The 48-hour deadline set by the Executive for the departure of Cuban Ambassador to this nation, Basilio Gutierrez, and 20 other officials accredited in Quito expires this Friday.

The measure was announced on March 4 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, which declared Gutierrez and the members of the diplomatic, consular, and administrative staff of the mission as persona non grata.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry indicated that the decision is based on Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows a State to withdraw recognition of foreign diplomats at any time.

President Noboa, in parallel, ordered the return of Ecuador’s Ambassador to Cuba, Jose Maria Borja, who had held the post since 2021.

Although the Executive did not formally announce a break in relations, the expulsion of the diplomatic staff and the withdrawal of its representative from the Caribbean nation effectively froze political ties between the two countries.

The Ecuadorian Government has also not publicly detailed the reasons for the decision.

Noboa referred, in a subsequent radio interview, to a video circulating on social media showing a person destroying documents on the roof of the Cuban Embassy in Quito.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry rejected the expulsion, calling the measure “arbitrary and unjustified.”

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