Cuba condemns expulsion of diplomatic mission by Ecuador

The Cuban government reacted this Wednesday (4) to Ecuador’s decision to expel the island’s entire diplomatic corps in Quito and classified the measure as “arbitrary and unjustified”.

In an official statement, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the decision announced by Daniel Noboa’s government represents an “unfriendly and unprecedented” act and harms the historic relations of cooperation between the two countries.

The expulsion was communicated through a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, which declared Cuban ambassador Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez García and all the diplomatic, consular and administrative staff of the mission in the country persona non grata.

Quito granted 48 hours for diplomats to leave Ecuadorian territory.

The Ecuadorian government reported that the measure was adopted based on article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows a State to declare foreign diplomats persona non grata. Authorities, however, did not publicly detail the reasons for the decision.

Havana stated that the Cuban embassy staff in Quito “strictly” complied with Ecuadorian laws and regulations and did not interfere in the country’s internal affairs, as required by the 1961 Vienna Convention.

In the statement, the Cuban Foreign Ministry also associated the decision with the context of pressure exerted by the United States on governments in the region to adopt hostile positions against the island.

According to Havana, the measure was announced just days before a summit called in Miami for March 7, which will bring together a group of Latin American governments aligned with Washington’s foreign policy.