most 
Ecuadorians seen them as essentially selfish actors.  Most workers 
in the country are in enterprises that are too small to unionize 
(the minimum to form a union is 30 workers).  A group of "young 
turks" is seeking to energize the older and lethargic unions with 
the creation of a new Inter-Union Committee to Defend Labor Rights 
and are challenging the leadership of the largest union in court 
over irregularities in the union elections.  Meanwhile, room for 
maneuver is rapidly shrinking for public sector workers as the 
National Assembly gets closer to passing the law. 
 
 
-------- 
COMMENT 
-------- 
 
¶13. (C) The leftist groups' success in forcing the GOE to the table 
for dialogue shows that President Correa considers disaffection on 
the left a real threat.  However, their success may be ephemeral 
since the GOE apparently believes it can manage the dialogue 
without making major concessions.  At the end of the day, Correa 
looks more moderate by agreeing to dialogue with the protesting 
organizations, even while he continues to publicly haul them over 
the coals.  Recent editorials in the local press paint Correa as 
more of a statist than a socialist given his ongoing attempts to 
centralize government authority, an accusation that his erstwhile 
supporters in the unions and minority groups probably support. 
 
 
CHRITTON 

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