The group was ordered to halt operations in Ecuador in a letter dated April 7, the U.S. Embassy confirmed Friday.

Late Friday afternoon, Ecuador’s embassy in Washington issued a statement saying the “scaling back” of the U.S. military presence reflected the country’s “improved political stability” and “increased internal security and defense capacities.”

The shuttering of the U.S. Embassy’s “Security Cooperation Office” was first reported by The Associated Press overnight after it was alerted by a senior Ecuadorean official. That official refused to be identified by name due to the information’s sensitive nature.