Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa threatened Saturday to expel Inter American Press Association chief Gonzalo Marroquin for calling him a "dictator" on his visit to the country.

"I think we have tolerated too much," said Correa, days after heavy sentences were handed down on four journalists found guilty of libeling him -- sparking outrage from the Ecuadoran press.

If "a foreigner arrives in a country that receives him with respect, and they say it is a dictatorship, doesn't respect laws, (they) will be expelled from the country," Correa added.

Correa refused to meet with Marroquin during his visit last Monday, ahead of the conviction Wednesday of El Universo senior managers Carlos, Cesar and Nicolas Perez, and their former editorial page editor Emilio Palacio for libel, They received sentences of three years in jail.

They were also ordered to pay Correa some $40 million in damages.

The ruling has unleashed a storm of national and international protests by rights groups and media watchdogs, with Human Rights Watch Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco denouncing what he called a "major setback for free speech in Ecuador."

Marroquin has denied using the term "dictatorship" to describe Correa's government, though he has called the administration "intolerant" and warned its actions could lead to "dictatorial" conclusions.

On Thursday, he described the journalists' heavy sentences as a "serious blow" to press freedom in Ecuador.

Correa originally filed the lawsuit in March after Palacio wrote a column calling the president a "dictator," warning he could be tried for rights abuses for allegedly ordering supporters to open fire against a hospital during a September 2010 police mutiny. Five people were killed in the standoff.

Correa said after the conviction that he would appeal the ruling, and would ask for the fine to be doubled to $80 million. El Universo also plans an appeal.