Ecuador's principal foreign-policy objectives have traditionally included defense of its territory from both external aggression and internal subversion as well as support for the objectives of the UN and the OAS. Although Ecuador's foreign relations were traditionally centered on the United States, Ecuador's membership in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the 1970s and 1980s allowed Ecuadorian leaders to exercise somewhat greater foreign policy autonomy. Ecuador's foreign policy goals under the Borja government in the late 1980s were more diversified than those of the Febres Cordero administration, which closely identified with the United States. For example, Ecuador was more active in its relations with the Third World, multilateral organizations, Western Europe, and socialist countries.[2]
Ecuador has offered humanitarianian aid to many countries, is a supporter of the United Nations, and currently contributes troops to the UN mission in Haiti. Ecuador has also been an elective member of the UN Security Council.
In Antarctica, Ecuador has maintained a peaceful research station for scientific study in the British-claimed territory and is a member nation of the Antarctica Treaty.
The presidency of Rafael Correa in the early 21st century saw a radical change in the country's foreign policy. Traditional ties with the United States grew more acrimonious and there were increased ties with the governments of Russia and Iran.[3] The relations with the United States, however, improved significantly during the presidency of his successor Lenin Moreno since 2017.[4]
List
List of countries which Ecuador maintains diplomatic relations with:
Formal relations started on 1980-01-02 and seven months later China set up its embassy in Ecuador. In July 1981, Ecuador set up its embassy in China. Sino-Ecuadorian relations have been advancing smoothly. The two sides maintain high-level political contacts and exchanges in trade, economic progress, science, technology, culture and education. In international affairs, the two countries understand and support each other.
In September 2012, the two nations signed a Commercial and Security Agreement to allow Ecuador to sell easily seafood, cocoa and bananas in China, with the Chinese agreeing to ease tariffs on further food items. In the same period China established an $80 million line of credit for Ecuador with the EximBank to help Ecuador build a road to the re-sited Quito airport.[101]
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa withdrew his government's ambassador in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered troops to the country's border following a Colombian raid against leftist rebels inside Ecuador March 2, 2008.[102] The Colombian director of national police claimed three captured computers from the deceased FARC rebel leader Raúl Reyes document "tremendously revealing" and "very grave" links between Ecuador and Colombian rebels.March 2, 2008.[103]
However, Colombia's actions were condemned across the board by all South American nations, with only the US supporting Colombia. For example, Brazil's foreign minister, Celso Amorim, condemned the Colombian incursion into Ecuador.[103]
Furthermore, he suggested that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez recently gave the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia $300 million.[103] Ecuador's president Rafael Correa said March 3, 2008, that a deal to release political prisoners—including former Colombian Sen. Ingrid Betancourt—was nearly complete before the March 1, 2008, Colombian raid into his country.[103] Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on March 5, 2008, called the announced movement of Colombian forces in Ecuador a "war crime," and joined Ecuador's president Rafael Correa in demanding international condemnation of the cross-border attack.[1] The presidents of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador March 7, 2008, signed a declaration to end a crisis sparked when Colombian troops killed a rebel leader and 21 others inside Ecuadoran territory (2008 Andean diplomatic crisis).[104] In January 2021, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno and Colombian President Ivan Duque made a joint statement on the good relations of the two countries.[105]
On November 16, 2008, the Foreign Minister of Ecuador Maria Isabel Salvador met her counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee, with a close relationship in oil and defence between these geographically distant countries high on the agenda. On the oil front, the new government in Ecuador has reversed the earlier revenue-sharing arrangements with western oil companies and is now keen on striking new partnerships with state-owned ONGC Videsh of India.
In the defence sector, Ecuador became the first country to sign a contract for purchasing the Indian-made Dhruv helicopters, of which one will be for use by its president. The embassy has expanded its setup with the appointment of a Military Attache and prospects appear bright for more defence exports as Ecuador has agreed to be the servicing hub in South America for Indian defence equipment.[108]
Ecuador has maintained trade relations with Iran. In December 2008, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili visited Ecuador. Alongside president Rafael Correa he called for greater "South–South" co-operation, a term denoting greater exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between the global South.[109] Iranian president Ahmadinejad also attended the inauguration of President Correa in January 2007.[110]
The Paquisha War was a brief military clash that took place between January and February 1981 between Ecuador and Peru over the control of three watchposts. Since the 1990s, Ecuadoran foreign policy has been focused on the country's border dispute with Peru, an issue that has festered since independence. The boundary dispute led to the Cenepa War between Ecuador and Peru in early 1995; after a peace agreement brokered by the four Guarantors of the Rio Protocol (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the United States), the Military Observers Mission to Ecuador-Peru (MOMEP) was set up to monitor the zone.
In 1998, Presidents Jamil Mahuad of Ecuador and Alberto Fujimori of Peru signed a comprehensive settlement over control of the disputed zone.
Relations between the United Kingdom and Ecuador were traditionally regarded as "low-key but cordial", especially before the election of Rafael Correa; the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited the country in 2009, as part of a tour celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Darwin. President Correa visited London in the same year, speaking mostly in English at the London School of Economics about the changes his government was making.[123]
In 2012, relations became strained when Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks website, entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London and sought asylum. Assange had lost legal appeals against his extradition to Sweden where he was wanted for questioning about alleged sexual assault and rape, but while within the embassy he was on diplomatic territory and beyond the reach of the British police.[124] The United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office delivered a note to the Ecuadorian government in Quito reminding them of the provisions of the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 which allow the British government to withdraw recognition of diplomatic protection from embassies; the move was interpreted as a hostile act by Ecuador, with Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño stating that this "explicit threat" would be met with "appropriate responses in accordance with international law".[125] Assange was granted diplomatic asylum on August 16, 2012, with Foreign Minister Patiño stating that Assange's fears of political persecution were "legitimate".[126] Finally, President Lenín Moreno revoked Assange's asylum in April 2019. In reaction, the British Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, thanked Moreno for his cooperation to "ensure Assange faces justice".[127]
The United States and Ecuador used to maintain close ties based on mutual interests in maintaining democratic institutions; combating cannabis and cocaine; building trade, investment, and financial ties; cooperating in fostering Ecuador's economic development; and participating in inter-American organizations. Ties were further strengthened by the presence of an estimated 150,000–200,000 Ecuadorians living in the United States and by 24,000 U.S. citizens visiting Ecuador annually, and by approximately 15,000 U.S. citizens residing in Ecuador. The United States assisted Ecuador's economic development directly through the Agency for International Development (USAID) program in Ecuador and through multilateral organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. In addition, the U.S. Peace Corps operates a sizable program in Ecuador. More than 100 U.S. companies are doing business in Ecuador. The relations deteriorated greatly during the presidency of Rafael Correa since 2007 until 2017. The relations, however, improved significantly during the presidency of Lenin Moreno since 2017. In February 2020, his visit to Washington was the first meeting between an Ecuadorian and U.S. president in 17 years.[4]
Ecuador has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and several consulates throughout the country.
United States has an embassy in Quito and a consulate in Guayaquil.
After the dissolution of the Gran Colombia, Ecuador named Don Pedro Gual as plenipotentiary minister with the main task of resolving the debt acquired while part of the Gran Colombia union as well as to establish diplomatic relations with the New Granada and Venezuela. On August 4, 1852, Venezuela sent a diplomatic delegation in Quito and named José Julián Ponce as finance administrator.
The relations remained cordial and entered into a second period between 1910 and 1963 with two diplomatic incidents occurring in 1928 and 1955. Ecuador and Venezuela strengthened ties in politics, diplomacy and military.
During the presidency of Lenin Moreno since 2017, Ecuador broke diplomatic relations with Venezuela. Ecuador did not any more recognize the regime of Nicholas Maduro. Instead, Ecuador recognized and supported opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Interim President of Venezuela.[128][129]
^Libro amarillo correspondiente al año ...: presentado al Congreso Nacional en sus sesiones ordinarias de ... por el titular despacho (in Spanish). Venezuela. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 2003. pp. 528–529.
^Gutiérrez, José Rosendo (1869). Colección de los tratados i convenciones celebrados por la República de Bolivia con los Estados estranjeros (in Spanish). El Independiente. p. 28.
^Informe del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores al Congreso Ordinario de ... (in Spanish). Ecuador. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 1928. p. 107. ... Suecia de esta- blecer la representación diplomática permanen- te de ese país en el Ecuador , en 21 de Septiem- bre de 1931 presentó el Excelentísimo Señor Einar Modig las Cartas Credenciales ...
^Dyplomacja polska w XX wieku. Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie. 2006. pp. 126–132.
^Informe a la nación del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores Part 1 (in Spanish). Ecuador. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 1948. p. 373. El 27 de junio de 1947, los Representantes diplomaticos de las Republicas del Ecuador y de Austria en Washington, suscribieron un Protocolo, por el que ambos Gobiernos convinieron formalmente en reanudar sus relaciones diplomaticas ...
^"Países" (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 2, 2022.
^James Dunkerley, Michael Partridge, Paul Preston (2005). British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: Latin America, 1952. LexisNexis. p. 301.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Informe a la nación que presenta el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (in Spanish). Ecuador. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 1949. p. 12.
^Informe a la nación del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores. Ecuador. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Imprenta del Ministerio de Gobierno, 1966. p. 259.
^Informe a la nación del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores (in Spanish). Ecuador. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 1966. p. 106.
^Documentos revista de información política · Issues 30-31 (in Spanish). Universidad Central de Venezuela. Instituto de Estudios Políticos. 1967. p. 490.
^Informe a la nación del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores. Ecuador. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 1970. p. 27.
^Foreign Assistance and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1972 Hearings ... 92d Congress, 1st Session. United States. Congress. House. Appropriations. 1971. p. 839.