Ecuador: The Tit for Tat Explusion Not Over Yet -- What's Next? Ay! Mucho Bananas....

Image via WikipediaA new wrinkle in the US-Ecuador worsening relations after the diplomatic expulsions of the US  ambassador in Quito and the Ecuadorian ambassador in Washington, D.C. last week. On April 8, Reuters reported that "Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa on Friday accused the U.S. embassy of spying on the country's police and military, adding the espionage was a factor in his expulsion this week of the U.S. ambassador."

"The serious thing is that WikiLeaks said they (the U.S. embassy) have informants in the police and armed forces ... This is espionage," Correa said in a radio interview, adding the embassy had a duty to inform his government if it had evidence of a crime, but had not done so.
[...]
Correa acknowledged there is corruption in the police force and said his government is striving to stamp it out.

"The serious issue is that if they have information from inside the police, instead of letting the government know ... they say nothing, and they try to involve the country's President," he said in the radio interview.

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on Wednesday the decision to expel Hodges was made to defend Correa's honor, even though trade ties with the United States might suffer.

Ecuador's former foreign minister José Ayala Lasso  understood the duties of foreign representatives better and told IPS that he would have done things differently:

[T]wo specific factors: that ambassadors have an obligation to inform their government of everything they see in the country to which they have been posted, which they must do in an objective, in-depth manner.

"That is an obligation recognised by international law, and their reports are written for private use by their governments, not for international publication," he said.

The other factor is that the leaked cable "refers to an issue that is very serious in Ecuador: police corruption."

Also last week, China's Xinhua reported that President Correa had downplayed the economic impact of the non-renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act  (ATPDEA).

Correa reportedly said if the United States canceled the ATPDEA due to the current diplomatic impasse, the impact on Ecuador's economy would only be less than 23 million U.S. dollars for the taxes, which is something the nation "can perfectly afford."

The report noted that ATPDEA benefits Ecuador with the duty free entrance of 750 products to the United States. The agreement expired on Feb. 12 and is currently under review in the Congress.

President Correa was also quoted as saying, "The country's dignity" is before the Atpdea, in response to concerns of the nation's business circles that Quito's expel of the U.S. ambassador could bring negative effects on the country's commerce.

Note that the renewal of Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act  (ATPDEA) has so far made no ripple in the news this side of the world.  As of this weekend, there were exactly 11 news items related to  ATPDEA and most of them concerns Colombia.

The Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) was enacted in December 1991, to help four Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) in their fight against drug production and trafficking by expanding their economic alternatives.

The Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), enacted on August 6, 2002, renewed and amended the ATPA to provide duty-free treatment for certain products previously excluded under the ATPA.  

According to the USTR, Ecuador is currently our 42nd largest goods trading partner with $9.2 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2009. Goods exports totaled $3.9 billion; Goods imports totaled $5.3 billion. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Ecuador was $1.3 billion in 2009.

Besides the US ambassador's expulsion, an act that Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino called defending the presidential honor, President Correa himself, cited the importance of "the country's dignity" before the ATPDEA.

Okay, but what else is going on over there besides the tit for tat headlines, and allegations of espionage?  In a few weeks, a referendum on a proposed set of constitutional changes which critics argued were really aimed at tightening Correa's grip on the country's institutions is also on. Read here and here.

The bad yanquis -- always a reliable punching bag, rain or shine, but more so during referendums and elections.

Anyway, since ATPDEA seems to be in the news over there, perhaps we should look at our trade stuff with Ecuador (data from USTR):

Exports

• Ecuador was the United States' 41st largest goods export market in 2009.
• U.S. goods exports to Ecuador in 2009 were $3.9 billion, up 13.8% ($477 million) from 2008, and up 229% from 1994 (the year prior to Uruguay Round).
• The top export categories (2-digit HS) in 2009 were: Mineral Fuel (oil) ($1.0 billion), Machinery ($962 million), Electrical Machinery ($288 million), Plastic ($227 million), and Vehicles ($216 million).
• U.S. exports of agricultural products to Ecuador totaled $223 million in 2009. Leading categories include: coarse grains ($59 million), soybean meal ($30 million), and wheat ($28 million).

Imports

• Ecuador was the United States' 41st largest supplier of goods imports in 2009.
• U.S. goods imports from Ecuador totaled $5.3 billion in 2009, a 41.7% decrease ($3.8 billion) from 2008, but up 205% over the last 15 years.
• The five largest import categories in 2009 were: Mineral Fuel (crude) ($3.5 billion) Edible Fruit and Nuts (bananas, plantains) ($485 million), Fish and Seafood (shrimp and prawns) ($483 million), Cocoa ($184 million), and Live Trees and Plants (cut flowers-roses) ($119 million).
• U.S. imports of agricultural products from Ecuador totaled $927 million in 2009. Leading categories include: bananas and plantains ($437 million), cocoa beans ($172 million), and nursery products and cut flowers ($119 million).

If this diplomatic tit for tat gets worse, the export/import sector may become collateral damage. 


 
Related items:

Fifth Report to the Congress on the Operation of the Andean Trade Preference Act as Amended

CRS: ATPA Renewal: Background and Issues | January 21, 2011

Related articles

• Factbox: Ecuador, US in diplomatic dispute over WikiLeak (reuters.com)
• Ecuador's Correa lashes out at U.S. embassy for spying (reuters.com)
• US expels Ecuador ambassador in tit-for-tat move (alternet.org)
• Ecuador Asks U.S. Ambassador to Leave (online.wsj.com)

US Declares Ecuadorian Ambassador "Persona Non Grata"

The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) Arturo Valenzuela had reportedly informed the Ecuadorian Ambassador to the United States, Luis Gallegos on April 7 that he had been declared persona non grata and must leave the United States as soon as possible.

Earlier this week, Ecuador had declared US Ambassador Heather Hodges personal non grata and was asked to leave the country as soon as possible (see Ecuador Declares US Ambassador "Persona Non Grata" Over Dirty Laundry). So now, compliments returned, what's next?   

Via CNN:

In a diplomatic tit for tat, the U.S. State Department said Thursday it has ordered the Ecuadorian ambassador expelled from the United States.

The move follows the expulsion of Heather Hodges, the U.S. ambassador to Ecuador, earlier this week over the contents of a leaked State Department cable made public by WikiLeaks.

The Ecuadorian government declared Hodges persona non grata and asked her to leave as soon as possible, the state-run Andes news agency reported.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino declined to call it an expulsion, though Hodges was effectively being kicked out of the country.

"Obviously, we believe that she was unjustifiably declared persona non grata," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Wednesday before the decision on the expulsion.

Read the whole thing here.



Related articles

• Ecuador expels U.S. ambassador over cable divulged by WikiLeaks (theglobeandmail.com)
• AP source: US expels Ecuadorian ambassador (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• US expels Ecuador ambassador in tit-for-tat move (alternet.org)
• Ecuador asks US ambassador to leave over WikiLeaks row (guardian.co.uk)

Ecuador Declares US Ambassador "Persona Non Grata" Over Dirty Laundry

Ambassador Heather Hodges to be png'ed but apparently "not officially expelled" 

Reuters reported yesterday that Ecuador had declared the U.S. ambassador to the country "persona non grata," demanding that Ambassador Hodges leave the country over U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks reporting on alleged police corruption.  This is the most serious form of censure that a country can apply to a representative of a foreign mission. In this case Ecuador had publicly indicated that Ambassador Hodges is no longer welcome in the country.    

Reuters quoted Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino:

"Ecuador's government has decided to consider this woman as a persona non grata... we have asked her to leave the country in the shortest time possible," he said.

Patino also said that the decision did not mean Ecuador was breaking off relations with the United States.

Reuters noted that Ecuador late last year had initially offered Wikileaks founder Julian Assange the possibility of working and seeking residency in the Andean country. But President Rafael Correa later withdrew the offer saying Assange had broken U.S. laws.

Read the whole thing here.

The Latin American Herald Tribune said that the offending cables were about corruption in the South American country's police force and noted that Ecuador had previously expelled two American diplomats -- including First Secretary Mark Sullivan -- in February 2009 for "unacceptable interference in Ecuador's internal affairs."  The Tribune also pointed out that in July 2008, Ecuador President Rafael Correa also refused to renew a 10 year lease on a U.S. air base in the Ecuadorean port city of Manta, which the U.S. used to conduct anti-drug surveillance in the region. The U.S. left the Manta air base in September 2009.

CNN reported that Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, said that although the government is asking the ambassador to leave, she is not being officially expelled.  This act "is not against the government of the United States, but against a diplomat who made serious statements," Patino said.

Funny thing about this -- the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister called the ambassador "this woman as a persona non grata" -- she may have been the signoff signature on those offending cables, but most probably did not write up those reports.  That's what note takers are for, silly.  But that probably doesn't really matter to the host country. Somebody's gotta pay, not for reporting something that may/may not be known to the locals .... somebody's gotta pay for the dirty laundry now out in the open. 

What "serious statements" were actually said in those Embassy Quito cables that so upset the Government of Ecuador? 

[WikiLeaks Warning!!! Do not view links below from your office computer]

For starters, a February 2009 cable, reported a background to President Correa's attacks on U.S. cooperation with Ecuador's Police including that tinsy winsy bit about Government of Ecuador officials were linked to the FARC. That's the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the  largest and oldest insurgent group in the Americas.  You can read the cable here, published by El Pais. 

The other cable from July 2009 that appears to put some ants inside the official pants is this cable --a Visas Donkey cable on Corruption 212(f) Visa Revocation of Jaime Aquilino Hurtado Vaca.  Hurtado is the Commander of the National Police. The cable also includes Hurtado's wife and daughter. You can read the cable here published by El Pais detailing the corruption.

These two cables alone will give you an idea why somebody's gotta pay. If you kick out the US ambassador, maybe that would beat out the dirty laundry headlines. But you can't wash the dirty laundry in the dark, can you?

   

Quick bio:  Heather Hodges was sworn in at the Department of State as U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador on July 15, 2008, arrived in Ecuador in early August, and presented her credentials to President Rafael Correa on October 2, 2008. Prior to this appointment she was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Director General. She served as U.S. Ambassador to Moldova from September 2003 to May 2006.

Ambassador Hodges joined the Foreign Service in 1980 and was assigned to Caracas, Venezuela. Following Caracas, she served in Guatemala and later in Washington as Peru Desk Officer. In 1987, Ms. Hodges received a Pearson Fellowship to work in the U.S. Congress, where she was counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs. In January 1989, she became Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Bilbao, Spain. In 1991, she returned to Washington to serve as Deputy Director of the Office of Cuban Affairs.

In 1993, Ms. Hodges was assigned to Managua, Nicaragua, as Deputy Chief of Mission. From August 1996 to June 1997, Ms. Hodges participated in the Department of State's Senior Seminar, a leadership program for select members of the Foreign Service. She served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Lima, Peru, from July 1997 to May 2000 and was also Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain, from June 2000 to July 2003.

Before she left Spain, the Spanish government awarded Ms. Hodges the Spanish decoration of “Isabel la Catolica – Encomienda de Numero” for her contributions to Spanish-U.S. relations. Similarly, the Government of Moldova presented her with the Award of Honor in 2006, and the same year she was awarded a Presidential Meritorious Service Award.

Ambassador Hodges is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. She has a B.A. in Spanish from the College of St. Catherine, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an M.A. from New York University and speaks fluent Spanish.

Related articles

• Ecuador boots out U.S. ambassador (cnn.com)
• Ecuador asks US ambassador to leave over WikiLeaks row (guardian.co.uk)
• FOX + Ecuador Demands U.S. Ambassador Leave (foxnews.com)
• Ecuador expels U.S. ambassador over cable divulged by WikiLeaks (theglobeandmail.com)

UK-Russia exchanged PNG'ed diplomats for the holidays

We're late on this -- but apparently, a British diplomat was ordered out of Russia in a tit-for-tat expulsion. Moscow calls the ejection from its London embassy of a Russian diplomat as groundless. The UK Foreign Office insists there is 'clear evidence' of spying.

Via the Guardian:

The mutual diplomatic expulsions between Russia and Britain are the first since 2007, when Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London with a rare radioactive isotope.

"The British side took an unfriendly step the other day, having groundlessly declared one of our colleagues in our embassy in London persona non grata," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Active links added above.  I bet you, neither side bothered to buy Christmas wrappers and ribbons or wrapped their PNG'ed gifts for the holidays.    

Related articles

• Russia expels British diplomat in tit-for-tat move over 'groundless' removal of suspected spy from London embassy (dailymail.co.uk)
• Britain and Russia expel diplomats (guardian.co.uk)
• Russia, UK exchange diplomats after another spy scandal (rt.com)

Quote: Maybe diplomats are more like mice than cats...

“The point about diplomacy is that life goes on. Host governments have the hearty but fleeting pleasure of looking tough by heaving supposedly errant diplomats and their policies overboard but, after an interval, the public dust settles and diplomatic business needs to be done. Maybe diplomats are more like mice than cats: you chase them away but they always quietly move back in to your house.”

Charles Crawford Read “Kick the Cat: Going, Going, Gone” Three-times British Ambassador on Diplomatic Expulsions Diplomat Magazine │ May 2009 Charles Crawford’s Blogoir

Do Politicians Dream of Electric Sheep?

Perhaps in Bolivia ...

Photo by Luca Galuzzi - www.galuzzi.it Licensed under CCA-SA2.5

In June last year, folks working for USAID in the Chapare region, a key drug-trafficking area, were expelled from the country. Apparently they had some success with farmers growing alternative crops to coca. The problem was they reportedly kept asking the question “Do politicians dream of electric sheep?” Eventually somebody suspected that they were up to no good; working on growing “off-world colonies” for green men smoking green coca. Green aliens smoking pot, c’mon, what can be scarier than that?

In September, the ambassador was asked to leave the country. He was in a meeting inside the ministry when he was PNG’ed; a diplomatic blitzkrieg if there ever was one. Some idjits were convinced that the embassy has now been infiltrated by Nexus-7 replicants spying for their home world Saturn.

Of course, those guys involved in the $450,000 bribery-murder scandal must also be space aliens from Saturn, in cahoots with the spies! Geez, now I’m wondering if the pro-president mob who stormed the home of a political rival in a town on the shore of Lake Titicaca and beat members of the man's family were actually part of the illegal Nexus-6 Saturnite replicants? If they were, could the blade runners be far behind? Because surely – you want them caught, right?

Recently, the embassy's second secretary, Francisco Martinez was also PNG’ed because he "was in permanent contact with opposition groups." If they keep at this, before long there won’t be any real earthlings left at that mission.

This must be a real troubling development that Senator Lugar of the Senate Foreign Galactic Relations Committee finally spoke up. Yesterday he released a statement condemning the expulsion of one more diplomat saying "It certainly does not bode well for efforts to solve our differences through honest dialogue and positive actions.”

Oh my goodness! I could write a whole series of books on this – aliens, politicians, replicants, money, bribery, murder, spies, blade runners, png’ed diplomats, coca, sex -- oops, er-- that last one is for a future news cycle.

Okay – but there’s one great formula for entertainment!

Diplomatic Snub Over

It looks like Honduras' diplomatic snub concluded last week. After a one-week delay to show its support for Bolivia, Deputy Foreign Minister Eduardo Rosales said Honduras would formally receive the credentials of the career diplomat Hugo Llorens on Friday (September 16). AP reports that Ambassador Llorens told reporters after meeting with Rosales on Tuesday that "relations between the U.S. and Honduras are excellent." He said he looks forward to a face-to-face meeting with President Zelaya. Meanwhile, Ambassador Philip Goldberg, most recently the President's personal representative to Bolivia is now back in Washington and has recently given an interview to Mac Margolis of Newsweek. Below is a brief excerpt of the interview. You can read the entire piece here. Newsweek: There's been a lot of media on your expulsion from Bolivia. What was the official reason and how did it happen? Ambassador Goldberg: I was in a meeting [on Sept. 10] with the Bolivian foreign minister. I had gone to see him after receiving a call from the Bolivian government informing me that our D.E.A [drug enforcement agency] personnel had to leave immediately from the Chapare region, where president Evo Morales is also the president of the coca growers federation. During that conversation, Morales called the minister's cell phone to say that he had just announced—at a public event, not through the normal diplomatic channels—that he was declaring me persona non grata. The official notification arrived the following day.

Newsweek: The State Department talks about pursuing a positive agenda in the region. Has that agenda been damaged? Ambassador Goldberg: In Bolivia, certainly. Our main activities in the country are assistance programs, which have been demonized in many ways. They've targeted our alternative development programs in the Chapare region, where coca (the raw material of cocaine] is grown. They decided to virtually expel DEA without any kind of explanation. These are not cooperative gestures.

Newsweek: I see you have been described as the former ambassador to Bolivia. Is this final or do you hope to go back to La Paz? Ambassador Goldberg: I'm not going back. I am the former ambassador to Bolivia.

Hugo the Gladiator Also Wants Attention

The first thing that caught my eyes this morning was news of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela ordering the US ambassador Patrick Duddy to leave Caracas within 72 hours. It would be interesting to know if the the foreign ministry's official notice would be as colorful as their president's public rhetoric. The darn thing is - he's kicking Ambassador Duddy out of Venezuela and the guy is not even in country! I just hate it that folks don't know how to properly expel diplomats anymore. Excuse me, I have to say something loud to his ears here :: Hugo, dear, the next time you expel somebody, make sure the guy is in town so you can publicly drive him out of town. Because that's what gives flavor to this exercise, you twit! And please - listen to your professional diplomats in the ministry, they know how these things are done:: Ok, done with the loud part. * * * Chávez is alleging an American-sponsored coup plot by his military officers but elsewhere has explained his action as taken in solidarity with Evo Knievel's moves in Bolivia. And oh yes, he never did like Ambassador Duddy's ties. I'm sure other reasons will be announced later based on polling numbers, stay tune. What Hugo the Gladiator really wants is attention, big attention in the international arena. He waded into the puddle earlier this year with Ecuador and Colombia, and got miles of press. If Georgia and South Ossetia were not in the other side of the world, he would have jumped up and down on that too (he's hosting the Russians; he's catching up). I don't think he does his antics because his whole ambition in life is to be a pesky fly. I think the real reason has more to do with political self-preservation and expediency. By taking away his people's attention from the real ball, he could be entertaining in the "man of the people" kind of way. His fiery rhetoric provides entertainment in the great Venezuelan coliseum of political theater. And who can blame him? Hugo the Gladiator is a great practitioner of the politics of detraction. With municipal and regional elections coming soon in November, who wants to talk about the country's violent crimes and 30% inflation (the highest in Latin America). Or how about that suitcase with $800,000 discovered in Buenos Aires, allegedly a clandestine payment from Caracas to help Argentina's president, Cristina Kirchner, win an election last year? So, instead he talks about American sponsored coups, paper-kicks the American Ambassador out, delivers some fiery speeches against the "empire," and hope that he has provided enough fodder to get him by until after the next election. What I have yet to figure out is whether he exported his Detraction Doctrine to our shores this year (moose, lipstick, pigs, stinky fish, blah, blah, blah) or if we are simply looking at a copycat.

Bolivian Melt-down

U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, Philip Goldberg, had just been declared persona non grata by the Bolivian Government under Evo Morales. The ambassador, a career member of the Foreign Service has been in Bolivia since 2006. Being PNG'ed means he will be expelled out of the country probably within the next 48-72 hours but I won't be surprised if Evo Knievel will order him out of there by sundown tomorrow. While the mainstream media has been pre-occupied with lipstick and pigs and stinky fish, and as Russia thumbs its nose on us with its military exercise with Venezuela in our neighborhood, another melt-down is threatening to happen, this time in the western hemisphere. Apparently armed clashes and protests against the Morales Government has been steadily escalating. Some people have reportedly died. So on Wednesday, Evo Knievel blamed it all on who else but Ambassador Goldberg. "The ambassador of the United States is conspiring against democracy and wants Bolivia to break apart," said Morales, who took power in 2006. Huh? It seems to me that Old Bob in Zimbabwe had used an excuse along that line when things got really hot there earlier this year. Must be part of the playbook they all learned somewhere. Scare folks with the big, bad wolf. What good is a super power if you can't blame it for everything that ails you, hmmn? I'd like to know who wrote that playbook because frankly, it's getting old. Bloomberg reports: "A deterioration of ties with South America's poorest country may weaken U.S. support for renewing trade preferences for Bolivian imports. It could also undermine U.S. efforts to reduce cultivation of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine. Bolivia is the world's third-biggest producer of coca, after Colombia and Peru." Now, that last part is not good. The ball is in Foggy Bottom's court now. There should be some fireworks, remember Belarus? My sympathy to Ambassador Goldberg. Do doubt it's a bummer - not just getting yanked out of work but being unable to say proper goodbyes to friends in La Paz (not to mention 7200 lbs of household stuff that must be packed). But this is part of diplomatic life; things will go on at the embassy and his number 2 person will quickly assume chief of mission responsibilities. His official bio indicates that he served from January-June 2001 as acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs. He came to that position after having been a senior member of the State Department team handling the transition from the Clinton to Bush Administrations.

Mr. Goldberg also served as Special Assistant (1996-1998) and then Executive Assistant (1998-2000) to the Deputy Secretary of State. From 1994-1996 Mr. Goldberg was the Department’s Bosnia Desk Officer and a Special Assistant to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. In the latter capacity, he was a member of the American negotiating team in the lead-up to the Dayton Peace Conference and Chief of Staff for the American Delegation at Dayton.

Mr. Goldberg has served overseas as a consular and political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, and political-economic officer in Pretoria, South Africa.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Goldberg worked for several years as a liaison officer between the City of New York and the United Nations and consular community. Mr. Goldberg is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Boston University.