Word: astorga
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...realize that Latin Americans aren't as obsessed with the drug war as los yanquis are - and that they tend to feel humiliated by imperious U.S. conditions like those set on aid for Ecuador's drug police. Correa's chief complaint against the U.S. diplomat, Homeland Security attache Armando Astorga, was "the insolence to pretend that Ecuador is a colony of the U.S." (Neither the U.S. embassy in Quito nor the State Department would comment...
...security forces have an unfortunate history of sliding into drug lords' pockets - a former Ecuadorean deputy interior minister under Correa was recently charged with drug trafficking - it's not all that outrageous that the U.S. ask to have some input in exchange for aid (or "logistical support," per Astorga...
...wasn't a shock when Correa, a master at using anti-yanqui bluster to domestic political advantage, last year told the Americans he would no longer accept their veto privilege regarding the top brass of the Anti-Contraband Operations Unit. Nevertheless, early last month, Astorga sent his letter to National Police Commander Jaime Hurtado - informing the top cop not only that the U.S. was terminating the aid but that the force would have to return all furniture, cars and equipment donated by the U.S. in the past. To which Correa on Saturday replied, "Seņor Astorga, keep your dirty money...
...embassy messenger out of your country isn't the best way to cultivate it. Either way, this is the kind of atmosphere Obama will fly into in April when he attends his first regional summit, the Summit of the Americas, in Trinidad. It's instructive to note that Astorga's offending letter was dated Jan. 8 - while former President Bush, whose hemispheric policy was as ham-handed as any in memory, was still in office. Obama's first job in Trinidad is to convince the Latin Americans that he's not Bush. If he does, they're just as obligated...