Report: Ecuador Demands U.S. Ambassador Leave Country Over WikiLeaks Cable
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this Sept. 23, 2008, file photo, U.S. ambassador to Ecuador Heather Hodges, right, speaks with Juan Carlos Toledo, consul general of the Ecuadorian consulate in Miami, by a display of pre-Columbian artifacts after a news conference at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Miami Field Office in North Miami Beach, Fla. (AP)
Ecuador is reportedly demanding the U.S. ambassador to the country leave Tuesday over a WikiLeaks cable reporting alleged police corruption.
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino wants U.S. ambassador Heather Hodges to leave the South American nation after he told reporters he did not receive a satisfactory explanation about cables signed by her office, Reuters reports.
"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 told Reuters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The decision did not mean Ecuador was breaking off relations with the U.S., Patino told Reuters.
This latest flap comes a month after the U.S. ambassador Mexico resigned over a WikiLeaks cable criticizing the way Mexico battled drug cartels.