Ecuador orders US military group to leave

Ecuador has ordered the US Embassy's military group, about 20 Defense Department employees, to leave the country by month's end, in a further indication of strained relations.
The group was ordered to halt operations in Ecuador in a letter dated April 7, the US Embassy confirmed yesterday. Late yesterday afternoon, Ecuador's embassy in Washington issued a statement saying the "scaling back" of the US military presence reflected the country's "improved political stability" and "increased internal security and defense capacities."
The shuttering of the US Embassy's "Security Cooperation Office" was first reported by The Associated Press overnight after it was alerted by a senior Ecuadorean official. That official refused to be identified by name due to the information's sensitive nature.

The closing of the military group office does not affect the US military attache's office, the US Southern Command and the Ecuadorean statement said. As there is no accusation of espionage, US reciprocation is not anticipated.
In January, President Rafael Correa publicly complained that Washington had too many military officers in Ecuador, claiming there were 50, and said they had been "infiltrated in all sectors."
At the time, he said he planned to order some to leave. Correa was in Spain yesterday, headed later to Italy, and made no public comment about the issue. Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino also was in Europe, a ministry official said, saying only Patino could comment.

Shortly after taking office in 2007, Correa purged Ecuador's military of officers deemed to have close relations with US counterparts. He also ended an agreement with Washington that allowed US drug interdiction flights to be based at the Ecuadorean airfield in Manta.
US Embassy spokesman Jeffrey Weinshenker told the AP on Thursday that the military group being expelled has 20 Defense Department employees, not all uniformed.
Weinshenker said Washington provided USD 7 million in security assistance to Ecuador last year. Building relationships with counterparts in partner nations' militaries is a big part of such missions, particularly as US commercial influence ebbs in the region. Ecuador, an OPEC member, has leaned on China in recent years for financial support.