Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05QUITO1058
2005-05-10 19:38:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Quito
Cable title:  

ECUADOR: CONGRESS STRUGGLING TO REPAIR IMAGE

Tags:  PGOV PREL EC 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 QUITO 001058 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: CONGRESS STRUGGLING TO REPAIR IMAGE

REF: QUITO 947

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 QUITO 001058

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: CONGRESS STRUGGLING TO REPAIR IMAGE

REF: QUITO 947


1. (U) Summary: The Ecuadorian Congress' already low
credibility was rocked by an inopportune sex scandal
involving sordid events in a Lima hotel room. Five
Ecuadorian deputies, in Lima to attend the round of free
trade agreement negotiations, allegedly caused thousands of
dollars of damage to a Lima hotel, and one female deputy has
accused a male deputy of making unwanted sexual advances and
breaking her ribs. Congress, desperate to improve its image,
proposed a bill to extend its work week and showed new energy
by voting on legislation to combat trafficking in persons.
Congress will also likely approve the President's partial
veto of the law to reorganize the Supreme Court and continue
to reapportion its committees to penalize parties which
supported ex-President Gutierrez. End Summary.

Congress Suspends Four Deputies
--------------


2. (U) On May 6, in a closed session, Congress suspended the
four deputies involved in a scandal that occurred in a Lima
hotel on April 19, until their case can be reviewed by
Congress' Disciplinary Committee. The deputies Maria Augusta
Rivas (PRE),Ivan Vasquez (PRIAN),Franklin Sanmartin
(independent),and Jacobo Sanmiguel (independent) had
traveled to Lima to participate in the round of free trade
agreement negotiations. Another deputy, Mesias Mora was also
involved in the affair but had already been expelled from
Congress on other grounds. (reftel)


3. (U) Congress members have proposed that an eight-day
investigation of what Lima press are reporting as an
orgy/scandal be opened by the Disciplinary Committee.
Afterwards, the Committee will present a report to the
plenary which will analyze the extent of each deputy's
culpability in the matter. On May 10, the Disciplinary
Committee, led by deputy Hugo Ruiz (ID),will travel to Lima
to investigate the incident. They plan to speak with
employees of the hotel, a doctor that examined Ms. Rivas
after the incident, and with Santiago Cadena, the former
civil attache at Lima's Ecuadorian Embassy, who was called to
the hotel during the early hours of April 19.

Ecuadorian Attache's Version
--------------


4. (U) On April 19, the five deputies reportedly went to
Sanmartin's hotel room sometime after midnight, after having
dinner in a Lima restaurant, and ordered a bottle of whiskey.

The Ecuadorian civil attache in Lima, Santiago Cadena,
received a phone call at four A.M. from the hotel, asking him
to come to the hotel immediately. Cadena said he found the
hotel a disaster upon arrival. Hotel reps told Cadena, they
had sent a hotel staff member to open the door to Sanmartin's
hotel room after various complaints at around two A.M. and
caught Rivas and Sanmartin in a "compromising position."


5. (U) Cadena was told that ten minutes later Rivas stormed
out of the hotel room, accusing the other deputies of having
sexually assaulted her. This is when, apparently, there was
damage to hotel property, including broken lamps, objects
thrown on the floor, and aggression towards hotel staff. The
hotel reported approximately $4,000 worth of damage. To calm
Rivas down, the hotel staff injected her with a tranquilizer.
A medical exam conducted at the hotel, whose results are now
at the Ecuadorian Embassy in Lima, revealed that Rivas had
been intoxicated and also found traces of Valium in her
system. Rivas claimed the Valium found was from medicine the
doctors gave her after the incident. The deputies went down
to the lobby the following morning to pay for the damages,
according to Cadena.

Rivas Disputes Cadena's Version
--------------


6. (U) The deputies involved disputed this version of the
story in the May 3 session of Congress. Rivas claimed she
was victim of a political persecution for being a member of
Bucaram's Ecuadorian Roldosista Party (PRE) party. Rivas
also reportedly went to a Quito clinic on May 6, where she
was found to have cracked ribs due to blows received from
Sanmartin, when she defended herself against his advances.
Rivas said Sanmartin had "disrespected" her and that she
reacted by slapping him; he in turn punching her. Rivas is
reportedly considering charges against Sanmartin. Sanmartin
offered a televised apology to Rivas for having acted in
excess; Rivas accepted the apology. Rivas, returning on May
5 from a subsequent trip to Lima, said she had sought an
appointment with Cadena to clear up the matter, but he
refused to see her.

Cadena Dismissed from Embassy
--------------


7. (SBU) Cadena was removed from diplomatic service three
days after the incident. Luis Narvaez, the Ecuadorian
Ambassador to Peru, has said publicly that Cadena exaggerated
the extent of the incident and that Cadena's version is "far
from reality," yet claims Cadena's dismissal was for other
reasons. PolOff spoke with Cadena on May 9 who said that
mainstream media's accounts of the events were generally
accurate. Cadena said he assumed he had been sacrificed in
the name of bilateral relations. Cadena received a letter of
dismissal two weeks after the events, but two days before the
scandal hit the front pages.
Constituents React
--------------


8. (U) The scandal has provoked strong reactions among
constituents of the Congress members involved, almost
entirely negative. In Ambato (Tunguragua province) on May 6,
various local leaders met and decided that Sanmiguel should
resign immediately. In Cotopaxi province, various leaders of
the Indigenous and Peasant Movement of Cotopaxi asked the
same of deputy Vasquez. In both provinces, there is a
possibility of marches led by youth groups, some of which are
still calling for "todos fuera" or "everyone out", referring
to the Congress. The "forajidos" or "outlaws" who went to
the streets last month to protest Gutierrez are calling for
mobilizations outside Congress on May 12 to protest Congress
and Palacio's naming of Cabinet members who do not respond to
their calls for fresh faces.

Congress Desperately Changing Subject
--------------


9. (U) In the face of this new scandal, Congressional
leaders are trying to restore credibility to the institution.
Congressional president Wilfrido Lucero told PolOffs on May
2 that his priority would be to "restore Ecuador's
democracy," step by step. After the Supreme Court bill has
passed, the next step will be to reconstitute the electoral
court, which has a role to play in the selection of a new
Attorney General. After a new National Judicial Council is
named, Congress will turn to choosing a new constitutional
court. Lucero said he wants to maintain dialogue with the
President, but will avoid any legislative submissiveness to
the executive. Lucero said pending issues included TIP (a
personal concern of his),money-laundering, and the expulsion
of more deputies who had supported ex-President Gutierrez'
unconstitutional acts.

Veto Likely to Pass
--------------


10. (U) Congress has 30 days from May 5 to decide whether to
accept or reject the President's partial veto of the law
concerning the make-up of the Supreme Court. To approve the
bill incorporating the President's veto, a simple majority is
needed; to override the veto, 67 votes are required. PRE
party members have said they will not participate in the
vote; the PRIAN party's position is unclear. According to
deputy Ramiro Rivera, the most controversial issues are
whether to reduce the number of magistrates from 31 to 16,
and the Supreme Court being left vacant while a new one is
formed. The congressional version had created a temporary
court, to be appointed by Congress. Lucero told us he too
believed this was of dubious constitutionality, and would not
object to a veto.


11. (U) Some worry that the Supreme Court, which already
reportedly has a backlog of 8,000 cases, must be replaced by
some interim judicial decision making body. The house arrest
of former President Gustavo Noboa on May 8 highlighted the
vacuum created by the lack of a top court. Noboa has charged
the Minister of Government and Acting Attorney General of
political persecution.

Constitutional Trial Balloon
--------------


12. (U) During the week of May 2, Lucero publicly expressed
interest in making a Constitutional change to reduce the
one-year waiting period for constitutional reforms to a few
months. PSC leaders publicly objected that Lucero did not
specify what reforms would be passed once this Constitutional
"lock" had been removed. Quito's protesters or "forajidos",
however, think political parties see this as a way to revise
the Constitution to serve their means.

Silver Lining?
--------------


13. (U) Other issues Congress is working on in an attempt to
show the public good faith include a bill that would seek to
combat trafficking in persons and child exploitation and a
bill to extend Congress' work week. Unfortunately, Congress
read and passed the wrong version of the TIP bill, and is
expected to start over on May 10. Congress will also begin
reallocating the various commissions.

Former First Lady Back in Congress
--------------


14. (U) Former First Lady Ximena Bohorquez, wife of
ex-President Lucio Gutierrez, is free to resume her position
as a PSP Congressional deputy, according to Lucero.
Bohorquez and her daughter have refused assylee status in
Brazil on May 6 and reportedly returned to Ecuador on May 8.
She has reversed her earlier request to step down from
Congress, and was expected back in Congress on May 10.

Comment
--------------


15. (SBU) Salacious national and international headlines
surrounding the Lima incident could not have come at a worse
time. Just when it thought it had gotten itself out of the
spotlight by booting out "deputies for sale," news of the
Lima scandal broke. Congress is obviously still jittery that
populist calls for "everyone out" of Congress will begin
again. We are cautiously optimistic that Congress' new
vulnerability could actually advance USG interests, and will
continue to press for Congressional action on key bills,
including TIP and money laundering.
CHACON