Ecuador Attacks Argentina & Expels Ambassador
The presidents of Argentina and Ecuador traded blows as Ecuador’s right-wing government expelled the ambassador of Argentina and condemned President Alberto Fernandez for hosting Rafael Correa on Monday in Buenos Aires.
“I am very sorry that @alferdez, President of Argentina, has put his personal friendship and political identity with @MashiRafael (Rafael Correa) ahead of the fraternal relationship between the peoples of Argentina and Ecuador”, said the neoliberal President Guillermo Lasso.
Lasso’s attacks on Argentina coincided with the arrival of former President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, in Buenos Aires, to participate in the III World Forum on Human Rights. Correa and other special guests of the event met with President Fernandez.
Fernandez responded Tuesday saying, “President Guillermo Lasso, please receive these words with your usual and sincere affection. I will make an effort not to mix this incident, which is the product of the inexperience of Ecuadorian state officials, with the love that binds our peoples.”
Ambassadors expelled
This spat between the two heads of state occurs within the context of a more serious diplomatic incident last week, when Ecuador expelled Argentina’s ambassador. The expulsion came in response to news that María de los Ángeles Duarte, a former government minister under Rafael Correa, who had been persecuted by ex-president Lenin Moreno, emerged publicly in Venezuela.
Duarte had taken refuge inside the Argentinian embassy in Quito back in August 2020, to avoid political persecution by then President Lenin Moreno. She was granted political asylum by Argentina but the Lasso regime refused to give her a permit to leave the country.
Despite a warrant for her arrest in Ecuador, Duarte managed to leave the country. President Lasso blamed Argentina for his own government’s oversight and duly expelled the Argentine ambassador. Argentina has since expelled Lasso’s ambassador in response.
By Kawsachun News
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