QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador declared Cuba’s ambassador, Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez, and his diplomatic staff “persona non grata” on Wednesday and gave them 48 hours to leave the South American country.
Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the measure was adopted within the framework of international diplomatic law, but didn’t say why they were forcing the diplomats to leave. The Vienna Convention allows countries to declare diplomatic personnel a persona non grata without explanation.
Shortly after the announcement, a man could be seen on the roof of the Cuban Embassy in Quito burning a bag of papers in a oven. The burning was witnessed by the Associated Press and later posted in a video on social media by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who remarked bluntly: “A paper barbecue.”
Ecuadorian officials did not provide more details on the incident or identify the man.
Cuba’s government strongly rejected the move in a statement on Wednesday night, calling it an “unfriendly and unprecedented act that significantly damages the historic relations of friendship and cooperation between both countries.”
“This action also demonstrates the contempt of the current government of Ecuador for the diplomatic practices and courtesies observed by the international community,” wrote Cuba’s Foreign Ministry.
The decision follows an executive order signed Tuesday by Noboa in which he canceled Ecuadorian ambassador to Cuba José María Borja’s diplomatic duties, also without explanation.
The same day, the United States and Ecuador announced they have begun joint military operations against organized crime groups in the Andean nation. Noboa has sought to position himself as a tough-on-crime leader in the wake of a surge of armed group violence in recent years.
The measure comes amid mounting pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump on Cuba, which intensified after a U.S. military operation deposed former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Since, Trump has placed restrictions of oil sales to Cuba and said the government was “ready to fall.” Ecuador is one of the Trump administration’s allies and collaborators in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime in the region.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said Wednesday in a post on X that it seemed like “no coincidence” that Ecuador expelled Cuba’s diplomatic staff at the same time the U.S. was asserting pressure on Cuba and other governments in the region, and ahead of a meeting of mostly right-wing Latin American leaders in Miami next week, which Noboa is slated to attend.
Ecuador and Cuba have maintained bilateral relations since 1960, which have ebbed and flowed with shifts in Ecuadorian politics.
The Wednesday decision has an “ideological component,” said Andrea Endara, coordinator of Political Science and International Relations at Casa Grande University. She said that Noboa “has aligned himself with the interests of the United States.”
The effective expulsion of the Cuban officials follows a number of diplomatic dramas between Ecuador and other Latin American nations in recent years. In 2024, Ecuadorian officials raided the Mexican embassy to arrest the former vice president taking shelter there. Experts said this was a blatant violation of international law, causing Mexico to cut off relations.
More recently, a trade war has broken out between Ecuador and neighboring Colombia, which Noboa’s government accused of not doing enough to crack down on crime on their shared border.
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