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### Viewing cable 09QUITO801, CORREA,S STEADY VERBAL ASSAULT ON MEDIA CREATES

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09QUITO801 | 2009-09-02 21:35 | 2011-04-13 17:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Quito
Appears in these articles: http://www.eluniverso.com/2011/04/13/1/1355/cable-223441.html

`

    VZCZCXYZ0011
    OO RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHQT #0801/01 2452135
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    O 022135Z SEP 09
    FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0812
    INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 8344
    RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 4259
    RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3690
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ SEP LIMA 3379
    RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 4590

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000801

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: TWENTY YEARS
    TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO EC
    SUBJECT: CORREA,S STEADY VERBAL ASSAULT ON MEDIA CREATES
    HOSTILE CLIMATE

    REF: A. QUITO 00791
         ¶B. QUITO 00437

    Classified By: Amb...

    id: 223441
    date: 9/2/2009 21:35
    refid: 09QUITO801
    origin: Embassy Quito
    classification: CONFIDENTIAL
    destination: 09QUITO437|09QUITO791
    header:
    VZCZCXYZ0011
    OO RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHQT #0801/01 2452135
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    O 022135Z SEP 09
    FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0812
    INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 8344
    RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 4259
    RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3690
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ SEP LIMA 3379
    RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 4590

    ----------------- header ends ----------------

    C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000801

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: TWENTY YEARS
    TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO EC
    SUBJECT: CORREA,S STEADY VERBAL ASSAULT ON MEDIA CREATES
    HOSTILE CLIMATE

    REF: A. QUITO 00791
         ¶B. QUITO 00437

    Classified By: Ambassador Heather Hodges for Reasons 1.4 (b, d)

    ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Upon being sworn in for his second
    presidential term on August 10, Rafael Correa showed no sign
    of letting up his verbal assault against the privately-owned
    media.  On the contrary, Correa proclaimed the press to be
    his "greatest adversary" over the last 31 months of his first
    term.  Verbal aggressions against the press have become a
    regular feature in his weekly radio and television addresses,
    and the increase in harassment cases against journalists have
    many in the profession concerned about the intensifying
    hostile climate.  Many perceive the President's systematic
    attacks as an intentional strategy to discredit the press and
    further consolidate power, although how far he will go
    remains unclear.  END SUMMARY.

    CORREA'S CRY FOR BATTLE

    ¶2. (SBU) On August 10, in his 90-minute inaugural address,
    Correa once again lashed out at the press, which he referred
    to as his "greatest adversary," apparently more important
    than troubled relations with Colombia, worsening border
    security, and growing urban crime.  Furthermore, Correa
    discredited the press for having a "clear political role in
    spite of not having any political legitimacy."  This type of
    rhetoric is a continuation of the tone of Correa's weekly
    radio and television addresses (reftel B).  In March, Correa
    dismissed the Inter-American Press Association's mid-year
    report, based on the organization's lack of "moral authority"
    due to the fact they never won an election.  He regularly
    refers to the privately-owned press as "mediocre and
    corrupt," and asserts that it "manipulates public opinion,"
    "lies" and "publishes garbage."  In May, Correa stated that
    the press was "a grave political enemy (that) needs to be
    defeated" and listed the alleged "worst" media outlets in
    terms of corruption--Hoy, El Universo, and La Hora.

    ¶3. (SBU) The national privately-owned media has been the
    primary target of Correa's criticism, with the less affluent
    and less influential provincial and local newspapers
    receiving less attention and therefore less pressure.
    According to Correa, independent media outlets and their
    elitist owners have "historically lined up with the
    oligarchy," and "there exists a contradiction" between their
    commercial agendas and the social service of providing
    information that the press is obliged to fulfill.  A number
    of Embassy sources, including journalists, editors, and
    representatives of professional associations and nonprofit
    media think tanks and NGOs, stated that in spite of the
    President's complaints about elitists, his tactic of
    generalized vilification of the press is hurting journalists
    on the front line and not the owners.

    CORREA SPENDS $11 MILLION ON PUBLICITY--TELEAMAZONAS GETS
    $1.3 MILLION

    ¶4. (SBU) Ironically, Correa's strategy to discredit the press
    would be less effective without the press itself and
    specifically the private press.  According to a recent report
    by Vanguardia, the presidency, excluding ministries and other
    dependent entities, has spent 11 million dollars on
    television, radio and newspaper publicity since the beginning
    of 2008.  Based on figures provided by the Under Secretary
    for Image, Publicity and Promotion of the Presidency, the
    greatest recipient of this spending has been Teleamazonas,
    the independent station threatened with closure by the
    administration (reftel A and B), with almost 1.3 million
    dollars in state advertising funds.

    CALCULATED STRATEGY TO DELEGITIMIZE THE PRESS

    ¶5. (C) The stream of public attacks and criticism by the
    Ecuadorian government against the press has been a cause for
    concern among those in the profession.  Various media
    contacts of the Embassy have described the current climate
    for journalists as "hostile" and a direct result of Correa's
    public censure of the press.  They also described Correa's
    "systematic" aggression against the media at large as a
    calculated "strategy" to "delegitimize" the only noteworthy
    opposition to the current government.  According to Embassy
    contacts, Correa's approach does not allow for any due
    process or formal rebuttal from the press because they are
    not legal actions but verbal accusations (although reftel A

    and upcoming septel detail legal actions taken).  In spite of
    rough patches with past governments, there is consensus that
    this steady assault by Correa's administration is an
    unprecedented phenomenon in Ecuador.  They also noted that
    Correa's repeated attacks against the press have set an
    example for other high-level government officials to exhibit
    similar behavior.

    CLIMATE OF FEAR

    ¶6. (C) Correa's verbal attacks of the private media are being
    increasingly emulated among the general public.  According to
    the Ecuadorian media advocacy and watch group, Fundamedios,
    instances of harassment, threats and physical attacks against
    journalists and other media professionals are on the rise.
    Statistics show that the average number of incidents since
    July 2008 was less than seven per month but with a steady
    increase throughout the year, and June and July of 2009
    exhibiting the highest numbers of 12 and 16 incidents,
    respectively.  Cesar Recaurte, Fundamedios director, also
    noted that in many cases, the attackers repeat Correa's
    language of a "corrupt and mediocre media."

    ¶7. (C) Well-known Teleamazonas anchorman Jorge Ortiz told
    Embassy Public Affairs officers that there "clearly exists a
    climate of fear and danger for journalists."  Ortiz, a
    straight-talking and often aggressive interviewer on his
    daily morning talk show, has been the target of numerous
    verbal and physical assaults this year, including having his
    car sideswiped while he was driving near the TV station,
    another physical assault while he was walking down the
    street, and most recently, a verbal insult in a Quito
    shopping center by a stranger yelling out "How much does the
    CIA pay you?," a direct reference to allegations made by
    Correa's ex-Security Minister Gustavo Larrea.

    SELF-CENSORSHIP--A REAL CONCERN?

    ¶8. (C) Although the occurrence of self-censorship is a real
    concern, the jury is still out as to the degree of its
    prevalence.  Intimidation felt by journalists and the
    management of media outlets to tone down any criticism of the
    government is much more difficult to quantify than an upsurge
    in harassment cases or minutes Correa dedicates to his weekly
    address to insulting the media.  However, a few high-profile
    cases of individuals quitting due to political pressures have
    demonstrated that some level of self-censorship exists.  In
    March of this year, Jose Toledo, former vice president of
    news for the government-confiscated stations (GamaTV, TC
    Television and CN3 Cablenoticias) resigned due to what he
    claimed to be political pressure to favor government
    candidates in April's elections.  The following month, Carlos
    Vera, a former star of Ecuavisa left the station after
    Ecuavisa management put restrictions on his program's
    content.  While the station may have been giving into
    government pressure, other factors may have been involved.
    That said, Vera later claimed that freedom of expression was
    being restricted by the climate created by Correa's attacks
    against the press.  Journalists from local and provincial
    media outlets have told EmbOff that they are cautious not to
    be critical of the current administration because they feel
    vulnerable.

    COMMENT

    ¶9. (C) The current hostile climate created by Correa's verbal
    confrontation with the press is disconcerting for many
    long-time media professionals.  As Alfredo Negrete, former
    editor of El Comercio and current president of the Ecuadorian
    Press Editors Association, noted to EmbOff, Ecuador is far
    from being a country in which journalists fear for their
    lives.  However, the "direction in which we are heading is
    unclear."  Correa's weekly public scoldings have journalists
    and editors fearful and is potentially limiting the space for
    free expression.

    ¶10. (C) Correa has also shown himself to be somewhat of a
    pragmatist.  In spite of his nearly constant criticism of
    Teleamazonas, a station that he has singled out and
    threatened with closure (reftel A and B), he has yet to make
    any explicit illegal moves.  A few days following Correa's
    August 29 public demand to shut down Teleamazonas for airing
    a clandestine audio of Correa regarding alleged illegal
    changes to the constitution's text (reftel A), the
    administration's spokesman threw some water on the fire and
    said that "the President does not necessarily know the laws"

    and that the station can only be fined, not shut down.  That
    said, septel will provide more details on the regulatory,
    economic and legal actions Correa has taken to restrict the
    press within the limits of the law.
    HODGES

    =======================CABLE ENDS============================

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