ECUADOR: UN COUNTERTERRORISM COMMITTEE VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 002735 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2016 TAGS: UNGA PREL EC LE IS PHUM PTER SUBJECT: ECUADOR: UN COUNTERTERRORISM COMMITTEE VISIT DEMARCHE REF: STATE 172245 Classified By: PolOff Erik Martini for reasons 1.4 (B&D) ¶1. (SBU) PolOff delivered reftel demarche on a possible visit by the UN Counterterrorism Committee to MFA Director General for Multilateral Affairs Lourdes Puma on October 31. Puma had no substantive response at that time, but in a follow-up meeting on November 8, Puma said that the GOE considered such a visit to be "unnecessary." Ecuador is a country free of terrorism and terrorists, she asserted. The Counterterrorism Committee should visit countries where terror exists. Puma pointedly concluded that the GOE would certainly not invite such a visit "this year." ¶2. (C) Comment: Puma's response coincides with recent official statements condemning and denying Colombian President Uribe's claim that elements of the FARC, which the GOE does not officially recognize as a terrorist group, operate in Ecuador. Given this very public difference of opinion with the GOC, it would be politically difficult for the GOE to accept such a visit. Depending who wins the upcoming November 26 presidential election, however, the next GOE may have a different view. End Comment. JEWELL