Pence and Moreno will talk about economy, security and refugees

Ecuadornews:

Within the framework of the third tour in Latin America in less than a year, the Vice President of the United States will deal with President Lenin Moreno on economy, security on the border and the situation of refugees.

Mike Pence, vice president of the United States, will be in Ecuador less than 24 hours. He will arrive tomorrow afternoon in Quito from Brazil and on Thursday, at noon, he will travel to Guatemala.

In that time, he will seek with the President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno, to strengthen commercial alliances; will address border security and the fight against drug trafficking; and another point is the issue of refugees and the situation of Venezuelans in the country. For Todd Chapman, the United States ambassador to Ecuador, the bilateral relationship between the two countries has improved.

Also, according to him, Moreno and Pence will talk about the “regional issues that are of concern (the Venezuela and Nicaragua cases).” “We are in a quite interesting, positive time; a time in which we are having dialogues that we did not have for many years, “said the American Ambassador.

For Chapman, these issues are important, especially because the economic aspect seeks to achieve treaties to promote their development. As for security, he stressed that there is a predisposition for cooperation that is underway, after several meetings with the interior ministers, Mauro Toscanini; and of Defense, Oswaldo Jarrín.

It will not be ignored, the treatment of the situation of Venezuelans in the country, he added. At the meeting, the Government will also present its priorities. Juan Sebastián Roldán, private secretary of the Presidency, said that the US It is the most important country for Ecuador. This is because it is the country to which “more we sell and whom we buy more. And it is the country with the largest number of migrants.”

Currently the country is part of the Tariff Preferences System (GSP), which includes tariff reductions for about 380 products entering the US and that expires in 2020. The authorities seek a long-term trade agreement.

Mike Pence balances the position of Donald Trump

The Vice President is seen within the Republican Party as a choice of “consensus” against the administration of President Donald Trump. He has even distanced himself from the scandals. Christian and conservative, Pence during his youth wanted to be a priest. However, the influence of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King allowed him to venture into political life.

In that sense, the second president was a congressman for Indiana from 2001 to 2013, where he stood out for his position on social issues such as his opposition to abortion or gay marriage. When he was Governor of Indiana in 2015, Pence excelled in signing the Restoration of Religious Freedom Act. The regulation established that business owners act according to their religious principles.

This allowed them to have the freedom to deny care or services to members of the LGBTI community. In the face of social pressure, he rectified. An amendment prohibiting discrimination was approved. He also signed a law to prohibit abortion due to disability, race or gender of the fetus. This legislation was blocked by a federal judge.

The meeting

Other visits

The visit of Mike Pence is the third one a Vice President of the USA performs to Ecuador. The first occasion was on May 9, 1958, by the then second President Richard Nixon, who was visiting protocolar.

3 countries visit Vice President Mike Pence in Latin America: Brazil, Ecuador and Guatemala. Second visit When George Bush was vice president of the United States. He visited Ecuador on August 10, 1984, when León Febres Cordero assumed the Presidency of the country. (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/politica/3/mike-pence-visita-ecuador-moreno-venezuela