Ecuador Expels a Second U.S. Diplomat

Published in El Universal
(Venezuela) on 18 February 2009
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Sarah Vaughn. Edited by Annie Moulton.
In less than fifteen days, President Correa made the decision based on the respect of sovereignty.

In Quito, Ecuador expelled the first secretary of the U.S. Embassy, Marc Sullivan, and gave him 48 hours to abandon the country after accusing him of meddling in internal matters, announced Chancellor Fander Falconí.

In turn, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Latin America, Thomas Shannon, called the expulsion of Sullivan “unnecessary,” “unjust” and “unkind.”

The office holder of the Latin American Department of State believed that the decision of the Ecuadorian government to ask Sullivan to abandon the country in 48 hours was “poorly thought out.”

Sullivan is the second diplomat expelled by Rafael Correa’s government in the last fifteen days after ordering the exit of the aggregate Armando Astorga. He was believed to have been facilitating economic cooperation of the Police unit.

The government accused the first secretary of the embassy of trying to do the same. “Due to the Astorga case, Sullivan also conditioned logistic cooperation of the Police, and questioned the Police command,” the foreign minister explained.

From what it is known, Sullivan, who is the second most important official after Ambassador Heather Hodges, still remains in Ecuador, according to Chancellor Facloní.

Weeks before Quito arranged the exit of Astorga, he had already left Ecuador due to a rotation of staff.

On the other hand, the District Attorney’s Office will investigate ONG International regarding their controversial protection of Colombians in Ecuadorian territory. This was after their representative was denounced for alleged deals with FARC, and Quito stripped him of his diplomatic immunity.

“I am going to investigate more than one specific person in the Latin American Association of Human Rights (ALDHU),” said the Attorney General Washington Pesántez.

The Latin American Association of Human Rights faces tough questions for the indiscriminate registration of Colombians at its border with Ecuador.






Ecuador expulsa a segundo diplomático de EEUU
En menos de 15 días, el presidente Correa toma la decisión por "respeto soberano"

Juan de Dios Parra, secretario de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Derechos Humanos (AFP)
Quito.- Ecuador expulsó al primer secretario de la Embajada estadounidense, Marc Sullivan, y le dio 48 horas de plazo para que abandone el país al acusarlo de intromisión en asuntos internos, anunció el canciller Fander Falconí.

Por su parte el secretario de Estado adjunto para Latinoamérica de Estados Unidos, Thomas Shannon, calificó de "muy lamentable", de "injusta" y "poco amable" la expulsión de Sullivan, destacó Efe.

El titular de la Oficina de Latinoamérica del Departamento de Estado consideró, además, "mal pensada" la decisión del Gobierno ecuatoriano de pedir a Sullivan que abandone en 48 horas el país.

Sullivan es el segundo diplomático expulsado por el Gobierno del presidente ecuatoriano Rafael Correa en los últimos 15 días tras ordenar la salida del agregado Armando Astorga por condicionar la cooperación económica a una unidad policial.

El Gobierno acusó al primer secretario de la Embajada de intentar hacer lo mismo. "A raíz del caso Astorga, Sullivan también condicionó cooperación logística a la Policía e hizo cuestionamientos al mando policial", precisó el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores.

Hasta donde se conoce, Sullivan -el segundo funcionario estadounidense en importancia después de la embajadora Heather Hodges- todavía permanece en Ecuador, según el canciller Falconi.

Semanas antes de que Quito dispusiera la salida de Astorga, éste ya había dejado Ecuador por una rotación de personal.

Por otra parte, la Fiscalía investigará a una ONG internacional debido a su polémica protección a colombianos en territorio ecuatoriano, después de que su representante fuera denunciado por supuestos tratos con las FARC y que Quito le retirara la inmunidad diplomática.

"Voy a investigar, más que a una persona en particular, a la Asociación Latinoamericana de Derechos Humanos (Aldhu)", dijo el fiscal general Washington Pesántez.

La Aldhu enfrenta duros cuestionamientos por el registro indiscriminado de colombianos en la frontera con Ecuador.

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