Cuba closed its embassy in Ecuador’s capital Quito after being given 48 hours to remove its diplomats.
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known by its acronym Minrex, criticized the decision to expel the diplomat in a communiqué released Friday, calling the 48-hour deadline unfair.
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“The Cuban government deeply regrets the unilateral and unfriendly actions of the Ecuadorian government, which undermine the spirit of respect and cooperation that has historically characterized bilateral relations between our two countries,” the statement said.
The communiqué confirmed that the Quito embassy ceased operations at 10:00 a.m. local time (15:00 p.m. Japan time).
The closure marks an abrupt break in diplomatic ties between Cuba and Ecuador, as right-wing President Daniel Novoa takes a hard line against the region’s leftist governments.
On Wednesday, the Noboa government declared in a letter to the Cuban embassy that all Cuban diplomats and consular staff are persona non grata in Ecuador.
“The Ecuadorian government has given Cuban Ambassador Basilio Antonio Gutierrez García and his colleagues 48 hours to respond,” the letter said.
There was no explanation given for the sudden request.
Increased pressure on Cuba
However, the Cuban government was furious at the request, but eventually complied.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticized the Noboa government on social media, but added that Ecuadorians can “always count on Cuba’s love and support.”
“We reject the unwarranted, hostile and unfriendly actions of the Ecuadorian government against our diplomatic mission accredited to Ecuador,” Díaz-Canel wrote.
“This unprecedented action undermines the historic friendship and cooperation between our peoples.”
He added that despite Ecuador’s “clear policy of following imperial interests,” Cuba would continue to rally to “preserve the unity of Latin America.”
The remark appeared to be a reference to the strained relationship between Noboa and US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed a desire to see the fall of Cuba’s communist regime.
Just this week, President Trump told news outlet CNN that he plans to focus on regime change in Havana after ending the current war with Iran.
“Cuba is going to collapse too. They really want a deal,” Trump told CNN host Dana Bash.
“We’re really focused on this issue right now,” he said of Iran. “We have plenty of time, but Cuba is ready.”
In late February, President Trump told reporters on the White House lawn that the United States could “eventually end up in a friendly occupation of Cuba,” although it was unclear what that would look like.
He also suggested that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American who has taken a hawkish stance toward the Havana government, would lead efforts to change the Caribbean island’s leadership.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Novoa develop a relationship.
Mr. Novoa has developed a close relationship with Mr. Trump. Just this week, it announced a joint operation with the U.S. government to fight cartels in Ecuador as part of the Trump administration’s growing anti-drug campaign.
And this weekend, Novoa, along with other Latin American right-wing leaders, will head to South Florida to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. They are calling this meeting the “Shield of the Americas” summit.
President Trump has already launched deadly military operations in several parts of Latin America and threatened further involvement in countries such as Mexico and Cuba.
Since September, the United States has conducted at least 44 airstrikes against boats and maritime vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean on suspicion of drug smuggling, but no official evidence has been produced to justify the claims.
In January, Trump also authorized an attack on Venezuela to kidnap then-leader Nicolas Maduro and transfer him to the United States on drug trafficking charges.
As part of his national security strategy, President Trump has argued that the United States should “restore American primacy in the Western Hemisphere.”
The U.S. State Department was more blunt in a social media post earlier this year: “This is our hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be compromised.”
Novoa mirrors some of President Trump’s policy stances as his country struggles with an increase in violent crime in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Like Trump, for example, he has repeatedly criticized Colombia’s left-wing government for not taking more aggressive action against illegal cocaine production within its borders.
In recent weeks, Mr. Noboa imposed a 50% tariff on Colombia, emulating Mr. Trump’s own use of import taxes to force compliance with his foreign policy goals.
isolation policy
Noboa’s decision this week to expel Cuban diplomats coincides with President Trump’s push to further isolate the Caribbean island from the rest of Latin America.
Since the January attack on Venezuela, President Trump has cut off the flow of oil and money between the governments in Caracas and Havana.
Then, on January 29, President Trump issued an executive order threatening to impose economic sanctions on countries that directly or indirectly supply oil to Cuba.
The policy, which critics have described as tantamount to an oil blockade, comes on top of a total embargo the United States has imposed on Cuba since the 1960s.
A Cold War-era embargo is believed to have weakened Cuba’s economy, and the United Nations has warned that the country could be on the brink of humanitarian “collapse” after the oil supplies that power Cuba’s power grid were cut off.
But the United States has justified the embargo as necessary to confront Cuba over human rights abuses. Democratic President Barack Obama sought to ease restrictions on Cuba in 2015, but President Trump reimposed them during his first term in 2017.
Noboa commemorated this week’s expulsion of Cuban diplomats from Ecuador with a short social media video showing embassy staff throwing documents into a rooftop incinerator.
He included a short comment on the video, describing the scene as a “parillada de papelles,” or document barbecue.
