Quito’s Police: CIA breeding ground

[EFerrari]

Posted on September 30, 2010 by machetera

“I applied and was accepted at the Escuela superior de policía de Quito, and studied there from September 1992 to August 1995.”

-- Guy Philippe, speaking to Peter Hallward about his background prior to leading an armed insurgency that contributed to the removal of Haiti’s elected president, Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Report Confirmed: U.S. Intelligence Thoroughly Penetrated the Ecuadoran Police – español

By Jean-Guy Allard

Translation: Machetera

The uprising by putschist elements of the Ecuadoran police against President Rafael Correa confirms an alarming report about the infiltration of the Ecuadoran police by U.S. intelligence services released in 2008, which indicated that many members of the police corps developed a “dependency” on the U.S. Embassy.

The report made clear that the Ecuadoran Police “maintain informal economic dependence on the United States, to pay for informants, training, equipment and operations.”

The systematic use of corruption techniques by the CIA in order to acquire the “goodwill” of police officers was described and denounced on many occasions by the ex-CIA agent Philip Agee who, before leaving the agency’s ranks, was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Quito.

In his official report, distributed at the end of October 2008, the Ecuadoran Defense Minister Javier Ponce revealed how U.S. diplomats dedicated themselves to the corruption of the police as well as officers from the armed forces.

http://machetera.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/quitos-police-cia-breeding-ground/

[flamingdem]

1. Recommend - surprise, surprise nt

[Judi Lynn]

2. So Arturo Valenzuela has been recently visiting them ostensibly there to revitalize relations

with Ecuador, "Valenzuela was accompanied by Todd Stern, “Climate Change Envoy,” also known for his CIA ties."

Why wouldn't this shock us?

Good grief.

Here's a look at the "climate change" expert the State Department sent along with scuzzball Valenzuela:

http://www.treehugger.com.nyud.net:8090/stern-todd-hillary.jpg http://cuba.foreignpolicyblogs.com.nyud.net:8090/files/2009/08/arturo-valenzuela.jpg

CIA-connected Todd Stern (since when is the CIA involved in climate change?) with a great humanitarian.

Arturo Valenzuela.
Thanks for this article, EFerrari.

[naaman fletcher]

3. It's not an article.

It is a blog post translating another blog post. If you go through to the link you will see that there is no actual source to the story. But it fits your worldview so I guess it must be 100% true.

[Judi Lynn]

4. It's time you stopped making remarks about anyone's "worldview."

You need to turn away from your personal attack mode.

It's out of place.

[naaman fletcher]

5. I'm not in personal attack mode.

I am pointing out facts that you don't like. Besides, you are the one who attacks women for who they sleep with.

[Downwinder]

6. It is a published article, blog or not.

Everything on the net is virtual. They are ALL opinion pieces. As my mother used to say, "Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear." Nobody is forcing you to read it. If it expresses an opinion contrary to your own at least you are aware of what the other side is saying, so in any case the article is informative.

[naaman fletcher]

7. Fair enough

And yes it is informative, but It's important for readers to know that what what appeared to be presented as fact in fact has zero sourcing at all.

[Downwinder]

8. I have received too many Nigerian e-mails

to accept anything on the net to be fact without trusted confirmation. I would hope that other do the same.

[Bacchus39]

15. yep, so the confirmation claimed in the blog is false

of course, our friends here really want the US to be involved.

[naaman fletcher]

19. I'm thinking of not fighting it anymore..

while I worked my way through college the revolutionaries all sat around coffee shops in berets dreaming of revolution, as starry eyed girls bought their faux-anger and proclamations that if only they could get to Nicaragua they would be right there in the thick of things, fighting for the revolution. They got laid a lot more than i did.

As I'm single at the moment, I am thinking of getting a beret and an east german army jacket and doing the same thing. :)

[Downwinder]

20. Pick the right venue and i am confident you can find someone to finance your lifestyle. n/t

[naaman fletcher]

21. hmm..

any suggestions?

[Downwinder]

22. Hard to forecast.

Austin, TX seems to have been a good place.

[naaman fletcher]

23. yeah that would be a good bet.

Probably Seattle or Portland Oregon also.

[Bacchus39]

24. well, they want to believe it. they dislike the US quite passionately

I can attest there has been no change of perception with the Obama administration from that of Bush.

it must be miserable for them to live here.

[eomer]

27. Actually it is an article and it does cite sources.

The original is an article in Granma written by JEAN-GUY ALLARD:

http://www.granma.cu/espanol/internacional/1octubre-informe.html

Allard is a Canadian journalist who retired to Cuba and now writes for Granma, according to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Guy_Allard">Wikipedia entry for him.

Not that that gives it credibility (I don't believe Granma is a credible source), but let's start from the facts and go from there. Granma isn't the source anyway, it is just the medium where the article was published.

The source for the primary allegation of the article is a preliminary report released in October 2008 by an Ecuadorian special commission. The citation is right there in the article.

I have not been able to find a copy of that report, but did locate articles that reported about it shortly after it was released. For example, this article published on November 1, 2008 (excerpt):

Sobre el informe.

El ministro de Defensa, Javier Ponce, dio a conocer el informe de una comisión designada por el presidente Rafael Correa que concluyó que los servicios de inteligencia de Estados Unidos han mantenido "claras formas de infiltración" en las fuerzas armadas y policía del Ecuador, evidentes incluso en la incursión colombiana del 1 de marzo a territorio ecuatoriano.

En el caso de la Policía, el informe señaló que la supuesta infiltración de la CIA se evidenció en la existencia de una unidad especial de la policía "prácticamente financiada y controlada por la embajada norteamericana".
El ministro de Gobierno y Policía, Fernando Bustamante, anticipó que desde su cartera de Estado "vamos a revisar cuidadosamente todos los convenios" con Estados Unidos.

En el caso de las Fuerzas Armadas, la comisión indicó que la CIA pagaba por información que estaba relacionada posiblemente al Plan Colombia.
Denunció que la agencia estadounidense "tenía pleno conocimiento" de la incursión armada colombiana a territorio ecuatoriano para atacar un campamento de las FARC.

http://www.diarioelnorte.ec/noticia.php?ID_NOTICIA=9073

Here's my translation of the above excerpt:

On the Report.

The Minister of Defense, Javier Ponce, revealed the report of a commission appointed by president Rafael Correa that concluded that the intelligence services of the United State have maintained "obvious forms of infiltration" in the armed forces and police of Ecuador, including in the Colombian incursion on March 1st into Ecuadorian territory.

In the case of the Police, the report indicates that the alleged infiltration of the CIA was evidenced by the existence of a special unit of the police "effectively financed and controlled by the US embassy".

In the case of the Armed Forces, the commission indicated that the CIA was paying for information possibly related to Plan Colombia. It denounced that the US agency "had full knowledge" of the Colombian armed incursion into Ecuadorian territory to attack a FARC base.

[EFerrari]

28. Interview with Allard on Telesur, btw:

http://www.youtube.com/telesurtv#p/u/3/aPT5jqFARXA

[Peace Patriot]

9. As I recall (from news articles) Correa kicked the U.S. ambassador out for insisting

on some U.S. embassy 'prerogative'--arranged by a prior rightwing government, in exchange for lots of money--to APPOINT Ecuador's or Quito's chief of police (the national police--the ones that rioted). I'm trying to remember the details. I'll look it up in a minute. But there was a big contretemps about it. Circa 2008, I think. President Correa said, 'NO! The U.S. does NOT get to appoint our chief of police!' I remember him saying that it was a sovereignty issue. The U.S. ambassador (or possibly assistant ambassador?) wouldn't back off, so Correa threw him out.

So, um, now we know WHY this is important. The USAID worms its way in with our tax dollars, lines the police forces' pockets, gets so much control over the local police forces that the U.S. can frigging appoint the police chief--just like the Pentagon does with Latin American militaries (so evident in Honduras and Colombia)--and then, bang, when the time is ripe, the very people--or some of them--who are sworn to protect their country and its citizens, can be "turned" to U.S. purposes. And, believe me, toppling Correa is right up there among the main goals of the U.S. in Latin America.

1. Correa threw the U.S. military out of the country.

2. Correa sides with the 30,000 Indigenous who sued Chevron-Texaco for one of the worst oil pollution disasters in the world (in the Amazon rainforest).

3. Correa joined ALBA (--Venezuela-organized small country trade group; ALBA was one of the targets in the Honduran coup).

4. Correa is a leftist--believes in sharing the wealth, using Ecuador's oil to benefit the poor.

5. Correa--a U.S. trained economist--opposes the World Bank/IMF loan sharks.

6. Did I mention the oil?

Ecuador is adjacent to Colombia to the south, and is likely part of what the Pentagon considers its rightful oil tit--the "hump" of South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, where much of the oil is). They already consider Ecuador to be a sort of adjunct of Colombia. They dropped ten 500 lb U.S. "smart bombs" on a FARC guerrilla camp just inside Ecuador's border, and raided over the border, in 2008. (The bombs, plane and pilot probably came from the U.S. base at Manta, Ecuador, which Correa evicted the U.S. military from, in 2009.) I've always presumed that, if and when the U.S. moves against Venezuela, it will try to net in Ecuador at the same time. But I think that their attempted coup in Bolivia in late 2008 taught them that they first had some "dividing and conquering" to do. South America solidly united behind Evo Morales in that situation and the coup failed. So, I guess the plan now is to pick off Venezuela's allies, one by one, THEN go after Venezuela (likely via another Ecuador-type border raid, enticing Venezuela into hostilities, and getting the war started that way, like they almost did with Ecuador back in early 2008). In any case, Ecuador is No. 2 on the Big Dartboard at the Pentagon, for ultimate targets.

After the U.S./Colombia bombing/raid on Ecuador in 2008, Correa successfully purged the traitors from the Ecuadoran military. (Apparently, there were collaborators). But I guess he didn't attend to the national police. Well, now he will. This could turn out to be as big a disaster for the U.S. as the Bush Junta coup attempt in Bolivia. A complete rout. Solidification of Ecuador's democratic institutions--and, hopefully, all of the main perps identified, the local ones disempowered and dealt with according to law, and a successfully following of the tracks to what is more than likely our own country, and official or rogue elements in our government, who are the ultimate perps.

[Peace Patriot]

10. Well, I had the general picture right, but here are the details...

(right there in wiki)...

On February 7, 2009, Correa ordered the expulsion of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement attaché Armando Astorga for allegedly suspending $340,000 in annual aid because Ecuador would not allow the US State Department to veto appointments to the anti-smuggling police. He cited as evidence a letter Astorga allegedly sent (January 8) demanding that the anti-contraband police return all donated equipment. Subsequently, on February 17, Mark Sullivan, the US Embassy's first secretary in the embassy's office of regional affairs was given 48 hours to leave the country because of his "unacceptable meddling." Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said Sullivan, in a meeting with police in early February, questioned a decision by Ecuadorean Police Chief Jaime Hurtado to transfer the head of the Special Investigations Unit to another police post.<20>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policy_of_Rafael_Correa

(my emphasis)
(see the article for links)

-----------------------------

It wasn't the ambassador. It was the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement attaché, and the U.S. embassy's first secretary. And it wasn't appointing the police chief, but rather vetoing appointments to the anti-smuggling police ("war on drugs" police). And it was early 2009.

By the way, Ecuadorean Police Chief Jaime Hurtado just resigned, because of his inability to stop this disorder wrought by his police forces. (He wasn't part of it, apparently). The wiki article says Hurtado was the one fighting U.S. control of police appointments. Could be the coup was in part aimed at getting rid of him? Or maybe he's just collateral damage? I really don't know how competent he may be, but he sure has courage if fought back against U.S. control of the police.

[naaman fletcher]

11. So,

in other words, there is still zero evidence that the police in ecuador are on the payroll of, or controlled, by, the U.S. correct?

[Downwinder]

12. And conversely:

there is still zero evidence that the police in ecuador are not on the payroll of, or controlled, by, the U.S. correct?

[Bacchus39]

13. there is zero evidence that the police are not on the payroll of Venezuela either, correct?

or that they don't dress in drag after their shifts are done

[naaman fletcher]

14. That' silly.

A specific accusation is being made that the police are funded and controlled by the U.S. and therefore this is a US sponsored coup attempt, yet there is zero evidence of it. I don't need to provide evidence to the contrary. I am not the one making the accusation.

[Bacchus39]

16. there is no evidence that you are not wearing a blond wig and a red rubber nose

and its one the internet now so must be true.

Naaman is a CIA operative wearing a blond wig and a red rubber nose. see???

[Peace Patriot]

25. $340,000/yr isn't "on the payroll"? The U.S. vetoing Ecuadoran police appointments is not "control"?

That is hard evidence of both.

The further questions are: What would Bushwhacks used $340,000 of our tax money FOR? (This incident was Feb. '09, so we're still talking Bushwhacks at the U.S. embassy.) For the absurd, corrupt, failed U.S. "war on drugs"? Har-har. They were buying influence and operatives. What FOR? What was the Bushwhack interest in vetoing police appointments? Good government?

:rofl:

I really have to laugh at your naivete and your simpleton trust in our very, very, very secretive U.S. government and its very, very, very nefarious activities in Latin America, recently and for the last half century. $340,000, which is plenty of payroll to buy influence with, is the tip of the iceberg of U.S. multimillions larded on rightwing groups and causes in Latin America, through the USAID, the Millennium fund, the CIA, the Pentagon and other vaults of U.S. taxpayer money.

The current questions would have to do with the long term influence of 8 years of Bushwhack-funneled money, covert operations, creation of "sleeper" agents, more recent U.S. 'aid,' and so forth. The Correa government clearly put up a fight on this issue of U.S. "control." What was the upshot of it? (That I don't know.) What is the current status of things? Are the Bushwhacks purged from the U.S. embassy yet? (They hung around in Honduras well into the coup d'etat, and in bloodsoaked Colombia until last month.) And are Obama's appointments any better? Was the suspended aid re-started? Who is it going to, with what conditions? Just how much U.S. taxpayer money is still floating around Ecuador looking for useful pockets to land in? And I would also like to know, how much Chevron-Texaco money is floating around to evil purpose? (They have a big stake in ousting Correa.)

Most of the continent of South America is in revolt against U.S. interference in their region. But you just go ahead burying your head in the sand.

[Bacchus39]

26. Ecuador can refuse US assistance you know

why don't they???

[EFerrari]

18. Great find. I'll have to think about this.

But how nice that we tried to buy the drug police in Quito! I've always wanted an Ecuadoran police force!

[EFerrari]

17. You know, that's right! That was the cause of the breach.

And now we do know why. :wow: