US expels Ecuadorean ambassador

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration expelled the Ecuadorean ambassador on Thursday in retaliation for the expulsion of the U.S. envoy to Ecuador over her comments in leaked State Department cables. The move escalates tensions between the U.S. and Ecuador and comes amid a fraying of ties between Washington and other Latin American capitals.

Ecuadorean Ambassador Luis Gallegos was summoned to the State Department and informed of the decision by Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela, the department said. It said Gallegos was declared "persona non grata" and ordered to leave the United States as soon as possible. High-level U.S.-Ecuador talks set for June have been suspended, the department said.

The step follows Ecuador's expulsion this week of Heather Hodges, the U.S. ambassador in Quito, over corruption allegations she made about senior Ecuadorean police authorities in confidential documents released by the website WikiLeaks.

"The unjustified action of the Ecuadorean government in declaring Ambassador Hodges persona non grata left us no other option than this reciprocal action," said Charles Luoma-Overstreet, a department spokesman.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_us_ecuador

[Drale]

1. What happens when they expel a ambassador?

Do they walk him to the boarder and kick his ass over?

[Poll_Blind]

4. I imagine it's more like a Marine embassy guard goes to the embassy with a formal letter...

...letting them know that they're expelled and then they do what they need to. I imagine it's a highly formalized process and, in this case, one which is probably not as harsh as it sounds.

OnEdit: looks like they get summoned to the State Department and informed of the decision.

PB

[frazzled]

2. If you want to read the most amazing story ever...

regarding the current state of Latin American politics--in Guatemala, not Ecuador--I must recommend the piece in this past week's New Yorker. You can't make this stuff up, not even in the movies. It's a great murder mystery, tale of rampant corruption, intrigues and counter-intrigues. It's pretty long, so commit yourself to some time here:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/04/110404fa_fact_grann

[EFerrari]

6. Thanks for that link. I hardly ever check the NYer.n/t

[Blue_Tires]

8. thanks for this...

[Jazz Ambassador]

3. Freaking Wikileaks

So the Embassy sends a document back to Washington documenting corruption in Ecuador which the Ecuadorians were, quite rightly, never meant to see...but thanks to the vigilant patriotism of the Wikileaks crowd Ecuador now knows about it, our Ambassador is being sent home, and our ability to interact with the Ecuadorian government is compromised. And the noble purpose served by all that was...what?

[EFerrari]

5. No, Hodges didn't document anything.

She made a bunch of allegations, including some about Correa.

Hodges, State and the US had been suspected of infiltrating the Ecuadoran security forces for their own purposes and since Hodges put classified information in her cable she had no business having, now the suspicion has been confirmed, thanks to Wikileaks.

[Puglover]

7. LOL I'm moving to Ecuador.

I hope we don't go to war. :)