OPPOSITION TO CONSTITUTION STRUGGLES FOR MESSAGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUAYAQUIL 000233 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2018 TAGS: PGOV EC SUBJECT: OPPOSITION TO CONSTITUTION STRUGGLES FOR MESSAGE AND RELEVANCE REF: A. QUITO 616 ¶B. QUITO 409 ¶C. GUAYAQUIL 158 ¶D. QUITO 477 ¶E. GUAYAQUIL 202 ¶F. QUITO 732 Classified By: Consul General Douglas Griffiths for reason 1.4.(D) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. In the final days of the campaign for approval of the draft constitution, the opposition has yet to find a coherent or unified theme. The Catholic Church and disparate evangelical Christian pastors have led the most visible campaign against the new constitution, claiming that it would weaken families and legalize abortion. In addition, Guayaquil mayor Jaime Nebot has campaigned actively against the draft constitution. His enormous popularity in Guayaquil and his warnings that the new constitution would erode the city,s treasured autonomy and imperil its decade-long renaissance mean that the "yes" vote will likely fail to carry Ecuador,s largest city. However neither religious leaders nor Mayor Nebot have had much traction in convincing the rest of the country to vote against the draft constitution. President Correa has successfully outmaneuvered and intimidated the traditional parties and political figures, who have largely abstained from the campaign. Most importantly, opponents of the Constitution have failed to craft a message that would lead voters to vote against the draft constitution. See Quito's companion piece (Septel) on the "yes" vote. End summary. Leaders of the "No" -------------- ¶2. (C) Mayor of Guayaquil Jaime Nebot (PSC),continues to be the most visible leader of the "No" campaign. On September 8, Nebot announced that if the "Yes" won in the city of Guayaquil, he would not run for reelection for mayor. He explained that without a strong opposition mandate from his constituents, he would not want constantly to battle the central government to receive benefits and resources for the city. President Correa clearly recognizes Nebot as his most formidable opponent. Correa has campaigned weekly in Guayaquil, repeatedly attacking what he considers to be Nebot,s failure to address the needs of the poor in Guayaquil. Nebot, too, has been in full campaign mode for the past month, visiting every neighborhood in Guayaquil, and underscoring how the municipality has delivered services where the national government has failed. Nebot told the CG that the draft constitution represents a "clear and present danger to Guayaquil, its autonomy and the free market system in Ecuador." While he is campaigning aggressively in the final week of the campaign, Nebot assured the CG that the "Yes" vote would not win in the city of Guayaquil. However, Nebot,s popularity does not stretch far outside of the city of Guayaquil, especially his emphasis on municipal autonomy. ¶3. (C) Ex president Lucio Gutierrez of the Patriotic Society Party (PSP) and his brother, party leader Gilmar Gutierrez, have been traveling around the country urging voters to vote "No." They have led the most organized opposition campaign on the referendum, with a focus on rural areas where they are directly confronting PAIS efforts. The Gutierrez brothers have managed to retain support in rural areas, but the President has been aggressively showcasing government public work programs in many PSP strongholds. Correa has also directed virulent personal attacks against Lucio Gutierrez, indicating that he does not take Gutierrez lightly. Speaking to POLCOUNS in the last days of the campaign, Gilmar Gutierrez implicitly recognized that PSP was fighting a losing battle, saying PSP hoped to reduce the margin of the "yes" win. Center left former Vice President Leon Roldos has also been a thorn in the side of government efforts to rally support for the Constitution. Roldos, an ex-Assembly member under the Red Etica y Democracia, or RED movement, has filed a formal complaint that the referendum is invalid as the text of the constitution was changed at the last minute without the approval of the Constituent Assembly. In private meetings with us, Roldos has vehemently criticized the constitution-drafting process as completely controlled by the President and his advisors. Roldos fears that the draft constitution and the transition documents will give the President far too much power. While Roldos is widely respected, the rather technical nature of his accusations has failed to engage the electorate. Traditional Political Leaders Invisible -------------- ¶4. (C) Neither of the traditionally strong Coastal parties, the Social Christian Party (PSC) and Partido Renovador Institucional Accion Nacional (PRIAN),has campaigned against the constitution. The PSC has not even announced a public position for or against the document. PRIAN,s Constituent Assembly (CA) members are campaigning against the draft constitution, but party leader and ex presidential candidate, Alvaro Noboa, has been almost invisible during the campaign. In fact, he only returned from his summer holidays in the Hamptons on September 11. Humberto Mata, the feisty leader of the Fuerza Ecuador, or Ecuador Strength movement, was a fierce critic of President Correa during the campaign for the Constituent Assembly. Mata told the CG that he was sitting out the referendum campaign as it was futile to fight against the "unlimited power and money of the President." Cynthia Viteri, former presidential candidate for PSC, explained that she is now working at a grassroots level, door-to-door to explain why one should vote "No". She has convoked hundreds of women in Guayaquil to support the "No" on various issues, such as centralism, abortion, health, and gay marriage. Viteri said she does not want to be publicly recognized as a party talking head because any ties to a party at this point would be the death knell for the "No" campaign. PSC leader Pascual del Chioppa told the CG that he would not publicly comment on the referendum for two reasons. First, the PSC is so discredited that campaigning for the no vote would be a "Christmas present for Correa." Secondly, he said that his American business partners had asked him to abstain from campaigning. Limited Funding for "No" campaigns -------------- ¶5. (C) Activists who are willing to step forward to campaign against the referendum repeatedly complain about the lack of funding and the "climate of fear" among the business community. Pacho Harb, PSC Assembly member, and deposed member of Congress, told the Consul General that the "freedom" wing of Ecuadorian politics (need to explain what the "freedom" wing means) was almost dead. Back in July, Harb was making the rounds looking for funding to campaign against the Constituent Assembly for what he perceived as an attack on liberties in Ecuador. For one month, Harb funded ads in the newspapers and radio decrying the government and the new constitution. Unable to raise additional funds for his campaign, Harb abandoned the media effort in August. Opposition members of the Constituent Assembly, NGOs and student leaders have shared similar complaints that they have been unable to raise funds. A number of them told us that they themselves or potential donors have been silenced by fear of investigation by local tax authorities (the SRI) and/or the fallout from the government,s seizures of the Isaias family holdings (Ref A). Diana Acosta and Rosanna Querolo, former assembly members who left President Correa,s party Proud and Sovereign Fatherland (PAIS) movement, stated that since their departure over ideological differences with PAIS, they have both been investigated by SRI for possible tax charges. Jorge Fadul, a PSC assembly member from Machala said that two weeks after speaking against the sub-contracting issue in the Assembly in February, SRI opened an investigation in his company over not declaring $ 275,000 USD (Ref B). He noted that the accusation was petty given that his company makes $ 25 million USD a year, but that it is more the effort of trying to resolve the case that drains him of resources. Another PSC assembly member from Manabi province, Leonardo Viteri, said that he too, has been hounded by the SRI for value added tax issues in his private medical practice. In late July, Mayor of Machala Carlos Falquez's special advisor, Roger Porras, informed Pol/econoff that he expected Falquez to be charged with tax evasion by the Attorney General as retaliation for their support of the "No" (Ref C). Eduardo Maruri, an Assembly member for the center-right UNO movement told the CG that the SRI opened investigations on both his advertising agency and the Barcelona Soccer Club (Maruri is the current President) the day before the election campaign began. Maria Gloria Alarcon, President of the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce, decided to discontinue the Chamber,s "No" campaign after the government took over her businesses for links to the fugitive Isaias brothers. Indeed, the director of the Guayas Province tax office told the CG last year that he would be aggressively pursuing local businesses for failure to comply with the complex tax code. We cannot say whether the SRI actions equal intimidation or compliance enforcement efforts in a culture where tax evasion is rampant. However, deep pockets in the Coast are feeling the heat, and have been unwilling to fund the "No" campaign. Campaign to Vote Null -------------- ¶6. (C) Likewise, the movement to vote null has failed to gain steam. Proponents of the null vote pitch it as both a rejection of the previous corrupt and flawed system, and rejection of Correa and the new constitution. Jimmy Jairala, ex-Congressman for the Partido Roldocista Ecuador, or PRE, and leading figure of the "Nulo" campaign has told us that a "null" vote is essentially a "no" vote, as election rules dictate that the Constitution needs a majority of "yes" voted to pass. He underscored that the only hope for the opposition is to split up and offer various reasons for a "no" because otherwise Correa will attack them as a whole and as a part of the "partidocracia", or old party. Some members of the leftist party, Izquierda Democratica, or ID are also supporting the "null" vote. Diego Monsalve Vintimilla, a former ID congress person told Pol/econoff that the ID is most concerned about the concentration of executive powers and fear what any future presidents may do with these powers as outlined in the constitution. However, the decision to support the null vote has deeply divided the party, forcing the party congress to step back from its original position and allow members to vote however they wished on the referendum. Cuenca, the former ID strong-hold in the southern Andes, is expected overwhelmingly to support the opposition. Guayaquil's Central Role in the Opposition -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Guayaquil continues to be the geographic center of the opposition movement. Following the violent protests at Universidad Catolica (Ref E),student movements have flourished in support of the "No". The individual students who were signaled out by the Correa government,s public service announcements explaining its version of the events have joined with other students in a grass-roots effort to protest what it believes is the Correa government,s increasing authoritarianism and clamping down of freedom of expression. Pol/econoff met with the student leaders, who range from 19-22 years old, and are all law students at the Universidad Catolica. Cesar Coronel and Francisco Icaza presented a complaint to the Quito office of the Organization of American States, but stated it was returned back to them for lack of serious proof. Besides the student movements, the church, comprised of the Roman Catholic Church under its Episcopal Conference, along with some evangelical leaders, have continued to maintain a stance against the referendum (Ref F). On September 14, the Catholic Church in Guayaquil organized outdoor masses in the street, which convoked more than 4000. While the organizers claimed it was not political, this was a clear message of support for the "No." ¶8. (C) The only two groups visibly campaigning for the "no" vote in Ecuador's highlands region are the Christian Democrats Union (UDC),led by Diego Ordonez, and the National Democratic Agreement, a small NGO under Cesar Montufar. Their campaign approach, focusing on balance of powers and other issues that concern well-educated elites, and their small size, minimizes their impact. Hard to Fight Against Change -------------- ¶9. (C) Comment: The bottom line is the "no" campaign has been unable to articulate a message to compete against the President,s charismatic call for approval of the referendum. Correa has ably captured the aspirations of the Ecuadorian people for a more just and prosperous country. In many ways the referendum is an affirmation of the President,s popularity, and desire for change, rather than an evaluation of the merits of the draft constitution. Religious leaders have successfully raised questions among "values voters," and Mayor Nebot has rallied his most fervent fans to vote against the draft constitution. Doubts among these groups of voters will make the vote close in the city of Guayaquil. However, in the rest of the country, the "no" vote looks like a step backward to the politics of past. End Comment GRIFFITHS