U.S. cancels $ 32 million aid to Ecuador

After a long dispute with President Rafael Correa, the United states decided to cancel the aid programs they had with Ecuador that would have reached the sum of $ 32 million.

“Our programs for the upcoming years would have allowed us to partner with Ecuadorians to meet their own development goals in critical areas”, said the Agency for International Development (USAID) in a letter to Ecuador on December 12.

During 2013 Ecuador renounced the commercial benefits it had with the northern country since 1999 and in his years in office, Correa has expressed his dissatisfaction with the U.S. government allegedly being involved in attempts to sabotage his administration.

Reuters said in a statement that Correa also irritated the U.S. government after several acts such as the expulsion of their ambassador in Quito and the threat of expulsion to the USAID .

Meanwhile the U.S. State Department informed the USAID that they could not continue their functions in Ecuador because of the absence of a bilateral agreement.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Quito said that USAID had begun to incur in significant costs for four recent projects focused on environmental protection and the strengthening of civil society.