VZCZCXYZ0022
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #1202/01 3521848
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181847Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0561
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO

UNCLAS QUITO 001202 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EC
SUBJECT: FLACSO: ONE ACADEMIC INSTITUTION'S IDEAS AND PEOPLE PERMEATE 
GOE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Meeting new government officials, or reading the 
bios of long-standing ones, we are struck by how many of them come 
out of one small university, namely FLACSO Ecuador.  Many of these 
individuals have more experience developing academic theories than 
real world policy.  This situation has positive and negative 
ramifications for FLACSO itself, which attracts students and 
attention but runs the risk of being too closely associated with 
the results of the Correa government.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
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FLACSO FOLKS THROUGHOUT GOVERNMENT 
 
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¶2. (SBU) A disproportionate number of individuals formerly 
affiliated with the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences 
(FLACSO) in Quito now occupy senior levels of the Correa 
government.  Cabinet members from FLACSO include Coordinating 
Minister for Security Miguel Carvajal, Foreign Minister Fander 
Falconi, Coordinating Minister for Social Development Jeannette 
Sanchez, Coordinating Minister for Production Nathalie Cely, 
Coordinating Minister for Heritage Maria Fernanda Espinoza, and 
National Planning Secretary Rene Ramirez.  (Note:  Each 
coordinating minister oversees the work of several other 
ministries.  End Note.)  Examples of FLACSO-affiliated individuals 
elsewhere in the government are Ministry of Government and Police 
Under Secretary Fredy Rivera, Constitutional Court president 
Patricio Pazmino, National Assembly International Relations 
Commission president Fernando Bustamante, and Quito mayor Augusto 
Barrera. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) One reason for the government's strong FLACSO flavor is 
that a group of leftist FLACSO professors prepared President Correa 
and his Proud and Sovereign Fatherland (PAIS) movement's initial 
government plan for 2007-10.  Many of those individuals later moved 
into important positions in the GOE -- FM Falconi, MFA vice 
minister for trade Julio Oleas, Planning Secretary Ramirez, and 
former Constituent Assembly president Alberto Acosta (now estranged 
from Correa).  Several others remained at FLACSO. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) President Correa taught primarily at the San Francisco 
University in Quito, but did have FLACSO connections.  He became 
acquainted with several FLACSO professors and researchers, such as 
Acosta and Falconi, as they participated in leftist forums like 
Ecuador Alternativo and Jubileo 2000.  Correa was an invited 
professor at FLACSO in 2001-05, a consultant in 2003 for the design 
of FLACSO's doctorate in macroeconomics curriculum (supervised by 
then economics program coordinator and now foreign minister 
Falconi), and co-author of a book of economic proposals with other 
FLACSO economic professors.  Meanwhile, Correa broke with the more 
conservative San Francisco University of Quito over what a 
university official told us was a disagreement over Correa's 
independence and class size after Correa completed a PhD in the 
U.S. funded by the university. 
 
 
 
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THE GOOD AND BAD FOR FLACSO 
 
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¶5. (SBU) Opened in 1975, FLACSO Ecuador is a small center for 
graduate studies that forms part of the regional FLACSO system.  It 
enjoys a reputation as one of Ecuador's best academic institutions, 
in large part because its faculty members typically have doctorates 
earned in foreign universities.  FLACSO currently has some 700 
students, 27 academic staff, and 50 researchers.  It offers masters 
and doctorate degrees in the fields of political science, 
sociology, urban studies, communication, public policy, 
international relations, anthropology and socio-environmental 
studies.  Like other Ecuadorian universities, it receives about 40 
 
 
percent of its budget from the government. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) We discussed the FLASCO/government relationship with the 
Faro Group, an NGO that conducted a study on ties between political 
parties and think-tanks in Ecuador.  A senior FARO staffer 
attributed the Correa government's ties to FLACSO to the PAIS 
movement's rudimentary organizational development, the lack of a 
meritocratic system, and lack of adequate personnel within the 
Ecuadorian civil service. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The FARO staffer pointed out that most of the GOE's 
attempts to connect public policies with academia are implemented 
through FLACSO.  One such attempt was a collaborative agreement in 
the fields of education and research that Government Minister 
Gustavo Jalkh and FLACSO head Adrian Bonilla signed in June.  For 
the many former academics in the Correa government, it probably 
seems natural to look to a highly regarded university like FLACSO 
for the best advice available locally.  The FLACSO academics 
involved are generally those of a leftist ideological orientation 
who are likely to legitimize the political positions and policies 
the government has already adopted. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) FLACSO professors' views are not all pro-government, and 
many professors want the institution to remain pluralistic. 
FLACSO's political science department generally tends to be more 
critical of GOE policies.  FLACSO political science program 
coordinator Simon Pachano, for example, is a regular newspaper 
columnist who often criticizes policies implemented by the GOE. 
Another FLACSO political science professor expressed concern to us 
that FLACSO would forever be associated with Correa's policies.  On 
the other hand, he recognized that people were interested in 
studying at FLACSO as a way to get connected or obtain employment 
in the public sector. 
 
 
 
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COMMENT 
 
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¶9. (SBU) The Correa administration's strong reliance on one small 
university as its customary recruiting center for senior officials 
reflects the scarcity of talented individuals with a compatible 
ideological framework, the GOE's preference for those personally 
known by the core government team, and FLACSO's strong reputation. 
Drawing so heavily from a university means that GOE policies often 
have an academic flavor and reflect the fact that many officials 
need to gain experience in real world policy implementation. 
HODGES