Ecuador ejects US ambassador

Ecuador said yesterday it is expelling the US ambassador over a diplomatic cable divulged by WikiLeaks that accuses a newly retired police chief of a long history of corruption and speculates that President Rafael Correa was aware of it.

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announced Ambassador Heather Hodges' expulsion at a news conference.

He said the ambassador, called to his office the previous afternoon, had not explained what led her to suggest in the 2009 cable that Correa knew of "supposed acts of corruption by members of the police leadership and more specifically former commander Jaime Hurtado Vaca".