No need to worry — it’s old news.
A story by The Associated Press picked up by a number of major media outlets this week seems to have come out of nowhere to rehash old news about the U.S. Agency for International Development’s programs in South America, albeit somewhat misleadingly.
The “exclusive” story published on Friday, “USAID's days counted in Ecuador,” suggested Ecuador’s government expelled the agency from the country, as Bolivia had done in May 2013.
USAID was in negotiations with Ecuador’s government for two years over the terms of a bilateral cooperation agreement.
With little progress toward reaching a consensus, and with the Ecuadorian government’s refusal to approve new USAID programs without such an agreement in place, USAID — not Ecuador — decided to cancel $32 million in planned aid to the South American country and close its doors later this year, as Devex reported last December.
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.