QUITO, Ecuador — Cuban embassy personnel departed Ecuador on Friday following the expiration of a 48-hour ultimatum issued by President Daniel Noboa’s administration demanding their immediate exit from the country.
Embassy workers lowered the Cuban flag from their diplomatic facility in northern Quito before their departure.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry issued a Friday statement announcing the complete closure of embassy operations in Quito while expressing disappointment over what it called “the unilateral and unfriendly action” taken by Ecuador’s leadership.
The South American nation on Wednesday branded Cuban Ambassador Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez and his entire diplomatic team as unwelcome individuals, ordering their departure within two days.
Following the expulsion announcement, witnesses observed someone on the embassy rooftop destroying documents by fire in what appeared to be an oven. The Associated Press captured the incident, which President Noboa later shared on social media with the comment: “A paper barbecue.”
Ecuador’s foreign affairs department stated the expulsion followed established international diplomatic protocols but provided no explanation for forcing the departure. Under the Vienna Convention, nations may remove diplomatic personnel without justification.
This diplomatic breakdown comes just before President Trump’s scheduled Florida meeting with multiple conservative Latin American officials, including Noboa. The timing coincides with heightened U.S. sanctions against countries conducting oil trade with Cuba, which Trump recently labeled a “failed nation,” and follows rising tensions after the January 3rd U.S. military capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a close Cuban partner, in Caracas.
