Charge D’affaires from Ecuador has been declared persona non grata in Venezuela and given 72 hours to leave the country, Ecuador announced on Thursday.
“The Venezuelan government can only reject the systematic meddling in its affairs on the part of Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno and the expulsion of its ambassador from Quito, due to which it is forced to take a similar measure in relation to Ecuador’s Charge d’affaires in Venezuela, Elizabeth Mendez, who is a persona non grata,” the Foreign Ministry said in a communique on Thursday.
The move comes after Ecuador expelled Venezuelan ambassador earlier, which was, according to Quito, due to statements of Venezuelan Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez, which were aimed at offending Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno.
Previously, Rodriguez said that Moreno was “a liar,” addressing a speech by the Ecuadorean president on Venezuelan migrants given at the United Nations.
Lenin Moreno told the UN General Assembly in September that his country takes in an average of 6,000 Venezuelan refugees a day.
