Blinken talks with Ecuador’s president-elect Lasso about Venezuela and US support

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone this Friday, April 23, with Ecuador’s president-elect, conservative Guillermo Lasso, about strengthening the “already vibrant” relationship between the two countries and the commitment to work with their allies to “restore democracy” in Venezuela.

In a statement, the State Department noted that “both ratified that they will work with their allies to restore democracy in Venezuela”.

Blinken highlighted that Ecuador has taken in more than 430,000 Venezuelan migrants and reiterated the U.S. commitment to support that country “to help meet its growing humanitarian needs”.

Both -added the official information- “discussed the strengthening of the already vibrant bilateral relationship of cooperation between the United States and Ecuador in the areas of trade and investment, governance, security, the fight against drug trafficking, human rights, and regional issues”.

Likewise, the head of U.S. diplomacy expressed Washington’s commitment to maintaining bilateral cooperation to revitalize their economies in the pandemic aftermath.

On April 13, the U.S. government expressed its desire to work with Lasso and his vice president, Alfredo Borrero, after his inauguration on May 24 following his electoral victory.

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