Ecuador Expels a Second U.S. Diplomat

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.