Ecuadornews:
Ecuador maintains its position of equidistance on whether Venezuela should leave or be expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS), advanced today Juan Sebastián Roldán, private secretary of the head of state, Lenin Moreno.
“We would expect that neither be expelled to Venezuela, nor that Venezuela leave the OAS, because unfortunately it would isolate itself and that is a problem for the most needy people of that country,” the high-ranking official said when referring to a proposal promoted by the United States to expel Venezuela from the OAS and that enjoys the approval of the 14 countries of the so-called Lima Group.
“That is why Ecuador is going to make a democratic proposal on the issue, which has nothing to do with economic sanctions, or whether there is legitimacy or not of the elections,” said Roldán, referring to the recent elections in Venezuela, which have not been recognized by the European Union, USA and numerous countries in the region.
The private secretary of President Moreno insisted, at the same time, that his country is not going to defend without palliative everything that happens in Venezuela.
“Nor is it in the hand to defend everything that happens in Venezuela, that is, we are not with the countries of the Alba,” or Bolivarian alliance added before pointing out that “Ecuador will have a position of its own respect for democracy, respect for the independence of the country and its citizens to make decisions “.
Venezuela already began a process to leave the OAS in 2019 last year, and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said yesterday that his government is “counting the days” to withdraw from the agency.
The White House reported on Monday that the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, phoned Moreno, at a time when his government is leading a campaign to suspend Venezuela from the OAS, an objective for which he needs the votes of 24 member countries.
He added that Pence and Moreno spoke of “opportunities to revitalize the bilateral relationship between the United States and Ecuador” and announced that the US vice president will visit Ecuador this month.
It will be the highest-ranking visit of a US official in Moreno’s government, after the one made by the undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Shannon, to the country in February, considered third in the political ranks.
About the visit, Roldán announced that it will take place at the end of the month, which will be a day long and will analyze “the different topics of interest for both the United States and Ecuador.”
He considered that Pence’s trip to the Andean country is “an important example of how Ecuador is opening up to the world”.
And he emphasized that bilateral issues such as foreign trade, how to promote exports and strengthen migration cooperation with Washington are fundamental for his country, considering that it is the country with the most Ecuadorian immigration. (I)
