ECUADOR:
‘CIA Infiltration’
Charges Prompt Shake-Up
in Armed Forces
By Kintto Lucas
QUITO (IPS) -
President Rafael
Correa’s allegations
that intelligence
services in Ecuador had
been infiltrated by the
U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency
(CIA) have led to a
shake-up in the armed
forces of unforeseeable
consequences.
Resignations and
dismissals are the order
of the day. Wellington
Sandoval resigned as
defence minister
Wednesday and was
replaced by Correa’s
personal secretary
Javier Ponce. The head
of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff Hector Camacho,
army commander Guillermo
Vásconez, and the chief
of police, General
Bolívar Cisneros, also
stepped down.
A high-level Ecuadorean
military officer who
asked not to be
identified told IPS that
the country is at a
critical juncture, with
only two possible
routes: "either the
military as an
institution returns to
its nationalist
orientation or it
submits itself once and
for all to impositions
from the U.S."
It is necessary, he
added, for "independent
and progressive sectors
to regain control over
the institution." He
also called for "a
reduction of the power
of a group that answers
to former president
Lucio Gutiérrez"
(2003-2005), a former
army colonel who was
removed as president by
Congress and replaced by
his vice president
Alfredo Palacio.
The current crisis broke
out as a result of
Colombia’s Mar. 1
bombing raid of a
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
camp in Ecuadorean
territory, which led to
a brief rupture in
relations between
Ecuador and Colombia and
sparked a regional
crisis that was quickly
overcome through
dialogue.
At least two other
members of the
Ecuadorean high command
have also offered their
resignations, said
Camacho.
Ponce, the new defence
minister, said "this is
not setting the stage
for a witch hunt, but
for a healthy critical
exercise of
transparency. The
stability of our
democracy is not based
on cover-ups but on the
courageous analysis of
our actions."
He also urged the armed
forces "to undertake a
generous review of their
structures and
practices."
On Saturday, Correa
denounced in his weekly
radio broadcast that the
CIA "has totally
infiltrated some of
Ecuador’s military
intelligence bodies."
A few days earlier he
had sacked the army
intelligence chief,
Colonel Mario Pazmiño,
for hiding information
from the government, and
announced that further
measures would be taken.
According to Correa, the
failure to share
critical information
gave rise to errors in
the country’s military
and diplomatic handling
of the conflict with
Colombia.
Sandoval’s resignation
came two days after the
announcement of the
creation of a high-level
civilian commission to
"determine the extent of
unauthorised links
between intelligence
officers and units in
Ecuador" and "foreign
intelligence agencies,"
according to the Notimil
military news agency.
The agency also reported
that an investigation
had been launched to
determine whether
Pazmiño had provided the
government with "timely
and complete"
information with respect
to the bombing of the
FARC camp, which killed
the rebel group’s
international spokesman
Raúl Reyes, who was
negotiating a release of
hostages held by the
insurgents.
Citing military sources,
the on-line news site
Ecuadorinmediato said
Monday that "Pazmiño’s
fall is apparently the
result of a series of
complaints and
denunciations from
higher ranking officers
who were disobeyed by
the colonel," who served
as army intelligence
chief for more than 10
years.
According to the news
report, when it began to
be revealed that the
armed forces had
previous knowledge of
the Colombian air strike
on the FARC camp in
Ecuador, several
military officers
complained internally
that the intelligence
service had not passed
on the information.
Local media outlets
reported that military
intelligence had been
following Franklin
Aizalla, an Ecuadorean
citizen who died in the
attack on the FARC camp,
without informing
Correa.
On Mar. 17, Correa and
then defence minister
Sandoval learned from
the press that Aizalla
had been under
surveillance, which
Colombia’s rightwing
President Álvaro Uribe
had been aware of for
some time.
Colonel Pazmiño’s
curriculum indicates
"very effective training
by the U.S. and Israeli
security bodies," wrote
Ecuadorinmediato, which
added that "he handled
military intelligence
operations in a nearly
autonomous manner,
without duly reporting
to his superiors, many
of whom were unaware of
those actions."
The military source who
spoke to IPS said it was
true that Pazmiño had
accumulated enormous
influence, but also
criticised the
negligence shown by the
intelligence chief’s
direct superiors over
the last 10 years.
He also said Pazmiño
merits "a dishonourable
discharge and a trial
for treason." But, he
added, "perhaps there
are fears that Pazmiño
knows a great deal about
many officers, and could
talk."
Alexis Ponce of the
Permanent Assembly on
Human Rights said "this
is the first time that a
head of state has
touched on this issue,
and I think it is a
historic opportunity to
dismantle groups that
are autonomously
carrying out parallel
intelligence work, often
against the very
interests of Ecuadorean
national security."
Retired colonel Jorge
Brito, one of the army
officers who took part
in the January 2000
uprising by indigenous
groups and junior
officers that toppled
president Jamil Mahuad,
brought legal action
against Pazmiño in 2001,
accusing him of being
the founder of the
Legión Blanca (White
Legion), a far-right
group that has issued
death threats against
journalists, human
rights activists and
political and social
leaders.
With respect to
Pazmiño’s possible ties
to Colombia’s
intelligence services,
Alexis Ponce pointed out
that people living near
the site of the Mar. 1
bombing raid were given
warning to leave the
area, "because there
were going to be armed
clashes."
Camacho and U.S.
Ambassador to Ecuador
Linda Jewell opened a
seminar Monday on
"Strategic Opportunities
and Challenges", which
forms part of the
cooperation between the
U.S. Army Southern
Command and the
Ecuadorean military.
The officer consulted by
IPS expressed his
opposition to such
activities which, he
argued, "condition"
Ecuador’s armed forces.
He also said that,
"besides the CIA’s
infiltration in the
armed forces, it is
essential to take a look
at what is happening in
the police, who have
traditionally had the
closest ties to U.S.
security policies for
the region."
Former U.S. Southern
Command chief Charles
Wilhelm said in 2000
that after Ecuador
signed an agreement
leasing the air base in
the port city of Manta
to the U.S. military,
one of Washington’s aims
was to "reorient" the
Ecuadorean armed forces.
The officer who spoke
anonymously to IPS said
"part of that
reorientation was the
modification of the
training received by the
Ecuadorean military, to
make it more similar to
the training received by
the Colombian army."
To bring that about, "it
was necessary to
eliminate more
progressive elements and
modify the social
relationship between the
military and different
social sectors like
indigenous groups,"
while "implementing more
closely the training
agreements signed by the
U.S. and Ecuadorean
armed forces."
The source said a rift
occurred in the armed
forces after the January
2000 uprising by
indigenous associations
and the group of junior
officers that overthrew
Mahuad, and that U.S.
influence took deeper
root at that time.
In January 2004, after
the arrest in Quito of
FARC leader Simón
Trinidad, U.S. Embassy
spokeswoman Marti Estell
said the "joint
operation, which turned
out perfectly," was "an
example of cooperation
between the Ecuadorean
and Colombian police,"
with the support of the
U.S. secret services.
A few days after the
Mar. 1 bombing of the
FARC camp, the Colombian
magazine Cambio reported
that members of the
Ecuadorean police
intelligence services
had helped locate the
camp. |
