The solution to the Ecuador-Argentina impasse will require high-level intervention

The declaration of ‘ Persona Non Grata ‘ to the Argentine ambassador in Ecuador, Gabriel Fuks, does not mean the rupture of relations between Ecuador and Argentina. But for both nations to send their ambassadors again will require a high – level agreement. 

On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 15, 2023, Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguín appeared before the Oversight Commission of the National Assembly.

The relationship between the countries became tense after the escape of the former public official, María de los Ángeles Duarte, who was sentenced to prison for the crime of bribery in the Bribes Case. 

The last thing that is known is that Duarte left the Argentine Embassy in Quito over the weekend. There is confirmation that she is in Venezuela.

Yesterday morning, Wednesday March 15, 2023, the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Juan Carlos Holguín, said in an interview with Ecuavisa, that the statements of the Argentine ambassador on the escape of the former correísta minister were contradictory.   

Among these contradictions, he cited the fact that, in the first instance, he made sure that there are no surveillance cameras. According to Holguín, he later pointed out that they were damaged and, finally, that the videos could not be delivered.  

After Ecuador’s decision to declare the Argentine Ambassador Non Grato, that country, as required by international diplomacy, according to experts, also requested that Ecuador’s diplomatic delegate in Argentina leave that territory. 

Holguín said this March 15, 2023 in the Oversight Commission of the Assembly that he received a call last Monday at 5:29 p.m. to inform them of the escape. In addition, he explained that the declaration of “Non Grato” is based on the fact that the ambassador does not have the confidence of Ecuador. 

How to solve the impasse? 

International Law professor at San Francisco University, Juan Pablo Albán, says that high -level intervention is required to reach an agreement. In other words, a rapprochement is needed between Heads of State or their Foreign Ministers. 

The former vice chancellor, Marcelo Fernández de Córdova, agrees with Albán and adds that both countries must agree to this initiative. However, it is not an easy step. He emphasizes that this type of rapprochement generally occurs with changes in governments. 

What is clear to Fernández de Córdova is that relations between the two countries will not be affected. 

What will happen, he explains, is that a lower-ranking official, for example, a charge d’affaires, will be the one who carries out relations between the two nations.

From their perspective, the conflict should not escalate further. He mentions that the next step would be to break diplomatic relations. But he doesn’t see that scenario as possible.  

Albán explains that this already requires another process. That would imply that both States reach the conclusion that they do not want to maintain said relations. “This can be triggered by one of the two, but for this the country that has no interest in maintaining relations must notify the other.”     

Yesterday, March 15, Holguín announced that Ecuador is not thinking at this moment of sending an ambassador again. For its part, the Argentine government says in its statement that “it will always be willing to enter into dialogue with the Ecuadorian authorities to find mutually acceptable responses to this situation.” 

An antecedent 

The United States Ambassador, Heather Hodges, was the last diplomat deemed impolite. This occurred in April 2011, during the government of former President Rafael Correa.  

The decision was made after some statements by the diplomat that had to do with a leak from the WikiLeakes portal, in which alleged cases of corruption in the Ecuadorian Police were mentioned.  

The impasse lasted a little over a year. Replacing Hodges, Ambassador Adam Namm arrived in Ecuador.