CORREA FAREWELL LUNCHEON FOR AMBASSADOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000499 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2028 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM EC CO SUBJECT: CORREA FAREWELL LUNCHEON FOR AMBASSADOR Classified By: Ambassador Linda Jewell for reason 1.4 (D) ¶1. (C) President Correa hosted a June 4 farewell luncheon for the Ambassador at Carondelet Palace. Correa's wife and two of their three children participated, as did the Ambassador's family. Relaxed and informal, Correa expressed his thanks to the Ambassador for her friendship for him and for Ecuador. He waxed eloquent about how much he enjoyed his time studying in the United States (in Illinois),recalling backyard barbecues with his neighbors and how much his oldest daughter liked her school there. Correa called U.S. universities the best opportunity for real learning in the world, saying that Ecuador needed to make its education system more interactive to teach young people to think for themselves. He also repeated what he has mentioned at other times with American visitors -- his strong admiration for the U.S. justice system. ¶2. (C) The luncheon was interrupted by Gustavo Moncayo, the father of a Colombian FARC hostage, and his daughter, who are visiting Ecuador. They came in to greet Correa and asked him to call the hostage's mother, which he did. Once they left the room, Correa commented on how terrible it was that the FARC held 3,000 hostages. He went on to say that when the FARC began, it fought a non-democratic government, but now have completely lost their ideals, are opposing a democratically elected government and are involved in narcotics trafficking and hostage taking for money and political power. ¶3. (C) In the course of conversation, Correa talked about the Ecuadorian media, complaining that they are deliberately trying to stir up trouble within PAIS (his Proud and Sovereign Fatherland movement) and criticizing the media's lack of professionalism. At the same time, he explicitly said that he recognized the need for a free press and that there was no one who could be a neutral arbiter of what is "good reporting" and what is "bad", although he clearly believes that there is a lot of "bad" in the media today. ¶4. (C) Comment: This informal lunch was mostly a conversation about family, friends and personal anecdotes, but offered further insight into Correa's personality and governing style. He works hard to keep his family out of the spotlight and so it was an unusual opportunity to see them interact. His wife bantered with him, affectionately ribbing him and correcting some of his stories and anecdotes over the course of the lunch. The ad hoc interruption by Moncayo is typical of the frenetic and disorganized pace of activity at the palace, prompting his wife to comment to the Ambassador, with a roll of the eyes, "It's always like this." Correa was relaxed and went well out of his way to stress his admiration for many things about the U.S. throughout the lunch. Offering the lunch and including the families was a significant gesture and a signal that he wants to maintain channels of communication with the U.S. Jewell