Ecuador Says Expelled U.S. Official Was CIA Operative

The U.S. Embassy official Ecuador kicked out this week on charges of meddling in national affairs was the head of the CIA in the drug-smuggling route country, President Rafael Correa said on Saturday.

But a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman declined to comment on Correa's account that the expelled official ran CIA operations in the Andean country, which is a crucial drug-smuggling route to drug gangs in neighboring Colombia and Peru.

Correa, a leftist ally of U.S. foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, expelled Mark Sullivan over charges he tried to handpick an officer heading a police unit partly financed by the United States.

"Lets speak bluntly; he was the head of the CIA in Ecuador," Correa said. "The U.S. Embassy was mad because they are used to handpicking police chiefs in exchange for a few computers."

Sullivan's expulsion came a bit over a week after Correa ordered another U.S. official to leave the country on similar charges, fueling tensions with Washington.

Correa has accused the CIA of having operatives inside his security forces, and aiding neighboring Colombian commandos raid a rebel camp inside Ecuador last year that raised the specter of war in the Andean region.

He said that as part of an unwritten agreement the U.S. embassy approved the naming of officers to head police units they financed.

The popular U.S.-educated economist had generally kept good ties with the United States even as his socialist allies in Bolivia and Venezuela clashed with Washington, including expelling U.S. ambassadors.

Still, Correa went on the offensive this month, declaring he would not bow to pressure from the United States and has now raised complications in establishing his relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2131245320090221

Ecuador Says Expelled U.S. Official Was CIA Operative

Ecuador Says Expelled U.S. Official Was CIA Operative

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