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News > Ecuador

Pompeo Meets Ecuador's Moreno, Vows Assistance in Cybersecurity

  • U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saturday with Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno.

    U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saturday with Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno. | Photo: US Department of State

Published 21 July 2019
Opinion

U.S. Secretary of State said that his country will provide Ecuador with technical assistance in various areas including cyber-security.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saturday 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.

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The head of U.S. diplomacy visited the Andean country for four hours 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, citing 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 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.

"In cyber security ... President Moreno told us about Ecuador's need to improve its capacity to defend its systems and protect its information and its networks. So we are willing to provide technical assistance in that area," Pompeo said. 

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."

A 'New' Cooperation Under US Terms

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 President Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Since the U.S. Supreme Court swore Pompeo in as State Secretary on 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 Cuba, the deepening of migration controls and the economic sanctions against Iran.

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