Thursday, October 7, 2010

EVIDENCE OF NED FUNDING/AID TO GROUPS IN ECUADOR INVOLVED IN COUP AGAINST CORREA

THIS DOCUMENT FROM AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE (NDI) AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY (NED) CLEARLY EVIDENCES HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR MEDDLING IN ECUADOR'S POLITICS AND INFILTRATION OR RECRUITMENT OF ELEMENTS WITHIN PROGRESSIVE AND INDIGENOUS POLITICAL MOVEMENTS, SUCH AS PACHAKUTIK, RED ETICA Y DEMOCRATICA (RED) AND CONAIE, WHO SUPPORTED THE COUP D'ETAT AGAINST PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA LAST THURSDAY.

17 comments:

Ian Keenan said...

Pachakutik's on there but I don't see any mention of CONAIE.

Eva Golinger said...

CONAIE's political arm at that time was PACHAKUTIK!

Ian Keenan said...

Thanks, Eva.. and I agree that Pachakutik's receiving training from Political Party Network (p. 3) is a lot different than simply receiving funds or some guilt-by-association that some folks on the web are talking about, especially as Pachakutik and CONAIE are currently denying that the coup occurred in a joint statement.

brian said...

FYI
'[Correa]also angered Israel by sponsoring an Organization of American States (OAS) resolution last June, condemning the IDF's Gaza Flotilla attack, leaving some analysts to suspect Mossad wanted him ousted and may have been involved in the attempt.

In 2005, Voltairenet.org quoted Alexis Ponce, Ecuador's Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH) speaker, saying:

"The Mossad trained Ecuadorean police in torture techniques between 1986 and 1994. '

etc
http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman051010.htm

brian said...

back in 2008

'QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — An Ecuadorean presidential commission has concluded that U.S. intelligence services infiltrated the Andean nation's military and police and supported a cross-border incursion by Colombian troops that killed a top rebel commander.

Following the attack on a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia camp inside Ecuador on March 1, President Rafael Correa accused the CIA of infiltrating his nation's intelligence services and appointed a commission to investigate.

The body alleged in its report, made public Thursday, that the CIA bought information from Ecuador's military and had prior knowledge of the raid, said Defense Minister Javier Ponce, who read highlights of the findings to reporters.

No one at the U.S. Embassy was immediately available to comment. '
etc
http://www.the-peoples-forum.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=6370&Disp=2

stan said...

Hi Eva, A question has been raised about your NED funding evidence, that it refers to the dates 2005-2007, not now when Correa has been in power.

Eva Golinger said...

Hi Stan: These are documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and it's really difficult to get US agencies to release documents from today. We're on it, but it takes time. What these documents show is a pattern of funding to these groups. And if they received funding/training/advice before, the most likely conclusion is that they still do today. Plus, that was the time Correa was elected and NED/NDI funded folks from Pachakutik/RED ran against him in 2006 and 2009. Also other docs from the State Dept evidence CONAIE's dislike of Correa, which opened the door to "alliances" against Correa later formed which were "aided" and "urged" by US agencies...

This type of funding/aid/advice is very complex and effective because it enables US agencies to infiltrate groups of all spectrums. I am not alleging all of these groups and their members are US agents or receive US funding, but the evidence is quite clear that certain factions within them have close relations w/US agencies and receive their funding. And, they share a common agenda, against President Rafael Correa. That is undeniable.

karlof1 said...

The problem of discovering current USAID, NED, etc., funding is related to the speed of FOIA requests for relevent documants. However, the record of continuous funding of these particular destabilization agencies and their clearly ongoing activities in target countries make it logical to assume such monies are still being disbursed to promote destabilization activities. The "playbook" is old and very worn, which makes it somewhat easy to anticipate who gets monies and what's done with it. IMO, there seems to be a lot of personal animus between Al Giordano and Ms Golinger, which is quite unfortunate.

The depth of the US Empire's illegal penetration of governments worldwide uncovered by Ms Golinger is very important and provided her with a certain legitimacy and leverage, which the Empire would like overturned. As is the case with all whistleblowers, they must remain squeaky clean to effectively do battle with the global Propaganda System, as is easilly proven by Wikileaks. I'm NOT suggesting Al Giordano is a part of that System; I am saying that he's doing the Empire's work in his attempt to delegitimize Ms Golinger and reminding her that she must be very keen when it comes to documenting her assertions.

Eva Golinger said...

Every article, book and claim I've written or made has been substantiated by irrefutable evidence. As an attorney, I would not make any allegation that I cannot support with evidence. The documents are available for anyone to view and confirm. Those who attack me personally do so because the evidence cannot be discredited, so they attack the messenger. But the evidence remains clear, and that's what counts!

karlof1 said...

By "keen," I mean a caveat is often warranted when realtime evidence isn't avilable but past evidence is that fits the current pattern. It's the sort of caveat I use as an historian. The work you've done is invaluable, for which I offer a humble Thank You.

brian said...

Is CONAIE funded by the NED? oscar heck took a look:
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=84531
'Here is an excerpt: “Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador … In order for our voice to be heard at the national level, we formed the organization that now represents us, CONAIE, in 1986. CONAIE represents all of the indigenous nationalities of the country, some organized into provincial organizations, and others not. The National Organization is the result of a long process which is worth reviewing from a distance in order to better understand where we have come from and where we are going. CONAIE was formed out of the union of two already existing organizations, ECUARUNARI and CONFENIAIE. ECUARUNARI, the regional organization of the Sierra that has been functioning for over 20 years, and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon(CONFENIAE), formed in 1980, created that same year the National Coordinating Council of the Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, CONACNIE.”



Now, since I highly suspect that CONAIE is financed, influenced, controlled or infiltrated in some fashion by the US government, I decided to go through the NED’s website. I found the following (and more):



Grantor: NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY (NED)
Grantee: Corporación Instituto Empresarial Indígena del Ecuador (Indigenous Enterprise Institute of Ecuador) (IEIE)
Country(ies): Ecuador
Region: Latin America and the Caribbean
Subject(s): Business and Economics
Grant Awarded: 2006
Amount: 67,955

Grantor: NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY (NED)
Grantee: Fundación Q’ellkaj (Q’ellkaj Foundation)
Country(ies): Ecuador
Region: Latin America and the Caribbean
Subject(s): Youth
Grant Awarded: 2006
Amount: 91,256


So what is the, Corporación Instituto Empresarial Indígena del Ecuador?



And what is Fundación Q’ellkaj (Q’ellkaj Foundation)?



I decided to look into it and found more than I expected. I went to the website of Corporación Instituto Empresarial Indígena del Ecuador, which is actually Corporación Empresarial Indígena del Ecuador … or CEIE … a not-for-profit organization founded in 2005 by Ángel Medina, Mariano Curicama, Lourdes Tibán, Fernando Navarro, and Raúl Gangotena. Their website also states that Norman Bailey is one of their honorary members.



First, who is Norman Bailey?



If I am not mistaken, the Norman Bailey they refer to is the Norman Bailey who “In 1981 … joined the Reagan administration as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs …”



The NED was created at that time, 1980-1981.

barbara.larcom said...

But isn't it the case that CONAIE opposed the Ecuadorian right wing and the coup while it was occurring? Why do you say that CONAIE supported the coup?

Eva Golinger said...

CONAIE blamed Correa for the coup, saying he was responsible for the crisis. By doing that while the coup is in action, it justifies it.

The document presented here is one of dozens we have obtained under FOIA that evidence funding to groups in Ecuador. There are other sources of information that also evidence NED funding to organizations with elements and individuals who are members of CONAIE and Pachakutik.

I have never said all of CONAIE or Pachakutik receives funding from US agencies, I have always said sectors, individuals and elements connected to them do receive such funding and training.

Anyone who dismisses receiving funding or training from NED/USAID and related agencies as having no impact on politics has no understanding of the complex workings of these US agencies. They attempt to recruit, infiltrate and capture influential groups, parties and people who then promote US agenda. This is fact. Unfortunately, they are quite successful.

Eva Golinger said...

The unfounded and brutal attacks against my character because of exposing this funding angle in Ecuador clearly respond to powerful interested parties who want to maintain their influence in place. Others have misinterpreted or intentionally chosen to ignore what the evidence demonstrates.

In any case, I clarify here that I am not now nor have I ever received funding from any state source or any source, for that matter, for my investigative work and writing. It's ridiculous to try to dismiss the evidence presented by attacking my character and shows, once again, the sad level some sink to when defending their interests.

These same people attacked me brutally last year as well during the coup in Honduras when I denounced the US role on the first day of the coup. They were clearly proven wrong by fact.

stan said...

I think you overstated the case about CONAIE supporting the coup while it was going on. Its statement at the time in part said,

"The Ecuadorian Indigenous movement, CONAIE, with its regional
Confederations and its grassroots organizations states before Ecuadorian society and the international community their rejection to the economic and social policies of the government, and with the same energy we reject the actions of the right that in an undercover way form part of the attempted coup d'état, and to the contrary we will continue to struggle for the construction of a Plurinational State with a true democracy.

Consistent with the mandate of the communities, peoples and
nationalities and faithful to our history of struggle and resistance
against colonialism, discrimination and exploitation of those who are
below, of the poor, we will defend democracy and the rights of the
people: no concessions for the right."

I think this is an ambivalent rejection of the coup. If I were an indigenous in Ecuador reading that statement, I would not be clear what action to take. I am to defend Ecuadoran democracy and meanwhile condemn both sides in the coup attempt equally strongly. I suppose I would be sitting on the fence, leaning to the side Correa is on.
I think it would be a misrepresentation, though, to simply say CONAIE supported the coup while it was happening. However, on October 6, their president did come out in support of the coup.

stan said...

Response to "Ecuador Solidarity Network" statement, ""Accusations that Weaken Us All: A response to Eva Golinger’s Attack on the CONAIE" published in UpsidedownWorld.org:

We notice the Ecuador Solidarity Network in this statement cannot bring itself to denounce the attempted coup in Ecuador. It is even debatable that it calls it a coup. On its website there is no mention of the coup, nor of US involvement in the coup. Its website only contains a letter to the Ecuadoran government protesting some action on its part. In a word, it is very fishy.

But the website can put out a letter attacking one important person who did a lot to help expose the coup. That is the sum total of this group's statements on the coup: not to condemn the coup, not to expose US involvement, but to attack Eva Golinger, who did a lot to expose the coups in Venezuela, Honduras, and now Ecuador. Very fishy.

It goes on to criticize Eva Golinger, saying:
"But the CONAIE is not a US puppet and such allegations only serve to detract from real concerns that indigenous and non-indigenous organizations...."

Eva Golinger made no such allegations. To say she said CONAIE is a US puppet is simply making up stories to slander her.

brian said...

did u know:
'CNN's Version on the Ecuador Coup Provokes Resignation of its Reporter

The Ecuadoran journalist stated that he decided to resign from CNN that very Sept. 30 because the US TV channel’s viewpoint on the circumstances that day in his country differed from what he observed as he covered the events which pointed to the fact that a coup d’etat was taking place. Muñoz also noted that there is evidence that killing President Rafael Correa was a goal.

The former CNN correspondent in Ecuador, Rodolfo Muñoz, explained on Tuesday that his resignation from the US news channel was due to the viewpoint that it had on the attempted coup d’etat in his country, which differed from what he observed as he covered the events.


"That same night on Sept. 30 I determined that it was no longer in my interest to continue doing that sort of work, a distinct slant from what was happening in my country; in the end I found that the option was gone, the conflicting viewpoints is what changed without a doubt and that’s where it ended,” the reporter said to the press in his country about his resignation from CNN, after covering the attempted coup d’etat in Ecuador.
etc
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2010/10/cnns-coverage-of-ecuador-attempted-coup.html