INDIGENOUS PROTESTS RENEW; LIMITED ACTION IN QUITO

UNCLAS QUITO 000694 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS EC SUBJECT: INDIGENOUS PROTESTS RENEW; LIMITED ACTION IN QUITO ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Indigenous protesters renewed their Disruption of transportation in the highland provinces of Imbabura, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi and Canar, and began arriving in Quito in small numbers on March 20. Others were blocked by police from entering the capital. Two injuries stemming from the protest action were reported in Chimborazo. Anti-FTA protests could build throughout this week, but a pro-FTA consensus appears to be emerging among the government, political parties, business community and mainstream media. Thus far, the military and political elite appear committed to the Palacio government's stability, and the low numbers of protesters in the capital are not yet sufficient to represent a threat. End Summary. Street Action Dispersed -------------- ¶2. (U) Approximately 250 indigenous marchers from Amazonian Pastaza province were largely blocked by police using tear gas from entering the capital from the south on March 20 to march on the palace. Another anti-FTA group of less than 100 marched past the Embassy on their way downtown. Outside Quito, protesters blocked highways in heavily indigenous Chimborazo, Cotopaxi and Imbabura provinces, disrupting the main north-south highway in the densely-populated Sierra region. Two injuries were caused when a frustrated individual driver fired upon protesters blocking his path in Riobamba. Isolated road lockages were reported in Canar. GOE Blitzes Airwaves -------------- ¶3. (U) The Government launched television spots highlighting the fact that no FTA has yet been reached, and featuring President Palacio saying no FTA would be signed unless it advances Ecuadorian interests. A pro-FTA march in Quito on March 17 reportedly attracted 5,000 (largely drawn from and financed by the cut flower sector). ¶4. (U) Presidential spokesman Enrique Proano continued to discredit the CONAIE protests, noting that CONAIE president Luis Macas had not voiced dissent over the FTA during his tenure as Agriculture Minister under the Gutierrez government. Proano also attacked 10 unnamed NGOs using external support to encourage the protests, implying a financial link to the government of Venezuela. Palacio's Chief of Staff Jose Modesto Apolo continued the concerted attack on the credibility and representativeness of the indigenous movement in a morning TV debate with the leader of the Pachakutik party. ¶5. (SBU) Felipe Vega was sworn in on March 20 as Palacio's fifth Government Minister, charged with negotiating provincial demands. GOE FTA chief negotiator Manuel Chiriboga advocated a new GOE program to help agricultural sectors adjust to the FTA, signaling a possible avenue for compromise. Modesto Apolo confided to us on March 17 that the protests would likely continue indefinitely, blaming financial and political interests of anti-FTA critics. Evangelical Indigenous Protesting for Different Reasons -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In a surprising development, the evangelical indigenous group FEINE publicly joined with rival CONAIE's anti-FTA protests in Chimborazo and Cotopaxi province. Marco Murillo, FEINE's president, told us on March 20 that his group's motives in supporting road blockages in these two provinces were twofold: in Chimborazo, to force the government to inform and possibly involve the indigenous in the FTA negotiations; and in Cotopaxi, to break CONAIE's monopoly over provision of GOE resources and projects. (He blamed CONAIE leader Lourdes Tiban, who heads the GOE's indigenous development organization, CODEMPE, for channeling GOE funds through CONAIE.) FEINE leaders would meet with GOE officials in the presidency on March 20 to negotiate its demands. ¶7. (SBU) Murillo claimed that FEINE had long been critical of the lack of indigenous members of the GOE FTA negotiating team and FEINE's position on the FTA had not changed. FEINE does not seek to destabilize the Palacio government, he said, and had not been in contact with ex-president Gutierrez since his release from prison. This move by FEINE does not reflect the position of the broader evangelical sector in Ecuador, which is resolutely apolitic and unlikely to engage the FTA debate. Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Quito remains relatively calm and undisrupted by indigenous anti-FTA protests, but more are expected on March ¶21. FEINE, an organization with proven capacity (in support of the Gutierrez government and normally in opposition to CONAIE) appears more interested in parochial interests than in blocking the FTA. Without much larger numbers of protesters in the streets of the capital, and additional support inside the military or political elite, we doubt CONAIE's protests can achieve their aim of dissuading the GOE from concluding an FTA agreement. BROWN