Exiled

Ecuador Ousts U.S. Envoy Over WikiLeaks

Ambassador's cable cited police corruption.

Julian Assange has claimed another victim: Ecuador asked U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges to leave the country following the release of a diplomatic cable by WikiLeaks on Monday. In the cable, Hodges suggests that President Rafael Correa knew about allegations of corruption against policeman Gen Jaime Aquilino Hurtado Vaca before he appointed him commander of the country’s police force. The cable said the U.S. Embassy had numerous reports that Vaca “used his position to extort bribes, facilitate human trafficking, misappropriate public funds, obstruct investigations and prosecutions of corrupt colleagues, and engage in other corrupt acts for personal enrichment.” Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said that the accusations against the president were false. The U.S. State Department called the decision to expel Ambassador Hodges “unjustified.”