Ecuador president blasts Washington’s interference

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has slammed Washington for causing instability in the Latin American state, saying American spy agencies have been involved in orchestrating the protests in his country.

“There is a CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) presence there [in Ecuador’s opposition] which has a goal of weakening the government,” Correa told the TeleSUR television network on Saturday.

The CIA aims to drag Ecuador into chaos by influencing the opposition ahead of the upcoming elections, Correa added.

The US spying agency and Ecuador’s right-wing opposition were likely involved in recent nation-wide protests in the country, Correa noted.

Ecuadorians staged protest rallies on Thursday in about a dozen cities, including the capital, Quito.

The protesters called for political change as well as reforms in labor and land policies.

This is while Correa and his administration enjoy public support for raising living standards for the lower classes. The country’s GDP per capita rose from $3,572 in 2007 to $6,002 in 2013. Correa has also succeeded in reducing both poverty and unemployment rate in Ecuador since he assumed power in 2007.

Released WikiLeaks’ cables, however, have revealed Washington’s efforts to interfere in Ecuador’s internal affairs as well as its spying agencies’ covert operations to bring Correa down.

In 1963, the US orchestrated a coup d’état by the military junta in Ecuador to topple the leftist government of Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy after he expressed opposition to the US government.