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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000981 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO WHA/CCA FOR JARAHN HILLSMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/19 
TAGS: PHUM ETTC ETRD PREL CU EC
SUBJECT: LIBERTAD ACT: ECUADOR-CUBA RELATIONS 
 
REF: STATE 115416; QUIT...



id: 235716
date: 11/19/2009 22:35
refid: 09QUITO981
origin: Embassy Quito
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 09QUITO375|09QUITO716|09QUITO841|09STATE115416
header:
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DE RUEHQT #0981/01 3232235
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O R 192235Z NOV 09
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INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000981 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO WHA/CCA FOR JARAHN HILLSMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/19 
TAGS: PHUM ETTC ETRD PREL CU EC
SUBJECT: LIBERTAD ACT: ECUADOR-CUBA RELATIONS 
 
REF: STATE 115416; QUITO 375; QUITO 716; QUITO 841 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Heather Hodges, Ambassador, State, Exec; REASON: 
1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (U) The Embassy provides the following information on the 
relationship between the Cuban government and Ecuador in response 
to Ref A. 
 
 
 
¶2. (C) Ecuador has not worked to promote the advancement of 
democracy and human rights in Cuba, nor has it undertaken 
governmental action to condemn human rights abuses or to support 
civil society in Cuba.  During a state visit to Cuba in January 
2009, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa accused the "Empire," 
meaning the United States, of ethnocide (apparently meaning 
destruction of a people's culture) and criticized the "perverse 
injustice" inflicted upon the five Cuban spies imprisoned in the 
U.S.  Correa declared himself an unconditional ally of Cuba.  He 
commended the Cuban revolution's achievements, claiming it had 
succeeded in ensuring human rights for all Cubans (Ref B).  In June 
2009 he criticized the Organization of American States for failing 
to include Cuba as a member and urged the OAS to "apologize" for 
the ongoing exclusion. 
 
 
 
¶3. (C) Ecuador and Cuba continue to exchange high-level visitors. 
Cuban President Raul Castro attended Correa's August 10 
inauguration ceremonies (Refs C and D), and President Correa 
visited Cuba in August and September 2009 for medical consultations 
and knee surgery.  During his August visit, Correa spent several 
hours with Fidel Castro.  Ecuadorian Vice President Lenin Moreno, 
who is disabled, conducted a 4-day visit to Cuba in October 2009 to 
study social programs for the disabled. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ecuador does not have significant economic interests in 
Cuba.  No information was found regarding Ecuadorian investments in 
Cuba and the Central Bank does not list Cuba among those countries 
with foreign direct investment in Ecuador. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) During Correa's official trip to Cuba in January 2009, 
the two countries signed nine bilateral agreements in the areas of 
health, trade, culture, sports, science and technology, electricity 
and renewable energy, economic cooperation, reciprocal visa 
treatment for government officials, and political consultations 
(Ref. B).  As a follow-up to the bilateral electricity and 
renewable energy agreement, President Correa issued a presidential 
decree on October 12 allowing the purchase of 68 Korean-built 
internal combustion electricity generators from Cuba, for a total 
of 150 MW generating power, without going through a competitive bid 
process.  The expected delivery date of the generators has not been 
released. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) In August 2009, then Vice Minister of Commerce and 
Integration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Julio Oleas, 
visited Cuba to sign an extension to the 2000 bilateral Economic 
Complementation Agreement between the two countries, which 
contained reciprocal tariff preferences and measures to reduce 
trade barriers, including sanitary and phytosanitary measures. 
Ecuador's trade with Cuba is very small.  In 2008, Ecuador had a 
positive trade balance of US$ 12.2 million.  Ecuadorian exports to 
Cuba totaled $14.2 million that year, or less than 0.08 percent of 
Ecuador's total exports, with canned and pouch tuna accounting for 
45 percent of the total.  Imports from Cuba amounted to only $2.0 
million, or less than 0.03 percent of Ecuador's total imports. 
From January through September 2009, Ecuador exported only $7.0 
million worth of products to Cuba and imported $2.7 million of 
goods from that country. 
 
 
¶7. (U) Ecuadorian students, primarily in the medical field, study 
in Cuba, some on scholarships. Cuban doctors are working in Ecuador 
 
and regularly conduct medical outreach programs. 
HODGES 

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