More than the bill. Article 84 of the Organic Law of the Foreign Service indicates that the political appointments of the first and second categories in Ecuadorian diplomacy should not exceed 20% of the total number of officials and that these will only be in “exceptional cases.”
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Ecuador has 49 representations abroad. Since May 2021, 32 appointments have been appointed, of which 17 correspond as political quotas and four of them still await approval in the assigned nations. The other 15 are career diplomats, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility.
The remaining 17 of the Ecuadorian diplomacy, it is known from the Foreign Ministry that they are 15 career diplomats who were appointed in the previous Government, who will complete their established time of mission.
This means that 34.6% of ambassadors are political quotas (check the graph).
Last June, former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Mauricio Montalvo He pointed out in a discussion with media representatives that the Executive “will not make full use of 20% of political quotas in the representations” and that even the political quota would be much less than what the law stipulates. However, in the event that the four political quota candidates who are awaiting approval receive it and the remaining 13 officials are career diplomats, the legal mandate is not fulfilled.
The internationalist Carlos Estarellas recalls that article 84 of the foreign service law emphasizes that the person designated as a political quota must be chosen for his “services relevant to the State” and for this reason his selection must be chosen carefully.
“This is done when a certain type of characteristic helps, for example Chile: he named Pablo Neruda, because in addition to being a character, he was a Nobel Prize winner for literature. Or also Gabriela Mistral who appointed her consul. So, he must be the one who has stood out for his merits in society, of great knowledge and obviously who dominates foreign relations ”, he pointed out.
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Estarellas points out that if the president has made this appointment with great care, he does not see any inconvenience, however, he details that the results of these efforts still have to be awaited.
“The problem is when you choose your friends, supporters, and stalwarts, as has happened in several governments, then the result is negative for Ecuador.”
Estarellas emphasizes that career ambassadors cannot be appointed randomly, “just because they have been promoted in their diplomatic career” but under a criterion where it is seen that they have the “respective talent for foreign relations” and thus perform with excellence.
Between 2017 and 2021, nine embassies and eight consulates were closed and even so there was a 55% political quota in Ecuadorian diplomacy.
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34.6% of the appointed ambassadors are political quotas