WikiLeaks' Quito cables lay US interference bare | Green Left Weekly
WikiLeaks' Quito cables lay US interference bare | GLW
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’s increasing rejection of US hegemony.
The government of Rafael Correa, first elected president in 2006, has
embraced regional integration, moving closer to its neighbours ― in
particular Venezuela and Bolivia ― 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.
Correa’s government also challenged US imperialism by closing the US
forward operating base on Ecuadorian territory at Manta and granting
political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
In another sign of waning US influence, US Agency for International
Development (USAID) announced in May that it was leaving Ecuador.
Protesters defy tear gas in the uprising that
overthrew the corporate-friendly government of Lucio Gutierrez in 2005.
The US embassy's 'best efforts' were not enough to save his
administration.
