Quito, July 23 (RHC)-- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met with Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno, as part of a three-day tour across Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, and El Salvador, the visit being intended to "reinforce" support for U.S. policies against Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
The top U.S. diplomat visited the Andean country for four hours over the weekend and, in an interview with local newspaper El Universo, Pompeo welcomed the "new" relations with his Ecuadorian counterpart, saying that a new era had begun. He cited a whole list of tactical points established between the U.S. and Ecuador since U.S. President Donald Trump and Moreno decided they would work hand in hand.
Pompeo stated that his country will provide technical assistance to Ecuador in various areas including cybersecurity systems. According to the U.S. secretary of state, the Ecuadorean president complained about his country facing problems regarding its capacity to defend its systems and to protect its information and networks.
Pompeo addressed several issues, among them the upcoming new trade agreement between both countries, Moreno's support of Venezuelan opposition against the government of democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro, and the decision to hand Julian Assange over to the British authorities, which Pompeo called a “sovereign decision."
The U.S. and the South American country have resumed so-called "cooperation" in several areas but particularly in security and intelligence, with the return of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as Ecuador's Moreno made a U-turn regarding the program it was initially elected for, and implemented a right-wing political, social and neoliberal economic agenda.
During his professional career, Pompeo has stood out for embracing the most "harsh" causes raised by the Republican Party. In addition to having held high positions in companies related to oil activity such as Sentry International, Pompeo was a congressman from 2011 to 2017, a period in which he led the "Tea Party" -- a republican ultraconservative group.
Subsequently, from 2017 to 2018, he was appointed by Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Since the U.S. Supreme Court swore Pompeo in as secretary of state in April 2018, he has been actively defending the most questioned expressions of the U.S. foreign policy, among which are the Guantanamo detention center in occupied Cuban territory, the deepening of migration controls and the economic sanctions against Iran.
