LIBERTAD ACT: ECUADOR-CUBA RELATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000981 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PASS TO WHA/CCA FOR JARAHN HILLSMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/19 TAGS: PHUM ETTC ETRD PREL CU EC SUBJECT: LIBERTAD ACT: ECUADOR-CUBA RELATIONS REF: STATE 115416; QUIT... id: 235716 date: 11/19/2009 22:35 refid: 09QUITO981 origin: Embassy Quito classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 09QUITO375|09QUITO716|09QUITO841|09STATE115416 header: VZCZCXYZ0009 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHQT #0981/01 3232235 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O R 192235Z NOV 09 FM AMEMBASSY QUITO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0367 INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0108 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0004 -------------- header ends -------------- C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000981 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PASS TO WHA/CCA FOR JARAHN HILLSMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/19 TAGS: PHUM ETTC ETRD PREL CU EC SUBJECT: LIBERTAD ACT: ECUADOR-CUBA RELATIONS REF: STATE 115416; QUITO 375; QUITO 716; QUITO 841 CLASSIFIED BY: Heather Hodges, Ambassador, State, Exec; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (U) The Embassy provides the following information on the relationship between the Cuban government and Ecuador in response to Ref A. ¶2. (C) Ecuador has not worked to promote the advancement of democracy and human rights in Cuba, nor has it undertaken governmental action to condemn human rights abuses or to support civil society in Cuba. During a state visit to Cuba in January 2009, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa accused the "Empire," meaning the United States, of ethnocide (apparently meaning destruction of a people's culture) and criticized the "perverse injustice" inflicted upon the five Cuban spies imprisoned in the U.S. Correa declared himself an unconditional ally of Cuba. He commended the Cuban revolution's achievements, claiming it had succeeded in ensuring human rights for all Cubans (Ref B). In June 2009 he criticized the Organization of American States for failing to include Cuba as a member and urged the OAS to "apologize" for the ongoing exclusion. ¶3. (C) Ecuador and Cuba continue to exchange high-level visitors. Cuban President Raul Castro attended Correa's August 10 inauguration ceremonies (Refs C and D),and President Correa visited Cuba in August and September 2009 for medical consultations and knee surgery. During his August visit, Correa spent several hours with Fidel Castro. Ecuadorian Vice President Lenin Moreno, who is disabled, conducted a 4-day visit to Cuba in October 2009 to study social programs for the disabled. ¶4. (SBU) Ecuador does not have significant economic interests in Cuba. No information was found regarding Ecuadorian investments in Cuba and the Central Bank does not list Cuba among those countries with foreign direct investment in Ecuador. ¶5. (SBU) During Correa's official trip to Cuba in January 2009, the two countries signed nine bilateral agreements in the areas of health, trade, culture, sports, science and technology, electricity and renewable energy, economic cooperation, reciprocal visa treatment for government officials, and political consultations (Ref. B). As a follow-up to the bilateral electricity and renewable energy agreement, President Correa issued a presidential decree on October 12 allowing the purchase of 68 Korean-built internal combustion electricity generators from Cuba, for a total of 150 MW generating power, without going through a competitive bid process. The expected delivery date of the generators has not been released. ¶6. (SBU) In August 2009, then Vice Minister of Commerce and Integration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Julio Oleas, visited Cuba to sign an extension to the 2000 bilateral Economic Complementation Agreement between the two countries, which contained reciprocal tariff preferences and measures to reduce trade barriers, including sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Ecuador's trade with Cuba is very small. In 2008, Ecuador had a positive trade balance of US$ 12.2 million. Ecuadorian exports to Cuba totaled $14.2 million that year, or less than 0.08 percent of Ecuador's total exports, with canned and pouch tuna accounting for 45 percent of the total. Imports from Cuba amounted to only $2.0 million, or less than 0.03 percent of Ecuador's total imports. From January through September 2009, Ecuador exported only $7.0 million worth of products to Cuba and imported $2.7 million of goods from that country. ¶7. (U) Ecuadorian students, primarily in the medical field, study in Cuba, some on scholarships. Cuban doctors are working in Ecuador and regularly conduct medical outreach programs. HODGES =======================CABLE ENDS============================