President Rafael Correa has expelled the World Bank's representative from Ecuador, accusing the institution of attempting to extort him when he was economy minister in 2005, officials said on Thursday.
The leftist president, in office since January, has charged that the global development lender suspended a US$100 million loan for Ecuador in 2005 in retaliation for his reform of the country's oil sector.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that Correa declared World Bank official Eduardo Somensatto of Brazil persona non grata -- a diplomatic term equivalent to an expulsion -- and immediately informed the Washington-based bank.
Story