ANTI-US FEELING IN ECUADOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120023-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2012
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: December 15, 1960
• Content Type: MISC

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120023-9
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMMARY
Anti-US sentiment and pres-
sures for establishment Of re-
lations with the Sino-Soviet
bloc are building up in Ecuador
as a result of the 7 December
declaration by the guarantor
nations to the 1942 Rio Pro-
tocol, which provides for a
definitive settlement of the
140-year-old border dispute
with Peru and grants a favor-
able award of territory to the
latter. The guarantor nations
are the US, Argentina, Brazil,
and Chile, and the .declaration,
which was in response to Ecua-
dor's provocative campaign to
denounce the treaty as null
and void, upholds its
validity.
- Undemarcated boundary
declaration--not merely by Com-
munists but also by top govern-
ment officials. The Ecuadorean
Government is directly en-
couraging these outbreaks by
inflammatory public statements,
particularly those of the pro-
Castro, anti-US minister of
government, Manuel Araujo, who
controls the police and is
responsible for the maintenance
of order.
The Velasco regime is also
resorting to a variety of ex-
tremist threats designed to
neutralize the guarantor dec-
laration and win official and
Disputed area claimed by Ecuador and ceded to Peru
by the 1942 Rio de )aneiro Protocol
feelings generated by the bor-
der issue.
Demonstrations
against the US Embas-
sy in Quito and the
consulate general in
Guayaquil - began on
9 December and were
followed by addition-
al violence against
US installations in
these and other cities
on 12-13 December--
including insults to
the US flag. The
later unrest may be
connected with a re-
ported plan of the
small but influential
Ecuadorean Communist
party for full ex-
ploitation of the
anti-US sentiment and
strong nationalistic
While the other guarantor-
powers expressed grave concern
over President Velasco's fre-
quent denunciation of the pro-
tocol since he took office
last September and insisted on
a firm guarantor position up-
holding it, the United States
has been primarily blamed forthe
L
popular support for its cause
in the hemisphere. These
threats include the establish-
ment of closer, ties with Cuba
and diplomatic relations with
the USSR and China and withdrawal
from the Organization of Ameri-
can States. Foreign Minister
Chiriboga advised the US am-
bassador on 10 December that
the declaration has crystallized
the efforts of Araujo, Vice
PART II NOTES AND COMMENTS Page 3 of 8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120023-9
 S . y,
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120023-9
--..CURRENT.- INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY -:SU ARY
15 December 1960
President Carlos Arosemena,and
other cabinet members to "elim-
inate excessive dependence on
the US" and seek relations with
the USSR and China.
In a 10 December public
statement timed to reinforce
such threats, Chiriboga an-
nounced that Czechoslovakia
would reopen its legation in
Quito, which was closed by
Eduador's previous government
in 1957. Araujo has publicly
advocated the acquisition of
Soviet military and other aid
if necessary "to defend our
country."
The Ecuadorean armed forces,
who realize Peru's marked mili-
tary superiority and are po-
litically hostile to Araujo
and friendly toward the US, rep-
resent a potentially moderating
influence on Velasco. Velasco
has publicly renounced war as
a means of settling the border
dispute. In Peru, where offi-
cial and public opinion.was
elated over the guarantor dec-
laration, the army is sending
reinforcements to the border,
including 12 tanks, and the
navy has stationed major fleet
elements off the northern coast
--probably as a precaution
against the outbreak of fighting.
25X1
CANADA'S ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES
Faced with the prospect of
a severe economic recession
this winter, Prime Minister
Diefenbaker has recalled Parlia-
ment two months early to take
remedial action.
Unemployment, which has
already climbed to almost 7 per-
cent of the labor force, will
probably reach a postwar high
of 10 percent during the winter.
The main factor in the unemploy-
ment increase is the failure
of manufacturing industries,.
which employ 27 percent of .
Canada's workers, to develop at
.the same rate as have the miner-
als and other raw materials
industries.
Government officials pri-
?vately admit that there is no
hope this year of achieving the
previously estimated balanced
budget and a 6-percent increase
in gross national product. Dew
spite an 8-percent increase in
Canada's export trade in the
first nine months of this year,
the balance-of-payments deficit
is expected to be even higher
than last year's record $1.46
billion.
The economic downturn has
already had sharp political re-
percussions. The American Em-
bassy in. Ottawa sees Diefenbaker
as "obsessed" with restoring his
government's rapidly declining
popularity and with countering
the Liberal-opposition's.telling
charge that the Conservatives
have totally failed in their
pledge to broaden Canada's in-
dustrial base and to lessen its
economic dependence on the US.
IDiefenbaker's proposals at
the opening session of Parlia-
ment on 17 November--establishing
a productivity council and stag-
ing an all-out export promotion
campaign--will have-little im-
mediate effect on either the
economic slump or the govern-
ment's standing. The prime
minister also stated that the
government was considering legis-
lative measures to obtain greater
participation. by Canadians in 25X1
the ownership and control of
Canadian industry and resources,
but he has not yet offered spe-
cific proposals,
SECRET
PART II ,f NOTES AND COMMENTS ?Page 4 of. 8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120023-9