ECUADOR REVIEW FOR TITLE III SUSPENSION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001239 SIPDIS SIPDIS PASS TO WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2017 TAGS: ETRD PREL CU EC SUBJECT: ECUADOR REVIEW FOR TITLE III SUSPENSION OF LIBERTAD ACT REF: STATE 65523 Classified By: DCM Jefferson Brown, reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) In response to reftel request, Post provides the following information regarding trade and other relations between Ecuador and Cuba. Trade between the two countries is not extensive. In 2006, Ecuadorian exports to Cuba, mostly tuna, totaled $6,434,690 (FOB) and Ecuadorian imports from Cuba totaled only $747,280 (CIF). ¶2. (SBU) Ecuador exported a range of goods to CUBA in 2006. The most important category by value was tuna (11% of exports). The next largest exported product was unroasted coffee (10%),followed by ceramics (9%),rubber (9%), waste/animal feed (8%) and wood for parquet flooring (6%). Ecuadorian exporters include Corporacion Industrial Fishing Corp. and Expalsa Exportadora de Alimentos S.A. (fish), Alimentsa, Dietas y Alimentos, S.A. (animal products),La Fabril (edible oils),rose exporters such as Florisol, Eqr Equatoroses C.A. and Loveroses, Cia. de Elaborados de Cafe Elcafe and Kavecafe (coffee),Pinturas Condor (paint),and Hilantex (textiles). ¶3. (SBU) The bulk of imports that Ecuador received from CUBA in 2006 (47%) were classified as "other" medical instruments. The next largest category were printed books (12%),followed by pharmaceuticals (6%),and printed materials (5%). Each of the other imports accounted for less than 5% of the total imports Ecuador received from Cuba. Among the importers were: The Embassy of CUBA Kavecafe Ecuatoriana S.A., Medicina Cubana S.A. Mecu, Vegas del Caribe S.A. Tabacoribe (tobacco), Chem Tech S.A., Energia y Comnicaciones Enercom Cia. Ltda. (architectural/engineering),and the following individuals: Ivan Alfredo Albuja Proano, Carmita Marina Pineda Carrion, Marian Amalia Jaramillo Aguilera, Ivan Eduardo Larrea Andrade. ¶4. (SBU) Ecuador has a Bilateral Investment Treaty with CUBA that was signed in 1997. Post is not aware of any substantive Ecuadorian investment in Cuba. ¶5. (C) CUBA has also sent teachers and medical doctors to Ecuador. In June 2006, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage traveled to Ecuador to attend the opening of housing development and two ophthalmologic hospitals with Cuban equipment and physicians to provide surgery. A Cuban group called Mision Milagro that transports patients to Venezuela and CUBA for medical treatment has been active since approximately summer 2006 in Ecuador. Post estimates that around 100 Cuban doctors work in Ecuador at any given time. ¶6. (C) To our knowledge, the government of Ecuador has not actively promoted the advancement of democracy and human rights in Cuba, through statements, resolutions or actions. Ecuador maintains full diplomatic relations with Cuba. ¶7. (SBU) Former President Alfredo Palacio attended the fourteenth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana in September 2006. Vice President Lenin Moreno visited Raul Castro in CUBA on May 24, 2007 en route to the OAS summit in Panama. JEWELL