Ecuador moved to expel Cuba’s top diplomats on Wednesday, ordering Cuba’s ambassador and his staff to leave the country within 48 hours after Quito declared them “persona non grata,” according to Ecuador’s foreign ministry and a report by the Associated Press.
Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the measure was adopted under international diplomatic law, the ministry said in a statement, but it did not say why the diplomats were being expelled. The announcement cited the Vienna Convention framework that allows countries to designate diplomats as “persona non grata” without providing an explanation.
Shortly after the foreign ministry’s announcement, an Associated Press reporter said a man could be seen on the roof of the Cuban Embassy in Quito burning a bag of papers in an oven. The burning was later posted in a video by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who remarked: “A paper barbecue.”
Ecuadorian officials did not provide additional details about the incident, and they did not identify the man seen burning the papers, the AP reported. Ecuador also had taken a separate diplomatic step earlier in the week: Noboa signed an executive order Tuesday canceling the diplomatic duties of Ecuador’s ambassador to Cuba, José María Borja, without explanation.
Cuba’s government rejected the expulsions in a statement late Wednesday, describing them as an “unfriendly and unprecedented act” that significantly harms Cuba’s “historic relations of friendship and cooperation” with Ecuador. Cuba’s Foreign Ministry also said the action showed “the contempt of the current government of Ecuador for the diplomatic practices and courtesies observed by the international community.”
The diplomatic escalation unfolded alongside other regional developments that Ecuador’s government has been linking to security priorities. On the same day the ambassador expulsion was announced, the United States and Ecuador said they had begun joint military operations against organized crime groups in Ecuador. Noboa has sought to portray himself as a tough-on-crime leader amid recent years of armed group violence.
Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, said in a post on X that it seemed like “no coincidence” that Ecuador expelled Cuba’s diplomatic staff as the United States increased pressure on Cuba, and as the U.S. asserted pressure on Cuba and other governments in the region. He also said the expulsion came ahead of a meeting in Miami next week of mostly right-wing Latin American leaders that Noboa was slated to attend.
In local political commentary, Andrea Endara, coordinator of Political Science and International Relations at Casa Grande University, told the AP that Wednesday’s decision had an “ideological component.” Endara said that Noboa “has aligned himself with the interests of the United States.”
Ecuador and Cuba have maintained bilateral relations since 1960, relations that have shifted with changes in Ecuadorian politics, the AP reported. The episode also followed what the AP described as a series of diplomatic disputes involving Ecuador and other Latin American governments in recent years, including a 2024 raid of the Mexican embassy as Ecuadorian officials sought to arrest a former vice president taking shelter there, a dispute Mexico said contributed to it cutting ties.
The expulsion decision adds to mounting tensions also seen in Ecuador’s disputes with neighboring Colombia, where Noboa’s government accused Colombia of not doing enough to crack down on crime along their shared border. The AP said the expulsions also reflect broader strain connected to U.S.-Cuba policy under President Donald Trump, including restrictions on oil sales to Cuba and Trump saying the Cuban government was “ready to fall.”