Saturday 22 November
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Sandinistas Celebrate
Triumph
Panama Probes Colombian
DMG
Election Campaign
Over, Venezuelans Thoughtful
Brazil Recalls
Ambassador in Ecuador
for Disputed Debt
Paraguay Reports 2nd
Cross-Border Raid by
Brazilian Troops
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Brazil Recalls
Ambassador in Ecuador
for Disputed Debt
Rio de Janeiro -
Brazil's Foreign Affairs
Minister Celso Amorim
announced Friday
afternoon that he had
called back the
country's ambassador in
Ecuador, and threatened
to review the diplomatic
relations with Ecuador.
Amorim said the
withdrawal of the
Brazilian ambassador,
Antonino Marques Porto,
was due to the
Ecuadorian government's
decision to break a
financing contract with
Brazil's Development
Bank (BNDES) for the
construction of a
hydroelectric plant.
The Ecuadorian
government's decision is
"not in harmony with the
spirit of dialogue,
friendship and
cooperation... between
Brazil and Ecuador,"
said Amorim amid the
First International
Conference on Biofuels
in Sao Paulo, "We called
our ambassador
back...anyone who knows
something about
diplomacy knows what
that means."
The San Francisco
Hydroelectric Plant was
built by the Brazilian
constructing company
Odebrecht, which was
expelled from Ecuador
last September for
alleged irregularities.
The plant was expected
to produce 12 percent of
Ecuador's energy supply.
It started operation in
2007 but had to be
closed due to defects in
June 2008.
Ecuador's President
Rafael Correa said
Thursday that he "had
taken legal measures" to
suspend the payment of
the country's debt with
BNDES, which amounts to
460 million U.S. dollars
including the interests.
According to Jorge Glas,
who presides over the
Ecuadorian Solidarity
Fund, a state-owned
organization attached to
the electric energy
distribution sector, the
Ecuadorian government
has submitted suspension
of payments to
International Chamber of
Commerce's International
Court of Arbitration. |
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