2024-02-13 23:44:21
The tension generated in diplomatic relations with Russia, after President Daniel Noboa’s announcement to exchange Russian ‘scrap’ with the United States, reminds us that Ecuador’s diplomatic relations change with the government’s swing.
And, although in this case no measures have been taken such as the call for ambassador consultations, the next actions of the Government will define whether the relationship with Moscow is relaxed or raised to a higher level.
But Russia has already taken a first step with a trade warning. During the government of Rafael Correa, more than a decade ago, the impasses were with the United States, while the bilateral relationship with the Kremlin was strengthened. “A thoughtless decision by Ecuador” caused diplomatic tension with Russia. But, since 2000, moments of diplomatic friction due to different situations have also been added to the list, with countries such as Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela and even Israel.
Below PRIMICIAS recalls the main diplomatic impasses of the last governments: Lucio Gutiérrez The then president Lucio Gutiérrez, during a Cabinet meeting in Carondelet, in December 2003. EFE During the brief government of Lucio Gutiérrez, between January 2003 and April 2005, the tension in bilateral relations was concentrated in Colombia.
For example, in January 2004, agents from the Ecuadorian Police and Colombian soldiers operating as undercover agents captured Ricardo Palmera, alias “Simón Trinidad”, a member of the FARC leadership in Quito. The event produced two questions that ended in diplomatic friction: Ecuador’s refusal to recognize that joint military operations existed and Colombia’s discomfort with the presence of guerrillas in Ecuador.
Furthermore, at the same time, the Gutiérrez government announced the possibility of requiring visas for Colombian citizens, due to the large arrival of migrants and those displaced by the conflict in the neighboring country. Along with Ecuador’s claims for incursions by illegal armed groups into border territory. Alfredo Palacio The diplomatic frictions started by Lucio Gutiérrez were inherited by Alfredo Palacio, after his fall.
And bilateral relations remained tense between Ecuador and Colombia. Since 2005, diplomatic incidents have revolved around five issues: the resumption of Colombian fumigation with glyphosate on the border, the presence of Colombian insurgents in national territory, the incursion of Colombian soldiers in Ecuador, the violent actions of the armed conflict of the neighbor country and the large flow of Colombian refugees.
In 2006, President Álvaro Uribe claimed that the FARC column, led by Raúl Reyes, planned and executed its attacks from Ecuador. This ended in the Ecuadorian ambassador in Bogotá being called for consultations. The claims, complaints, diplomatic notes and calls for consultations from the Ecuadorian ambassador were the tone during that year.
Rafael Correa Presidents Juan Manuel Santos and Rafael Correa at the I Binational Cabinet in Tulcán, on December 11, 2012. Foreign Ministry With the arrival of Rafael Correa to Carondelet, the trend of impasses with Colombia continued. And the President started the period by ordering the interception of Colombian aircraft that violated Ecuadorian airspace.
But the Ecuadorian ambassador ended up returning to Bogotá in April 2007, after five months of absence and several complaints from the Government of border abuses by Colombia. However, on March 1, 2008, the most serious crisis between both countries occurred, due to the bombing by the Colombian army of the FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory (Angostura).
After which, the ambassadors of both countries were called for consultations. Two days after the attack, the relationship was officially broken until September 2009. Other impasses were added to this crisis: In June 2011, President Correa expelled the US ambassador Heather Hodges from the country, after declaring her “persona non grata.” , for authorship of a cable leaked by Wikileaks, in which there was talk of alleged corruption in the Police.
Both countries had no ambassadors for a year. In May 2013, Correa called the US ambassador Adam Namm ‘spoilt’ and ‘spoilt’, who responded with a statement from the diplomatic headquarters. That same month, in May 2013, Ecuador and Peru called their ambassadors for consultations, to clarify what happened after the complaint of two Peruvian women who accused the Ecuadorian diplomat of attacking them verbally and physically in a supermarket.
In July 2014, Ecuador recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations, after a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, after ten days of bombing. Lenín Moreno Between 2017 and 2021, during the administration of Lenín Moreno, Ecuador had a change in its foreign policy. In July 2018, there was a diplomatic impasse with the governments of Venezuela and Bolivia, after criticism from leaders Nicolás Maduro and Evo Morales, regarding the preventive detention order against former president Rafael Correa, for a corruption case.
This involved calling the Ecuadorian ambassador in La Paz for consultations and canceling the sending of the diplomatic representative who had been designated for Caracas. At the same time, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry sent notes of protest and summoned the ambassadors of the two countries to explain the position of their governments. Later, in October of the same year, the Venezuelan Minister of Communication at the time accused Moreno of lying in the UN General Assembly, on December 25, about the migration of Venezuelans to Ecuador.
The criticism triggered a new diplomatic impasse, as Ecuador expelled the Venezuelan ambassador in Quito, and Venezuela responded with the expulsion of the Ecuadorian chargé d’affaires in Caracas. In March 2021, Ecuador and Argentina had a diplomatic disagreement after President Alberto Fernández’s comments against Moreno, due to the rift with his then vice president Jorge Glas.
This resulted in a note of protest from the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry and the call for consultations from the ambassador in Buenos Aires. Guillermo Lasso Alberto Fernández, president of Argentina, receives his counterpart from Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, at the Casa Rosada, where they will hold a bilateral meeting, this April 18, 2022. Presidency of Argentina The latest expulsion of a foreign ambassador in Ecuador is It occurred in March 2023, after the escape of the former Correísta Minister of Transportation, María de los Ángeles Duarte, who had taken refuge in the Argentine diplomatic headquarters in Quito.
The incident triggered a series of accusations by Guillermo Lasso’s government against officials of Alberto Fernández’s government, whom they accused of being accomplices. In the midst of which Quito and Buenos Aires expelled the ambassadors of each country.
By: PRIMICIAS