Ecuador criticised Washington on Tuesday for proposing a 40 per cent cut in antidrug aid to the Andean region over the next two years, a move that will be seen as retaliation for the election of leftwing nationalistic governments hostile to the US.

María Fernanda Espinosa, the foreign minister, said: “There are principles of joint responsibility and fairness, and under those principles the US must respond to the efforts Ecuador has made.”