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On April 5, 2011, the Government of Ecuador declared the United States Ambassador to Ecuador, Heather M. Hodges, persona non grata under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, citing alleged confidential cables released to the public by WikiLeaks. On April 7, the U.S. Government took reciprocal action, informing Ecuador's Ambassador to the United States, Luis Benigno Gallegos Chiriboga, of the decision to declare him persona non grata under Article 9(1) of the Vienna Convention. Ecuador's new Ambassador to the United States, Nathalie Cely, took office in December 2011. The U.S. Ambassador-designate to Ecuador, Adam Namm, awaits confirmation by the U.S. Senate. |
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Agency(ies): |
Bureau of Western Affairs, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Archive Link
http://archive.is/t6RGX |
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Ecuador's government said Tuesday that it was expelling the United States ambassador, Heather M. Hodges, over comments made public in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks in which Ms. Hodges referred to high-level police corruption in Ecuador and possible knowledge of it by the president.
Ms. Hodges recommended in a cable dated July 10, 2009 and published Monday by the Spanish newspaper El Pais that the United States revoke a visa for Jaime Aquilino Hurtado, the national police commander who served from April 2008 to June 2009.
In the cable, she discussed multiple reports of illegal activities by Mr. Aquilino Hurtado, including his possible involvement in schemes to extort bribes from a taxi union, steal public funds and ease trafficking of undocumented Chinese immigrants.
In a particularly sensitive part of the cable, Ms. Hodges noted that 'some Embassy officials believe that President Correa must have been aware of them when he made the appointment' of Mr. Aquilino Hurtado.
'These observers believe that Correa may have wanted to have an ENP chief whom he could easily manipulate,' said Ms. Hodges, using the initials for the Ecuadorean National Police. |
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Name(s:) |
Simon Romero |
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Title: |
Reporter |
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Agency(ies): |
New York Times |
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Concerning: |
Cablegate |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/dyLju |
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Excerpt from the U.S. State Department Press Briefing:
MR. TONER: Just briefly at the top I know some of you were asking me via email and others in the Press Office our Embassy did today receive official communication through appropriate diplomatic channels that the Ecuadorian Government has declared Ambassador Heather Hodges persona non grata. Ambassador Hodges is one of our most experienced and talented diplomats and the Department considers her expulsion unjustified. And we deeply regret the Ecuadorian Government took it. The Department will examine its options to respond to this Ecuadorian action.
With that, I'll take your questions.
QUESTION: What kind of options?
MR. TONER: You're aware of the I think well aware of some of the options. We've literally just received this news.
QUESTION: Well, enlighten me again.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Are all options on the table? (Laughter.)
MR. TONER: Okay. You're you've we've been down this road in other cases and we're all aware of some of the options. Again, I don't want to get into details. We're evaluating our options. We literally just received this news before coming I did before coming down here, so --
QUESTION: All right. I did notice --
MR. TONER: -- it's still very early.
QUESTION: -- that the Ecuadorian Government has recently either reopened or announced plans to open consulates in New Orleans, which I think has been reopened now after Katrina, and to open one in Phoenix. Is this the kind of thing that you would look at --
MR. TONER: I don't I really --
QUESTION: -- in terms of rescinding their permission? I mean, apparently, they're eager to have branch offices in this country even at the same time as they're expelling your ambassador. Is that the kind of thing that could be looked at and --
MR. TONER: Well --
QUESTION: -- as well as just the straight-out reciprocal action?
MR. TONER: Again, there's a number of options we can take. We just received this news, so it's really premature for me to be speculating on what actions we might take.
QUESTION: All right.
MR. TONER: She's again, Ambassador Hodges is one of our most experienced diplomats, and we deeply regret her expulsion.
QUESTION: Did the diplomatic note say why she was being PNGed?
MR. TONER: It did not. Actually, it did not specify.
QUESTION: All right. Without getting into the reasons that may or may not have been behind the expulsion, do you have concerns about corruption in Ecuador's police force?
MR. TONER: I think that well, Matt, it's a fair question. I believe that we have corruption concerns in a number of countries. Corruption is never is always a corrosive factor in many democracies. And we're going to candidly assess that kind of corruption where we see it, but I don't want to specifically address that issue.
QUESTION: Well, do you is I'm sorry, Ecuador, are you concerned about corruption in Ecuador's police force?
MR. TONER: Again, this is something that we would talk about in our Human Rights Report. I don't have specific information for you on that. I can look into it.
QUESTION: Mark, can you confirm that it was because of a WikiLeaks document?
MR. TONER: Again, we received no official reason for her PNG.
QUESTION: Did you get any official I mean, it's surely, you will have asked. Do you get did you get any unofficial explanation for it?
MR. TONER: Well, Arshad, again, we've seen various press reports and other public comments that did link it to that, but I can't speculate.
QUESTION: And do you think if it is linked to that, do you think this is a justified action?
MR. TONER: Well, again, I don't want to talk about the contents of allegedly classified material, but speaking more broadly about the issue, our diplomats overseas conduct vital work in informing our policy decisions back in Washington. We believe that their assessments need to be candid and need to be classified in many cases. And it's always difficult when we lose those kinds of channels.
QUESTION: Well, Mark --
MR. TONER: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: -- I'm just confused about one thing. After the sentence that says, 'Ambassador Hodges is one of our finest,' whatever that line is, what's the next sentence?
MR. TONER: 'We consider her expulsion unjustified.'
QUESTION: Well, if they didn't give you a reason, how do you know it's unjustified?
MR. TONER: Well --
QUESTION: I mean, how can you come to a judgment that it's unjustified if you don't know what the reason for it is?
MR. TONER: Well, Matt, again, we believe she's doing stellar work and that there is no reason for or justification for her expulsion.
QUESTION: Well, yeah, but presumably, if you're saying that it is unjustified, that there is some reason that you don't accept for her that they've made either publicly or privately to you?
MR. TONER: Well, again, I referred what I answered to Arshad I referred to some of the public comments that we've seen. But certainly, we believe she's doing good work and there's no reason for her to be a persona non grata.
QUESTION: Change topic?
MR. TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: Just one more on this?
MR. TONER: Go ahead.
QUESTION: Up to now, how would you assess relations with Ecuador?
MR. TONER: I think they're on good standing. It's one of our key allies in the region and we want to take that relationship forward. And we deeply regret this incident and the impact it's going to have |
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Name(s:) |
Mark Toner |
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Title: |
Deputy Spokesperson |
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Agency(ies): |
Department of State |
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http://archive.is/baIdK |
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The U.S. has suspended its dialogue with Ecuador and declared its Ambassador to the US as persona non grata in retaliation of a similar action by government of Ecuador.
'Assistant Secretary (of State, Arturo) Valenzuela called in Ambassador (Luis) Gallegos at 10:30 this morning and informed him of our decision to declare him persona non grata. I believe he's required to depart the United States as soon as possible,' State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
'The unjustified action of the Ecuadorian Government in declaring (US) Ambassador (to Ecuador) Hodges persona non grata left us no other option than this reciprocal action. I believe we said when I announced Ambassador Hodges was declared persona non grata, I said we were considering actions, and this is one of those,' Mr. Toner said.
'We are also suspending the bilateral dialogue which had been scheduled for June,' the State Department spokesman said.
We are interested in a positive relationship with Ecuador, but the regrettable and unwarranted decision to declare Ambassador Hodges persona non grata is going to be taken into account as we move forward in the relationship, he added. |
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Agency(ies): |
Hindu |
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/Mz2O5 |
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Title: |
09QUITO572 |
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Author: |
Heather Hodges |
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Title: |
United States Ambassador to Ecuador |
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Authoring or Creator Agency: |
Embassy Quito, Department of State |
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Concerning: |
"Cablegate, Ecuador |
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Archive Link |
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