“Correa asked that we leave blanket and those funds went to other countries”

Ecuadornews:

Sergio de la Peña was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and arrived in the United States like many other migrants, to follow a dream. He spent 30 years in the United States Air Force, others more as a consultant until he became Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. As such, he is responsible for security, defense and policy issues in the region, as well as overseeing the funding of defense cooperation programs for the United States Northern Command and the Southern Command of the United States. . - In the resurgent Ecuador-United States cooperation, what is being reinforced? - The historical context must be taken into account. In the last two years we have a great transition, but before that, in the ten years of Rafael Correa, the relationship with Ecuador was more disconnected. We are seeing how we can realign ourselves to meet objectives of mutual interest. We are concerned about the security issue in this hemisphere because we have an international projection and we want our neighborhood to be more peaceful. Here we do not have the conflicts of the children of Abraham; nor the conflicts of a resurgent Ming dynasty; nor the conflicts of the Sarista-Communist-post-Communist Russia. We are not talking about the way that Africa was cut or the conflicts that exist in part of Europe. - But in Ecuador we do have a serious problem of drug trafficking due to the large production of drugs from neighboring countries. - Where there are drugs there are problems because the drug is not a crime without victims. That hurts us all and we have to work in a collaborative way to see how we face that scourge. The cultivation and production of drugs are in neighboring countries, but transportation leaves Ecuador. - You have to stop it. - We have to find the most effective way to face the problem they are living because that will produce other social ills that can affect everyone. Another problem is nature. You have earthquakes, volcanoes, storms, mudslides, and many times, when the response capacity of civilian hands is exceeded, the Armed Forces must be involved, which not only have to be equipped for national defense. (I)

Source: https://www.expreso.ec/actualidad/entrevista-sergiodelapena-rafaelcorrea-dinero-manta-HN2807810