From: Steven L. Robinson <srobin21@comcast.net>
Date: Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 11:11 AM
Subject: [bangla-vision] Ecuador to oust US ambassador over WikiLeaks spat
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Ecuador to oust US ambassador over WikiLeaks spat. Who's next?
Ecuador is expelling US Ambassador Heather Hodges over critical comments
in a WikiLeaks cable. Her ouster follows the resignation last month of
the US ambassador to Mexico over another controversial cable.
By Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer
Christian Science Monitor
April 6, 2011
Mexico City - WikiLeaks has claimed its second diplomatic victim in
Latin America, with Ecuador expelling its US ambassador over her
comments in a leaked cable, straining bilateral relations and casting a
shadow over US efforts in the region.
he ouster of Ambassador Heather Hodges follows the resignation last
month of the US ambassador to Mexico after another WikiLeaks cable
revealed him portraying Mexican security forces as deeply corrupt and
uncoordinated.
Ambassadorial relations have also been severed in recent years in
Venezuela and in Bolivia, where Drug Enforcement Agency officials were
also expelled. But the chance for confrontation has only grown amid
secret-spilling website WikiLeaks' dissemination of more than 250,000
confidential US diplomatic cables.
While a falling domino affect on US ambassadors is unexpected, analysts
say that rough patches in bilateral relations across the region could
lie ahead.
"It will give a good excuse for any politician who aspires to make the
US a punching bag to be able to do it," says Christopher Sabatini,
editor-in-chief of the policy journal Americas Quarterly, published by
the Council of the Americas, in New York. "It gives them more fodder."
Persona non grata
The flare-up in Ecuador came after a July 2009 cable, published Monday
by the Madrid newspaper El País but not yet unveiled on WikiLeaks.ch,
discussed corruption at the highest ranks among the police.
"Corruption among Ecuadorian national police officers is widespread and
well-known," Ambassador Hodges comments in the cable, saying that
corruption becomes "more pronounced at higher levels of power." Perhaps
most controversial, the cable revealed that some suspect President
Rafael Correa was aware of the problems.
Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said Tuesday that Hodges
failed to adequately explain her allegations.
"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.
Ecuador emphasized this decision is not a formal break in relations with
the US, but it will prove an obstacle moving forward.
"This decision is clearly a setback for US-Ecuador relations," says
Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.
"Declaring the ambassador persona non grata and expelling her is a
serious matter and will likely have some costs for the bilateral
relationship." Another mess in Mexico
WikiLeaks cables have complicated the efforts of American diplomacy
around the globe. They could provide a key test in Latin America, where
the role of the US has changed dramatically in the past decade.
The reactions to cables have thus far depended on the reality in each
country. While Ecuador reacted strongly to the WikiLeaks cables,
Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, for one, handled a
cable questioning her mental health with restraint.
In Mexico, meanwhile, Carlos Pascual on March 19 announced his
resignation as ambassador after he butted heads with Mexican President
Felipe Calderón over his military-run strategy to counter drug crime, a
strategy that has cost more than 35,500 lives since Mr. Calderón took
office in late 2006.
Mr. Sabatini says the case shows how crucial the US considers its
partnership with Mexico in fighting drug trafficking. Washington's
diplomatic gaps
To be sure, the US retains strong relations with many countries in the
region. President Barack Obama reaffirmed ties with Chile and Brazil
during a tour of South America in early March.
But Washington is now contending with several diplomatic holes. For some
observers, this is the fault of left-leaning leaders provoking the US.
For others, it is the fault Washington not knowing how to engage the
region, particularly those countries led by leftists.
"It shows the problems and limits of the Obama administration's
engagement strategy toward governments like Ecuador's that had not been
too friendly to Washington," says Mr. Shifter. "It will strengthen
skeptics of that strategy in Washington."
It also underlines once again how the US role in Latin America has
waned, says Riordan Roett, director of the Latin American Studies
Program at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
"It demonstrates that the US no longer occupies a hegemonic position in
the region. Decades ago [countries] would be afraid to expel an
ambassador," he says. "There is heightened willingness of small
governments to take a stand against the US without fearing reprisals."
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0406/Ecuador-to-oust-US-ambassador-over-WikiLeaks-spat.-Who-s-next
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