The United States highlighted the arrival of Guillermo Lasso as President of Ecuador: “We share the commitment to democracy and security cooperation”

The United States Ambassador to the UN and President Joe Biden’s delegate at the inauguration of Guillermo Lasso, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, stressed the importance that his country sees in relations with Ecuador, with the coming to power of the former banker to succeed Lenin Moreno.

“I am delighted to be here to represent the United States to celebrate its last election and the inauguration of President Lasso,” said the American ambassador upon her arrival in Quito on Sunday, where she addressed a few words to the media at the airport.

Thomas-Greenfield arrived at the beginning of the afternoon at the head of a presidential delegation which will participate in the inauguration of Lasso tomorrow, Monday, at the National Assembly.

“This is an important moment, and I am not saying it because it is the first time that I have traveled outside the United States in more than 14 months”, said with humor the diplomat, who was received by the minister. Ecuadorian leaving Foreign Affairs, Manuel Mejía.

Five heads of state and at least seven foreign ministers were due to arrive in Ecuador this Sunday for the inauguration of the new president, including the King of Spain and the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

While on Ecuadorian soil, Felipe VI will meet privately with Lasso and the outgoing Lenín Moreno.

The American presidential delegation is completed by its ambassador in Ecuador, Michael J. Fitzpatrick; Julie chungActing Under-Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department; Yes Juan Gonzalez, special advisor to the National Security Council.

“Free elections are the cornerstone of a democratic society like that of Ecuador. They set a positive example of the democracies in the region and of the values ​​shared by the peoples of Ecuador and the United States, ”said the head of the delegation.

And she asked to see her visit and that of the rest of the members who accompany her as “a strong message on how much we appreciate our relations” with Ecuador, a country with which she shares, she said, much more than ” values. “

“We share a cultural exchange, a commitment to democracy and security cooperation. In these difficult times, we also share difficult challenges such as the need to defeat covid-19, to recover from economic decline and climate change “added.

“This is the reason why President Biden sent his first presidential delegation here to Ecuador,” he said.

As of midday local time, the first foreign leaders who will participate in tomorrow’s investiture have arrived. Among them, the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise; the vice-president of Paraguay, Hugo velazquez; and the Chancellor of Chile, Andres Allamand.

Other leaders who have also confirmed their participation in the inaugural events include the Presidents of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro; Chile, Sebastian piñera; Colombia, Ivan Duque; Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou; and the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader.

The power shift in Ecuador comes amid the economic, social and health crisis generated by the covid-19 pandemic, which has so far left more than 20,000 deaths between “confirmed” and “probable” due to the disease, and more than 417,000 people infected.

Lasso, a 65-year-old center-right politician, also arrives for the presidency in his third attempt with a severe cash flow shortage and a stalled vaccination program he must resolve. for economic reactivation.

The president-elect, whose main campaign proposal was to vaccinate nine million people against covid-19 in 100 days, admitted he was facing “very complex realities, unlimited needs, with very, very limited resources. “. And he warned that he would resort to “very creative tax reforms”.

Between December 2019 and last March, unemployment in Ecuador fell from 4.6% to 5.5%. And monetary poverty fell from 25% in December 2019 to 32% in the same month of 2020.

Lasso got 52.36% of the vote, 4.72 points higher than the economist Andres Arauz, 36, and the runner-up to former President Rafael Correa, in the April 11 poll, ending a series of triumphs for socialism.

With information from EFE and AFP

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