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[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 117 (Thursday, August 2, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                    FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN ECUADOR

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, several weeks ago I spoke in this Chamber 
about the assault on freedom of expression in Ecuador, where President 
Correa has sought to silence his critics including the Special 
Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression at the Organization of American 
States.
  Last week, these attacks on legitimate expression reached a new 
height when, according to press reports, Ecuador's Secretariat of 
Pueblos, Mireya Cardenas, said the government is investigating 
Fundamedios to determine if the support it receives from the U.S. 
Agency for International Development--USAID--is being used to interfere 
in ``internal political affairs''. She specifically criticized 
Fundamedios for lodging complaints at the Inter-American Human Rights 
Commission. She also attacked USAID for supporting sustainable 
forestry, civil society organizations, and the development of local 
productive enterprises, which are designed to protect the environment 
and improve the livelihoods of the Ecuadoran people.
  Mr. President, Fundamedios is a respected Ecuadoran nonpartisan 
organization that seeks to defend freedom of the press at a time when 
journalists and media organizations in that country are being vilified 
and threatened by officials of the very government that should be 
protecting them. It is similar to the conduct we have seen in Russia, 
Egypt, Azerbaijan, Venezuela, and other countries whose governments 
mistakenly equate legitimate advocacy by civil society organizations 
with unlawful political activity, as if Ecuador's political affairs are 
the sole province of those who the government approves of.
  It is also important to reaffirm the indispensable role of the Inter-
American human rights system, which has recently been targeted not only 
by President Correa, but also by the leaders of other Latin countries 
with weak and corrupt judicial systems who, in the name of ``reform'', 
seek to limit access to alternative fora for its citizens to obtain 
justice for abuses by government security forces. It is interesting 
that these same governments welcome the support of the OAS when it 
suits them, but campaign to weaken its mandate when it does not.
  To make a bad situation worse, President Correa again recently 
attacked one of Ecuador's most respected newspapers. A few weeks ago, 
he said on TV that an editor with El Universo was ``sinister.'' And on 
July 28, he suggested that the editor of El Comercio was ``mentally 
ill'' and ``unethical'', for what appear to be nothing more than public 
comments made on the paper's website by readers who questioned 
presidential decisions.
  On July 31, members of the police and the labor ministry, reportedly 
without a warrant, seized several items and information from the 
offices of the magazine Vanguardia for allegedly violating labor laws. 
The magazine's director, Juan Carlos Calderon, said the incident is an 
attempt to silence the independent press in Ecuador.
  For those of us who want closer relations between the United States 
and other countries in the hemisphere, including Ecuador, and who 
believe it is everyone's responsibility to stand up for universal human 
rights of which freedom of expression is the most cherished, it is 
disappointing to see the path the Correa government is taking.
  This is not about competing political philosophies, party 
affiliation, or national sovereignty. It is about protecting the right 
of Ecuadoran journalists and Fundamedios to be free of government 
interference, and of defending the constitutional rights of all of 
Ecuador's citizens. The country's first constitution, written in 1830, 
stipulated that ``every citizen can express their thoughts and publish 
them freely through the press.'' Its current constitution, just 4 years 
old, protects each citizen's right ``to voice one's opinion and express 
one's thinking freely and in all of its forms and manifestations.''
  The people of Ecuador have a right to receive uncensored information. 
Sometimes that information is accurate, sometimes it is not. Everyone 
in public office knows that. Personal attacks and inflammatory charges 
by top officials weaken democratic discourse and have no place in a 
country with a long commitment to civil liberties.

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