Ecuador says USAID must leave by end of September

Ecuador has called for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to leave the country by the end of September.

In a letter obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday, Ecuador’s government told the USAID that it “must not execute any new activity,” nor widen any existing projects in the country.

The letter, dated November 26, 2013, was signed by Gabriela Rosero of Ecuador’s international cooperation agency and was sent to the US Embassy in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito.

The letter was reportedly addressed to USAID program officer, Christopher M. Cushing.

Rosero said that the USAID must pull out by September 30, and that “the decision has been made.”

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa suggested in December that the USAID's programs were no longer welcome in Ecuador, saying on one of his regular Saturday programs on television and radio that "we don't need charity."