Ecuador expels US agency for alleged political interference

The US Agency for International Development officially closed its Ecuador office on Tuesday following a dispute with the leftist government of President Rafael Correa, a fierce US critic.

USAID had announced in December that the office would close after Quito had barred the agency from renewing its programs and accused it of funding opposition groups.

The agency had worked in Ecuador for 53 years and spent more than $800 million in development projects, the US embassy in Quito said in a statement.

The US embassy has said it tried for two years to reach a deal that would allow USAID to keep working in the South American country.

In power since 2007, Correa earlier this year ordered all US military officers to leave the country and canceled a security cooperation program with the Pentagon. He also closed a US counter-narcotics base on Ecuadoran soil.

Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales has also expelled USAID from his country.