After more than 50 years in Ecuador, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) last month. The Ecuadorian government said USAID has been asked to leave Ecuador, while a US Embassy official .
Quito cables
Cables from the first term of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa show how the US sought to defend the interests of US companies in Ecuador, and protect the position of foreign investors in general. Moves against the power of transnational corporations by Correa's government, first elected in 2006, were seen as attempts to increase control over the economy, which the US government views as the domain of private interests. The US Embassy in Quito therefore tried to influence Ecuadorian economic policy in conjunction with allies from other embassies and from within the private sector.
Cables sent from the US Embassy in Quito during Rafael Correa鈥檚 first three years as president document rising tensions between Ecuador and the US.
Correa鈥檚 government, first elected in 2006, increasingly rejected US hegemony and asserted control over Ecuador鈥檚 economic and political development.
The cables highlight the embassy鈥檚 preoccupation with Ecuador鈥檚 鈥渄ifficult investment climate鈥, with many reports attempting to assess and predict Correa鈥檚 economic policies.
In the months leading up to Ecuador鈥檚 October 2006 presidential election, the US Embassy in Quito claimed to be impartial.
Rather than supporting one particular candidate, then-US ambassador the embassy only wanted to help facilitate 鈥渁 fair and transparent electoral process鈥.
Ecuador's pro-US neoliberal president Lucio Gutierrez was ousted in 2005. Since then, relations between Ecuador and the United States have deteriorated, with the Andean nation鈥檚 increasing rejection of US hegemony.
The government of Rafael Correa, first elected in 2006, has broken from the neoliberal doctrines Washington has imposed on Latin America. It has embraced regional integration, moving closer to its neighbours and further away from the US.
Diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks show how hard the US fought to control Ecuador's future post-Gutierrez.
Since Ecuador's president Lucio Gutierrez was ousted from power in 2005, relations between Ecuador and the United States have deteriorated with the Andean nation鈥檚 increasing rejection of US hegemony.
The government of Rafael Correa, first elected president in 2006, has embraced regional integration, moving closer to its neighbours 鈥 in particular Venezuela and Bolivia 鈥 and further away from the US.
Economically, the Correa administration has pursued policies that break with the neoliberal doctrines Washington had imposed on Latin America.