The head of the Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, spoke with PRIMICIAS about the Security Assistance Roadmap for Ecuador and the investment portfolio of USD 93.4 million that the United States has for the country in the matter.
General Laura Richardson, head of the United States Southern Command, in an interview with PRIMICIAS, on January 23, 2024.
On her second visit to Ecuador, General Laura Richardson met with President Daniel Noboa, prosecutor Diana Salazar, the ministers of Defense and Interior, the high command of the Armed Forces and the Police, to discuss the security crisis facing Ecuador. the country.
General Richardson is the head of the United States Southern Command and arrived in Ecuador on January 22, along with a Ukrainian plane with a donation of critical security and emergency response equipment.
In conversation with PRIMICIAS, the commander spoke about the Security Assistance Roadmap for Ecuador and the investment portfolio of USD 93.4 million on the matter that the United States has for the country.
And he also gave details of some military cooperation agreements that allow the exchange of intelligence information between both countries and joint operations against organized crime threats.
What are the first conclusions after your meetings with President Daniel Noboa and Attorney General Diana Salazar?
The purpose of the meetings was to listen. We met with the President and the cabinet yesterday (January 22). I was accompanied by former Senator Christopher Dodd, who is President Joe Biden’s advisor for the Western Hemisphere.
The meeting focused on security and the current situation in Ecuador, the tremendous efforts to counter criminal activity, President Noboa’s decision to declare those 22 gangs as terrorist organizations and authorize the military and police to work together, which is very important and they have done very well in those missions.
Today (January 23), we had a full day of meetings. It was really good to meet with the Attorney General to hear her perspective. We also visited the Commander of the National Police and the Minister of Government and the Interior.
My next two days will be filled with military visits, meetings and engagements with the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, and the commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Then we will go to Guayaquil and meet with the 19th Jungle Brigade, we will do a donation ceremony. And also with the sailors, with the Risk authority, which is the equivalent of our Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This way we will donate almost USD 1 million in much-needed equipment.
In practice, what will be the impact of this cooperation?
We already have a very solid investment portfolio with Ecuador. Obviously, it’s over time. And it is about cooperation between military forces, between the United States Southern Command and the Ecuadorian Army.
So our portfolio is worth $93.4 million and it includes, not only military equipment transfer, but it also includes humanitarian assistance and disaster response, professional military education.
And this education is important, it not only consists of the Ecuadorian military going to train in the United States, but also in various things that we bring to Ecuador. Like mobile training teams, who can train more in Ecuador, compared to a few traveling to receive training.
It also includes training in cyber assistance, exchange of special forces. And that’s why we have a multitude of these types of exchanges that occur throughout the year.
But we are also trying to accelerate some things that were already planned. For example, we will deliver a C 130 aircraft on February 23. And we also have other things in the works to accelerate the increase in the transfer of military equipment.
Is this investment portfolio non-refundable cooperation?
That’s right. Yes, it is an investment of the United States and Ecuador together.
The United States is funding the reward program in Ecuador and has announced an increased presence of FBI agents in the country. What does this type of work entail and what can these agents do in Ecuadorian territory?
It is to allow Ecuador the opportunity to offer rewards for information, something we have done in the United States for quite some time. And to obtain information that leads to a conviction and arrest of someone for criminal activity.
I think it is important in terms of interinstitutionality, of intelligence sharing between all government agencies, from the tactical level, whether it is the Police or the Army, to law enforcement, arrest and conviction of someone for those criminal activities.
It is just a tool, which is very effective in obtaining information.
What is Washington’s position regarding the Ecuadorian fugitives, investigated in organized crime cases, who are in the United States? For example, the case of Xavier Jordán, who lives in Miami and has requested asylum.
I would leave that answer to the United States Embassy in Quito. I don’t do that part, I do security cooperation and military-to-military cooperation.
But that is part of the interagency work that would be done between the interagency of Ecuador and the interagency of the United States.
Is there information in this intelligence exchange about possible ‘narco-generals’ and other complaints about money laundering that Ambassador Michael Fitzpatrick has made?
Again, I would leave it to the US Embassy in Quito.
But what we do and what we came for is because the last time there was a previous administration. President Guillermo Lasso was in Carondelet. There was a different Minister of Defense and different commanders of the Armed Forces.
There is now a new chain of command. And that’s why I’m happy to have come so quickly and to be able to meet with them, talk about the investment portfolio, review it and present it to President Noboa and the members of the cabinet so we can talk about what we are doing with the United States Southern Command and the Ecuadorian Army.
And it’s not just me as commander of Southern Command. Senior commanders from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps came with me, and all of them participate and cooperate in security matters with their counterpart service chiefs.
We do exercises, conferences, work groups, we share information, we want to strengthen security for Ecuador.
We want to help Ecuador through this, and it is not just Ecuador, but also all the other countries in the region that are being challenged by these criminal threats, climate change, drought, food insecurity, disaster response, irregular migration . Insecurity and instability.
So how do we help with that as a region? How can all countries work better together? For example, we have seen great support from Ecuador’s neighboring countries.
What can you tell us about the maritime cooperation agreement signed by Ecuador and the United States last September?
We have several things that we have done very recently with Ecuador. For example, the Security Assistance Roadmap, called ESAR, with Ecuador. And there is only one other country in the region with which we have signed this roadmap.
That implies a five-year plan, it establishes the roadmap for the security cooperation that we will do. We have created a bilateral defense working group and thus we carry out exchanges between the Pentagon and Ecuador.
There is the SOFA agreement, which was just approved (Status of Forces Agreement, which establishes the framework under which US military personnel operate in a foreign country).
And also what I call ‘the sailors’ agreement’, which allows Ecuadorian law enforcement to be on United States ships. That’s huge. We do it with other countries in the region as well.
The Joint Interagency Task Force South, which is based in Key West (Florida), for the detection and monitoring of illicit maritime and air drug trafficking. And because of all the activity in the Galapagos, we have been doing missions. We just had one in December with the Ecuadorian Navy.
Could these agreements allow for a greater US military presence in Ecuador?
They could, through security cooperation exchanges, mobile training teams, thematic exchanges, small and medium-sized enterprise exchanges, etc.
Just for training?
For exercises. Generally, the ones we carry out will bring together more than 20 partner countries that will come together to do an exercise.
And we have a couple of exercises that will be done this year. ‘Gallup X’ is one of them and we look forward to Ecuador’s participation in that.
In any case, we will continue to work very closely with Ecuador, with our very close relationship.
President Noboa announced that the United States is willing to exchange Russian and Ukrainian ‘scrap’ for USD 200 million in new equipment and weapons. Is it actually ‘scrap’ or is it military equipment?
I will let the Ecuadorian Government explain all that. But make no mistake: we are here to work and continue working with our democratic partners.
Did they seal that deal on this visit?
The Government of Ecuador has already been talking about this. So I’ll let them talk about it instead of me.
But again, we have a very large and solid security and cooperation investment portfolio; like-minded democracies working together to uncover threats and counter them. And we have a lot of work to do.
It’s not that we haven’t already been doing it. But we are going to continue that close relationship.
