Lasso begins his term with bilateral meeting with US and Venezuelan opposition leader

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The new president of Ecuador, conservative Guillermo Lasso, began his administration on Tuesday with a bilateral meeting with a US delegation, followed by another interview with Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López.

After assuming the Presidency on Monday, the new Ecuadorian head of state signed his first executive decrees, which included a governmental code of ethics, the official designation of the main collaborators who will make up his cabinet, and the elimination of credit registrations of less than one thousand dollars, a measure that several social sectors have praised.

His main priority is the vaccination of nine million people in the first 100 days of government.

However, he has begun to address other urgent issues, such as tackling insecurity on the northern border with Colombia or the prison crisis. Therefore Lasso headed on Monday night the State Public Security Council (Cosepe), held at the Carondelet Palace.

OBJECTIVE TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH THE US

In his first bilateral meeting, the President received this Tuesday representatives of the U.S. He conveyed a clear message that his Executive has the “purpose of strengthening relations” based on fundamental aspects for the region, such as democracy, transparency, freedom, and human rights.

At the meeting, which took place at the Carondelet Palace in Quito, Lasso was accompanied by the Foreign Minister, Mauricio Montalvo, and the Ecuadorian Ambassador in Washington, Ivonne Baki, who valued this first meeting as “positive”.

According to an official press release from the Presidency, the meeting addressed issues such as Ecuador’s urgency to receive large quantities of vaccines and other commercial, economic, and employment generation matters.

The Ecuadorian diplomatic representative stated that “Ecuador is a priority” and that the relationship “is at its best moment and is improving”. However, she pointed out the need to continue negotiations to reach a trade agreement to serve as a framework and boost the local economy.

The bilateral meeting was held behind closed doors and lasted approximately one hour.

The representation of US President Joe Biden was led by his ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who said of the meeting that it was an “honor to lead the first presidential delegation of this administration”, and hoped that the meeting “sends a message about the strength of our relationship, faith in democracy and commitment to face global challenges together.”

Relations between the two countries became more fluid under Lenín Moreno’s administration, after a decade of tensions during Rafael Correa’s government, which ascribed to the ideology of the so-called Socialism of the 21st Century.

After that meeting, the new Ecuadorian president received in his office Leopoldo López, a Venezuelan activist and political opponent to the regime of Nicolás Maduro, together with his wife Lilian Tintori, and his father MEP Leopoldo López Gil.

In the interview, they talked about the commitment expressed by Lasso to regularize about 500,000 Venezuelans in Ecuador.

THE HEALTH CHALLENGE

Among the different positions that officially assumed their functions this Tuesday, the one that generated more expectation was that of the Health Portfolio, a possession attended by the Vice President, Alfredo Borrero.

A doctor by profession, he described as “deplorable” the reality of health in the country. He asked for the collaboration of both the citizens and the civil servants to develop the work in the sector.

The Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, announced that her Ministry would focus on four strategic axes: Vaccination Plan and control of the covid-19 pandemic; construction of the National Health Plan to strengthen primary prevention and attention at the first level of attention; eradication of child malnutrition and attention to diseases aggravated by the health crisis.

He specified that the vaccination is in the transition stage until the end of the month. As of Tuesday, the process will resume, prioritizing elderly residents and their caregivers, people with chronic catastrophic diseases, and health workers who have not yet been immunized, among other sectors.