Ecuador Response - Reinforcing MINUSTAH

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000095 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/22 TAGS: PREL PGOV SOCI MCAP MARR ASEC EFIN KJUS KPKO EC HA XL SUBJECT: Ecuador Response - Reinforcing MINUSTAH REF: STATE 12558 CLASSIFIED BY: Andrew Chritton, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) PolCouns raised Ecuador's role in MINUSTAH with MFA Multilateral Affairs Under Secretary Arturo Cabrera on February 11. Cabrera said that Ecuador was planning to increase its financial and personnel support of MINUSTAH. He told us that he personally would like to see the Ecuadorian personnel doubled in number. Cabrera confirmed that based on an MOU with Chile, Ecuador last sent a contingent of 66 military personnel for six months as part of Chile's deployment to MINUSTAH. Cabrera noted that Ecuador's current personnel were engineers, but that Ecuador had contributed in other sectors in the past and could do so again in the future. ¶2. (C) Acting Defense Attache was told by the Ecuadorian Joint Command's office on February 18 that Ecuador was looking at contributing 90 men for one year, to include equipment. Based on an original study, the group would include engineers and machinists, at a cost of $11.5 million. However, an Ecuadorian assessment team arrived in Haiti on February 17 to evaluate the situation there and to confirm Ecuador's ultimate contribution. (Note: Ecuador established a peacekeeping training facility in November 2003. End note.) HODGES