Ecuador conditions Peruvian ambassador’s return

Rafael Correa defends Rodrigo Riofrio

The Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said if its ambassador in Peru, Rodrigo Riofrio, is recalled for consultations for being involved in a messy scandal, he will not return to Lima as a representative of the country, and he will not let the Peruvian ambassador return to Quito.

“We will defend the truth” and “if the ambassador Rodrigo Riofrio cannot return to Lima, with heartache, the Peruvian ambassador, Javier Leon, will not return to Quito,” he said.

The Ecuadorian president said Riofrio was assaulted in a confusing incident in a supermarket in Lima, where he struggled with two women, which led to the denounce of the Peruvian Cristina Castro to her country media that she and her daughter were struck by the diplomat, but President Correa said that the evidence, in videos and a police certifications state that Riofrio fended off the attack.

The president criticized certain “yellow journalism” that has magnified the incident and reiterated that relations with Peru are wonderful and would prefer to resign rather than “sacrifice an innocent“.