1) Comisión de Policía de Tr nsito translates into Traffic (Road Transport) Police Commission. Tr nsito could also apply to foreign travel (transit), although Cuenca is not reported among the sources currently available to the IRBDC as having an international airport or border crossing.

Police forces are reportedly controlled by the Minister of Government, who assumes responsibility for internal security. [ World Defence Almanac 1986-87, (Bonn: Monch Publishing Group, 1986), p. 98.] According to one source, the department responsible is called Ministry of Government and Police, also referred to as Interior Ministry. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), August 1988, p. 36098; Europa Year Book 1989, (London: Europa Publications, 1989), p. 914.] The military are reportedly not responsible for the police forces, and fall under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Defence. [ Europa 1989, p. 907; World Defence Almanac 1986-87, p. 98.]

2) For information on guerrilla activity reports currently available for 1988-1989, please find attached the following:
-Andean Group Report, (London, Latin American Newsletters): 6 October 1988, p. 3; 2 March 1989, p. 7; 13 April 1989, p. 7.
-1989 International Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1989), p. 82.

According to the latter, three leaders of Alfaro Vive Carajo (AVC) were captured in April 1988, and in September of that year the AVC called for an amnesty. Meanwhile, the splinter group Montoneros Patria Libre (MPL) kidnapped media employees in August, criticized the new government and set forth a number of demands (detailed in the attachment).

The book Human Rights in Ecuador, (Washington, D.C./Lima: Americas Watch/Andean Commission of Jurists, March 1988), pp. 16-17 although dealing mostly with events prior to the requested timeframe, reports the main guerrilla group -Alfaro Vive Carajo,
AVC- received serious setbacks in 1987 which may have reduced its capacity.

According to another source, the AVC re-surfaced in 1988, being held responsible for the takeover of radio stations in January 1988 and kidnapping journalists in September 1988. [ "Ecuador Swings Towards Social Democracy", in Current History, (Philadelphia: Current History, Inc.), March 1989, p. 141.]

The President of the Supreme Court of Ecuador was murdered on 24 October 1988. Although the gunmen could not be identified, surrounding events reportedly suggest drug-traffickers were responsible for the crime. [ Keesing's, p. 36344; Andean Group Report, 15 December 1988, p. 8.]

Like the attached Andean Group Reports, other sources report the AVC and MPL announced on September 1988, as a new government led by the Democratic Left party took office, that they were willing to cease hostilities, although leaving the possibility open for violent actions in case the new government did not accept certain conditions and demands; the AVC reportedly reached an agreement with the government earlier this year. [ Facts on File, (New York: Facts On File, Inc.), May 1989, p. 325; Keesing's Record of World Events, December 1988, p. 36344.] The Europa year Book 1989 describes the AVC as a supporter of the governing Democratic Left party of Ecuador and states it was a guerrilla organization until February 1989. [ Europa Year Book 1989, (London: Europa Publications, 1989), p. 915.] On 10 September 1989, Ecuador's President Rodrigo Borja declared that no guerrilla warfare existed in Ecuador. [ Latin America Daily Report, (Washington, D.C.: Foreign Broadcast Information Service), 29 September 1989, p. 39.]