Chancellor defends appointments in the foreign service

Changes in diplomatic missions are moving forward. Recent officials appointed are Mariana Pico Alvear and Stephania Baldeón Montesdeoca. The first one was the executive secretary of former President Rafael Correa, from May 2008 to May 2017.

Whereas the second one was a leader of the collective Contigo Siempre Rafael, which promoted a referendum to allow the indefinite re-election of the then President.

Pico Alvear is the new consul in Brussels, Belgium, while Baldeón is the second secretary of the Ecuadorian Consulate in Los Angeles, US.

Chancellor Maria Fernanda Espinosa accepted the appointment of Pico and described her as “the most capable person to fulfill the consul’s work” in the European capital. And she said that Pico has four degrees in international relations. But she did not pronounce on Baldeon.

“The appointment of personnel abroad is the sole discretion of the President of the Republic, in the case of ambassadors; of the Chancellor in the case of the consular staff. As I say, we give high priority to staff with a diplomatic formation,” she said. (I)