id:

191415

date:

2/10/2009 23:25

refid:

09QUITO103

origin:

Embassy Quito

classification:

SECRET//NOFORN

destination:

09QUITO100

header:

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DE RUEHQT #0103/01 0412325

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FM AMEMBASSY QUITO

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0008

INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 7949

RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 4074

RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3372

RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ FEB LIMA 3015

RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 4082

RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC

RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC

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

S E C R E T QUITO 000103 

NOFORN 

SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: TWENTY YEARS 

TAGS: PREL, MARR, SMIG, SNAR, MOPS, EC, CO 

SUBJECT: BACKGROUND TO CORREA'S ATTACKS ON U.S. COOPERATION 

WITH GOE POLICE: GOE OFFICIALS LINKED TO FARC 

REF: QUITO 100 

Classified By: Ambassador Heather M. Hodges for Reasons 1.4 (b&d) 

1.  (S/NF) SUMMARY:  A PAIS provincial leader and former 

Under Secretary of Government under Minister Gustavo Larrea, 

Ignacio Chauvin, turned himself in February 4 to face charges 

of narco-trafficking.  Calling himself a revolutionary, 

Chauvin admitted to meeting deceased FARC member Raul Reyes. 

As a result, Larrea's political career is at least on hold, 

if not torpedoed.  Elements within the GOE appear to be 

trying to block effective prosecution, with key leaders of 

USG-vetted police units instrumental in the case transferred, 

the judge removed, and the case likely to be moved away from 

an effective prosecutor.  After initially reacting critically 

towards Chauvin, President Correa softened his comments on 

the case during his February 7 radio address.  END SUMMARY. 

FORMER GOE OFFICIAL IMPLICATED IN TRAFFICKING FARC DRUGS 

2.  (C) Ignacio Chauvin turned himself in to authorities on 

February 4 to face charges of narco-trafficking and misuse of 

government funds.  He had been the head of President Correa's 

Proud and Sovereign Fatherland (PAIS) political movement in 

Pichincha province and Under Secretary of Government and 

Police while Gustavo Larrea was the Minister of Government. 

On January 29, an arrest warrant was issued by a court in 

Guayas province alleging that Chauvin negotiated contracts 

for the GOE, including petroleum deals, with the brothers 

Jefferson, Edison and Miguel Ostaiza, currently under 

investigation for trafficking Revolutionary Armed Forces of 

Colombia (FARC) drugs to the U.S. and Mexico and for 

money-laundering.  The Special Police Investigative Unit 

(UIES) realized an operation, "Border Hurricane", on 

September 18, 2008, resulting in the seizure of 4.8 tons of 

cocaine allegedly owned by the Ostaiza brothers.  Chauvin was 

a fugitive for seven days before he turned himself in, 

evading initial arrest, possibly through senior police 

collusion. 

3.  (SBU) Chauvin admitted that he was a personal friend of 

the Ostaiza brothers, but claimed he was unaware of their 

illicit activity.  Chauvin also admitted that he was "a 

personal friend of Raul Reyes," the second-ranking FARC 

leader, who was killed in the March 2008 Colombian attack 

against a FARC camp in Ecuador.  Chauvin acknowledged that he 

met with Reyes seven times, but only to discuss the release 

of FARC-held hostages.  At the entrance to the police 

station, Chauvin announced to militant spectators that he was 

a "revolutionary and friend of various revolutionaries around 

the world."  In response, President Correa demanded that 

Chauvin explain where he met Reyes, that "if the meetings 

were held in Angostura..., if he (Chauvin) knew that Raul 

Reyes was in the country and did not denounce it, he would be 

a traitor to the homeland."  Correa also requested that 

Chauvin declare whether he met Reyes in an official or 

personal capacity. 

4.  (C) On February 3, the Guayas Antinarcotics Police (DNA) 

unit also detained Latin American Association of Human Rights 

(ALDHU) attorney Diego Benitez, Operational Support Group 

Police Lieutenant Pablo Cordova, and ex-agent of the Money 

Laundering Unit Carlos Navarro for alleged collaboration with 

Jefferson Ostaiza in narco-trafficking.  Specifically, the 

Guayas DNA unit is investigating ALDHU's Benitez for his work 

at Jooamy Ema, a Ostaiza brothers-owned company.  Guayas 

district attorney Jorge Solorzano asserted that he has 

sufficient evidence to prosecute both Chauvin and Benitez. 

He added that, although Benitez' connection to the Correa 

government was undeclared, he had photos of Benitez with 

former Minister Larrea, Assembly member Cesar Rodriguez, Vice 

President Lenin Moreno and  President Correa, and that with 

the photos, "they will not be able to say that they don't 

know him (Benitez), never saw him, or have never been with 

him." 

CORREA APOLOGIZES TO CHAUVIN 

5.  (SBU) Softening his tone in his February 7 radio address, 

President Correa read a letter sent by Chauvin's wife and 

apologized to Chauvin for his previous comments, saying that 

"I think that I was unfair.  I think that I reacted based on 

the prestige of the government, more so than on whether Jose 

Ignacio Chauvin was guilty or innocent."  Correa said that in 

Ecuador everyone was innocent until proven guilty and praised 

Chauvin's bravery in turning himself in.  Correa reiterated, 

however, that if Chauvin met with Raul Reyes as a 

representative of the Ecuadorian government in Angostura, he 

would have betrayed the citizen revolution.  Chauvin has 

since declared that he met Reyes only in Colombia. 

ALDHU UNDER INVESTIGATION 

6.  (SBU) The events have cast general suspicion on ALDHU, 

where former Minister Larrea and Chauvin had worked, and its 

use of government funds.  Acting Minister of Government 

Felipe Abril requested that ALDHU provide financial reports 

to clarify its spending practices.  He warned that "if they 

(ALDHU) used State money for ends other than what had been 

authorized, it could result in the termination of all written 

agreements and the dissolution of the entity."  Since 1980, 

ALDHU has received funding from and maintained a close 

relationship with the central government.  In 1996, ALDHU 

signed an agreement to provide human rights training for the 

police, but the police's Education Directorate reportedly 

shows no record of ever receiving training from ALDHU. 

7.  (C) Our Ecuadorian military contacts have criticized 

ALDHU for its work in the northern border region, 

particularly its issuance of carnets (identity documents) to 

over 5,000 inhabitants, who are mostly Colombian.  A report 

from the Army's Fourth Division explains that a large 

percentage of those living near the border are Colombian 

nationals, but have obtained Ecuadorian national 

identification documents using the ALDHU carnets, making it 

more difficult to control the border and the region.  The 

Foreign Ministry issued a bulletin regarding the issuance of 

credentials clarifying that only the State can recognize 

foreign citizens as refugees, and that "there is no 

authorization of any kind that ALDHU or any other NGO could 

substitute for the authority of the Ecuadorian government, 

under any circumstance." 

REQUEST FOR PAIS TO OPEN ITS BOOKS 

8.  (SBU) The Christian Democratic Union (UDC) party 

announced that it is preparing a formal request for PAIS to 

open its books on the 2006 electoral campaign, alleging that 

Chauvin's role as the PAIS leader in Pichincha may have 

involved the Ostaiza brothers and narco-trafficking.  UDC 

President Diego Ordonez called for the National Electoral 

Council to investigate PAIS's sources of funding to determine 

if there were FARC donations. 

LARREA IS OUT 

9.  (C) Amid the controversy regarding Chauvin and ALDHU, 

Gustavo Larrea renounced his candidacy for the National 

Assembly on February 2, following a reported request by 

President Correa to leave the race.  Larrea had resigned as 

Coordinating Minister of Internal and External Security on 

January 10 to run for the Assembly and was considered by some 

within PAIS as one of the front runners to become the 

Assembly president.  In his announcement that he was 

withdrawing his candidacy, Larrea complained that his 

friendship with Chauvin had been used to damage the image of 

the government.  However, Solorzano stated on February 7 that 

it was Larrea who "committed his own political suicide by 

having a close collaborator and intimate friend who has ties 

to the guerrilla (FARC) and saying that he knew nothing about 

it." 

10.  (C) Larrea's falling out with PAIS appears more 

complicated than when Correa requested Larrea leave his 

position as Minister of Government in November 2007, only to 

reappoint him on January 3, 2008 as the Coordinating Minister 

of Internal and External Security.  Accusations by Colombia 

based on documents recovered from FARC computers that Larrea 

had ties to the FARC, Larrea's later admission of meetings 

with the FARC to discuss the release of hostages, and now the 

ties to Chauvin have tarnished Larrea's political viability, 

at least for the foreseeable future. 

IMPACT ON USG VETTED UNITS 

11.  (C) On February 4, Ecuadorian Police Commander General 

Jaime Hurtado ordered the transfer of three heads and 20 

members of police units critical to the success of Ecuador's 

fight against narco-terrorism.  He justified the move as 

"normal transfer of personnel to allow for the ascension of 

new generals and colonels," but it appeared to be retribution 

against those who pursued a case that reflected poorly on the 

GOE.  Hurtado sent the Deputy Director of Antinarcotics, 

Colonel Juan Carlos Barragan, to lead the provincial police 

district in El Oro, and the Chief of the Special Police 

Investigative Unit (UIES), Colonel Manolo Silva, to lead the 

judicial police in Tungurahua, far from their areas of 

specialty.  Silva and Barragan have led a long-running 

investigation by the UIES of narco-trafficking rings in 

Ecuador, including potential ties to the GOE.  The unit was 

vetted by and has maintained excellent operational 

cooperation with the Embassy in counter-insurgency and 

counter-drug operations.  The UIES was instrumental in the 

seizures of Simon Trinidad, FARC secretariat member, and 

Nelson Yaguara, alias Commander Uriel, responsible for the 

attack on Colombian military base Teteye.  The UIES 

reportedly has been responsible for 70% of the drug seizures 

in Ecuador since 1989. 

12.  (C) Hurtado also reassigned General Juan Francisco Sosa, 

Chief of the Judicial Police (similar to the FBI), to a 

lower-level posting as district police chief in Quito, 

blaming him for not capturing Chauvin immediately.  Sosa has 

worked closely with various offices in the Embassy - DEA, 

DHS/ICE and NAS - to strengthen crime scene evidence 

gathering and investigations.  General Rafael Yepez has been 

named to replace Sosa, but it is unclear how well he will 

cooperate with the Embassy and USG initiatives. 

13.  (C) Upon receiving news of the latest reassignments, the 

Ambassador canceled her meeting with Coordinating Minister of 

Internal and External Security Miguel Carvajal on February 5, 

originally scheduled as part of Andean Affairs Director Kevin 

Whitaker's visit, until events were clarified internally. 

Carvajal called the Ambassador on February 6 to ask about the 

suspended assistance to the UIES.  The Ambassador explained 

that the replacement of the vetted leaders of the unit had 

resulted in suspension of support.  Carvajal, who knew the 

agreement was only verbal, suggested to the Ambassador that 

these agreements should be formalized in writing, but did not 

indicate any other immediate concerns.  They agreed to meet 

the week of February 9 to discuss. 

14.  (S/NF) COMMENT:  Someone (perhaps Carvajal) is using the 

Astorga and the DHS/ICE vetted unit issue (reftel) to 

aggravate Correa, or to distract from the Chauvin/PAIS case. 

The DHS/ICE vetted unit is now being confused with issues 

surrounding the UIES vetted unit, who have similarly 

suspended assistance and requested return of equipment.  It 

is unclear if Carvajal or Correa have a true understanding of 

which unit is which, or that banning "vetted" units in 

Ecuador could interrupt Correa's favorite program, a DEA-led 

judicial communications intercept program.  There is strong 

suspicion in the U.S. Mission that Carvajal and others in the 

GOE see this as a wedge issue to drive out USG influence from 

the government.  END COMMENT. 

WHERE IS THE CHAUVIN CASE? 

15.  (SBU) In addition to the police reassignments, the judge 

for Chauvin and the Border Hurricane case, Zoila Alvarado, 

was accused by the attorney of one of the defendants of 

delaying the case.  Another judge in the Guayas judicial 

district, Oswaldo Sierra, reviewed the complaint and 

announced on February 9 that Judge Alvarado would no longer 

hear the case.  Meanwhile, Chauvin's attorney filed a request 

to change the jurisdiction of the case to Esmeraldas, with 

the justification that the drugs were seized in Esmeraldas, 

not Guayas.  If Oswaldo determines that the case is to be 

moved, then prosecutor Solorzano will also be taken off the 

case, further reducing prospects for the involvement of any 

competent and clean judicial officials. 

COMMENT 

16.  (S/NF) The events surrounding the Ostaiza brothers and 

Operation Hurricane have hit a sensitive nerve for the GOE, 

suggesting once again that the Correa administration has ties 

to the FARC.  The GOE has been insistent that Colombia 

recognize that the GOE has no ties to the FARC -- harder to 

do when an Under Secretary admits to FARC meetings and 

declares himself as a revolutionary.  If the Chauvin and 

Border Hurricane investigations are allowed to proceed, it is 

likely additional information will continue to surface and 

damage the image of the Correa administration.  However, the 

suspicious timing of transferring key leaders of USG-vetted 

police units, instrumental in counter-narcotics efforts, not 

only damages our bilateral cooperation, it also lessens the 

likelihood that narco-traffickers will be brought to justice 

and convicted.  Leftist elements within the GOE may continue 

to shift the focus or blame on the USG's influence in the 

security sector, further complicating USG efforts here, or 

driving out cooperation altogether. 

HODGES 

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