Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa made changes to his Cabinet on Friday as part of an overhaul begun in response to the violent police mutiny of Sept. 30.
A government decree issued this week ends the “pseudo-sovereignty” of Ecuador’s national police and places the force under civilian control, Interior Minister Alfredo Vera said Wednesday.
In the document addressed to the U.S. Department of State, Hodges said embassy officials believed Correa was aware of supposed corrupt practices by former national police chief Jaime Hurtado, but that the president named him to the post anyway because it would make him more easily manipulated.
