Ecuadorian president speaks about Cuba without details regarding expulsion of diplomats
- Written by Redacción ¡ahora!
- Published in Cuba
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Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa addressed the decision to expel Cuban diplomatic personnel from the country in a radio interview today, though he did not provide specific details about the reasons for the decision.
The president spoke specifically about the burning of documents at the Cuban embassy in Quito, images of which circulated on social media yesterday, and which the president himself even shared.
Although this is considered a common practice after the closure of a diplomatic mission, as stipulated in international law, Noboa told Radio Canela that he doesn’t think it’s “anything positive if they were burning papers on the roof.”
“I didn’t know that part of the Cuban diet was paperwork. Let’s be clear: all diplomatic documents can leave in a diplomatic pouch,” the head of state commented in an interview this Thursday with Radio Canela, where he questioned the contents of the documents.
The Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility announced the previous day that, in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, it was declaring Cuban Ambassador Basilio Gutiérrez, as well as the members of the diplomatic, consular, and administrative staff of that mission, persona non grata.
The Cuban government rejected the decision “in the strongest terms,” calling it “arbitrary and unjustified.” In a statement, the Cuban Foreign Ministry questioned Quito’s decision to demand the departure of the Cuban Embassy staff “without providing any justification.”
“It seems no coincidence that this decision was made in a context characterized by the intensification of US aggression against Cuba and the strong pressure exerted by the U.S. government on third countries to join this policy, just days before the Summit convened in Miami,” the statement added.
This Thursday, the Cuban embassy, located in the north of the capital, awoke to a calm atmosphere, with the usual police presence, a few reporters nearby, and people who approached, concerned about the continuation of consular procedures.
Following a demonstration held the previous day in support of the island, solidarity groups called for another gathering this afternoon to express their rejection of the Ecuadorian government’s decision.[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
