Alfredo Enrique BorreroVice President of Ecuador visited New York and NY1 News had the opportunity to talk in depth with the president.
The vice president indicated that the main objective of his visit to Washington and New York had been to mobilize citizen awareness to promote the progress made in Ecuador in the face of the pandemic, which has been recognized by the international community and public health experts, including Advisor White House Physician-in-Chief, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In this sense, he assured that during the reopening, his country will never forget its diaspora and its descendants. “We have established the vaccination program as the best social and economic program in the country,” said the official and indicated that after eliminating the requirement to present a negative PCR or antigen test to enter the country, vaccines will be offered to Ecuadorians who return .
Aware that the number of undocumented Ecuadorians who have arrived in New York has grown exponentially and that many expect work as day laborers on street corners in Brooklyn and other counties, where they are vulnerable to abuse, Borrero stressed that the consular network will seek to offer them information and support.
Regarding the most established migrants in New York and New Jersey —who number around half a million according to studies by the Pew Research Center— the Vice President assured that programs will be launched to reduce waiting times to receive documents or consular assistance .
“They are looking for a way to work permanently not only during the time they stay here, but when they have to return so that the laws, the State and the government become a partner” of the Ecuadorians, Borrero said.
The vice president offered a direct guarantee to those who have gone to the consulate and have not been able to solve their problems: he ordered them to contact his office electronically or by calling the Vice Presidency. “I am a friend who is going to find a way to help them,” he said.
Borrero assured that the government of President Guillermo Lasso will seek to reinvest part of the remittances they send in support of migrants, which the Central Bank of Ecuador calculates grew by more than 5% in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year. “The remittances have to be invested in good services while they are here and when they come back,” he said.
Regarding the controversy that has dominated the news headlines in Ecuador, abortion in cases of rape, he declared that “it is an issue in which we must respect the concepts that arise from people who have been violated” and that “we must listen to women. However, he accepted that as an administration official and his physician, he agrees with President Lasso on his pro-life stance.
The Vice President recognized the challenge that the reopening of borders represents for his government last Friday while violence in areas near Guayaquil increases to the point of being called no man’s landemphasizing that President Lasso’s administration “will maintain its absolutely energetic position in defending and combating drug trafficking and the violence that is trying to win over society,” despite the fact that criminal organizations may have more financial resources than the State to infiltrate all social layers.
