ECUADOR'S OAS DEMOCRACY PRACTITIONERS

UNCLAS QUITO 003047 SIPDIS SIPDIS WHA/EPSC FOR ROBERT SCHWARTZ, USOAS FOR ANDREW STEVENSON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL EC KSUM PHUM OAS SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S OAS DEMOCRACY PRACTITIONERS REF: STATE 195953 ¶1. Per reftel request, Embassy and AmConGen Guayaquil have identified the following democracy activists we recommend be included in the OAS democracy practitioner registry. ¶2. Manuel Ignacio Gomez Lecaro is a public relations expert and respected weekly editorialist for Guayaquil's leading newspaper "El Universo." Gomez is a progressive political commentator with a regional perspective. He owns the PR firm "Veritas Communications/Opinion e Imagen." Contact information: Phone: 593-4-263-0300, ext. 119 Cell: 09-942-8542 Email: manueligomez@yahoo.com ¶3. Jose Valencia is Executive Director of Citizen Participation ("Participacion Ciudadana"),Ecuador's leading NGO in the area of transparency, democracy building, election monitoring, and civic participation. Citizen Participation, an USAID grantee, played a key role monitoring Ecuador's recent election and was widely praised for its accurate quick count and impartial monitoring of campaign expenditures by the candidates. Contact information: Phone: 593-2-246-6003 Email: jvalencia@participacionciudadana.org ¶4. Simon Pachano is the Deputy Director of the Political Science Division of the Latin American Faculty of Political Sciences ("FLACSO") in Ecuador. He is an expert in electoral reform and political process and advocates for stable and stronger democratic institutions. Contact information: Phone: 593-2-323-8888 Email: spachano@flacso.org.ec ¶5. Farith Simon is a lawyer and Professor at the University of San Francisco in Quito ("USFQ"). He heads USFQ's legal defense and human rights clinics and is an expert on criminal justice and legal issues relating to minors. He has vast experience implementing legal reform projects in Ecuador and is frequently called on to consult for other Latin American countries. In addition he is often asked for his opinion by the media. Contact information: Phone: 593-2-297-1790 Email: fariths@mail.usfq.edu.ec ¶6. Cesar Montufar is the former Director of Citizen Participation and a professor of Social and Global Studies of the Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar in Quito. He was a key reformist critic of Congress packing the Supreme Court during ex-president Lucio Gutierrez' tenure. He has founded a new political movement called Democratic Key ("Clave Democratica") which is dedicated principally to promoting constitutional reform. Contact information: Phone: 593-2-322-7593 ext.1615 Email: cesar@uasb.edu.ec ¶7. Dr. Anunziatta Valdez is a former member of Congress and an attorney. Currently, she is Director of the Guayaquil chapter of Citizen Participation. Prior to serving in Congress, Dr. Valdez was involved with the women's rights NGO "Maria Guare," which focuses on combating domestic abuse. Contact information: Phone: 593-4-231-2352 Cell: 099297911 JEWELL