Ecuador has claimed the CIA infiltrated its military and knew of a Colombian military raid against rebels in Ecuadorean territory.
Defence Minister Javier Ponce said the CIA knew of the Colombian attack before the Ecuadorean government from agents inside its military.
"The CIA had full knowledge of what was happening in Angostura," Ponce told reporters, referring to the border hamlet where Colombia troops killed a top leftist rebel leader in March.
The raid, which also killed other 24 people, briefly raised the threat of war after Ecuador and Venezuela sent soldiers and tanks to their borders with Colombia. Nerves calmed quickly in a regional meeting a week later but Ecuador and Colombia still have not mended diplomatic ties since the attack.
A US embassy spokeswoman in Quito declined to comment on the charges.
Ecuador's latest accusation makes it more difficult for Quito to restore diplomatic ties with US-ally Colombia.
President Rafael Correa, a popular leftist and ally of US foe Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, has said the CIA controls some of his country's spy units and opened a military investigation that raised tensions with the country's powerful army.
The US-trained economist has mainly kept good ties with the United States, but is often critical of President George W. Bush, once saying he was dumber than the devil.
Reuters