For the first stop of his South American tour, the head of the diplomacy of the United States Antony Blinken praised on Tuesday in Quito Ecuadorian “democracy”, assuring to have received guarantees of respect for freedoms following the establishment of the state of exception against drug trafficking which plagues this country.
In Ecuador, then in Colombia on Wednesday and Thursday, Mr. Blinken intends to support these two countries considered by Washington as examples of “democratic commitments”, at a time of renewed tensions with Chavista Venezuela.
“We very much appreciate the fact that you convincingly demonstrate that democracy can yield concrete results (…)”, welcomed Mr Blinken when he met Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso at the Carondelet Palace in Quito.
– Police forces in the streets –
For his first South American tour, the highest American diplomat was greeted with great pomp by the trumpets of the guards in blue uniforms, AFP noted.
“We applaud the work you are doing to fight corruption, to pursue reforms that equitably benefit the entire Ecuadorian population, and the work we are doing together to fight drug trafficking and to preserve our environment and our climate,” said praised the US Secretary of State.
“More than ever, Ecuador today shares the values which have guided the United States towards prosperity since its foundation,” replied Mr. Lasso.
After the very difficult relations with the left-wing president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), then slightly warmed up with his successor Lenin Moreno (2017-2021), the surprise election in May of this ex-conservative banker paved the way for a marked rapprochement between the two countries.
The visit of the head of American diplomacy comes less than 24 hours after the proclamation by the president of the state of emergency to fight against insecurity and drug trafficking in the country. This announcement is fittingly in line with Washington’s agenda, one of whose traditional priorities is the fight against drug trafficking on the American continent.
President Lasso is committed to respecting “democratic” values during this state of emergency, assured the US Secretary of State after their talks.
Operations must be “very focused in what they seek to achieve and of limited duration and, of course, monitor and proceed in a manner that respects democratic values,” Blinken told reporters.
On Tuesday, soldiers were visible in the streets of the city of Guayaquil (southwest), where they were carrying out searches and identity checks, but no particular deployment was reported in Quito.
Human Rights Watch is alarmed by the presence in the streets of the country of soldiers. “The armed forces are trained for war, not for public order and crime. It must be exceptional, temporary and strictly necessary or it will lend itself to serious abuse,” tweeted José Miguel Vivanco, director for the Americas at within the NGO.
Located between Colombia and Peru – the world’s main producers of cocaine – Ecuador is a territory where drugs are stored and then transited, to the United States in particular.
The state of emergency provides for the mobilization in the streets of the military to fight against insecurity for at least 60 days, at a time when the country is experiencing a social protest movement against the rise in fuel prices.
– Find the “special relationship” –
On these themes of human rights and security, Ecuador is also facing a serious prison crisis, with recurring clashes between gangs of narco-traffickers in prisons, the most recent of which killed 119 people at the end of September in Guayaquil. .
Mr. Blinken will travel to Colombia on Thursday, the second stop on his tour. Bogota has been the United States’ traditional ally in the region for decades, especially in the face of Nicolas Maduro’s “dictatorship” in Venezuela.
After the marked indifference of the Trump era, Washington and Conservative President Ivan Duque have “the will to regain their cooperation and understanding” of yesteryear, but “it remains to be seen whether the two governments will succeed in reestablishing their special relationship.” , summed up the Colombian press on Tuesday.
Mr. Duque has been criticized within the ranks of the Democrats for his handling of a vast social protest movement in the spring of 2021, marked by heavy police repression and dozens of deaths.
The Colombian government however largely retains the support of the Biden administration, one of whose priorities in recent weeks has been the management of the influx of migrants, overwhelmingly Haitians, from all of South America to Central America. , in the direction of the United States.
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