The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, criticized President Nicolás Maduro for withdrawing from the dialogues with the opposition in Mexico after the extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who is suspected of being a front man for the Venezuelan regime.
At a press conference in Quito after a meeting with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, Blinken said that “I find it very pitiful that the Maduro regime has withdrawn from the dialogue in Mexico. This is unfortunately indicative that Maduro puts his interest and then those of the Venezuelan people ”. Regarding the extradition of Saab to his country, Blinken stated that “it is important to underline that we have an independent judiciary in the United States” where he is accused, as in other countries, of crimes such as conspiracy, money laundering and illicit enrichment in nine countries.
The Maduro regime appointed Saab part of the diplomatic team of negotiators in Mexico, which did not prevent him from being sent from Cape Verde to the United States.
Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Mauricio Montalvo said that the Ecuadorian government “is closely following” the Saab case “because it has direct implications here in the country, there are concrete and public facts regarding the presence and participation of that person in Ecuador.” His activity was evident in the government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017).
Saab allegedly had ties to the monetary compensation system called SUCRE, which allowed businesses to do business between the Correa government and the Hugo Chávez government. This system sought to put aside the dollar as the currency of international trade.
Regarding Haiti, Blinken pointed out that his government is making all the necessary efforts to resolve the issue of the kidnapping of 16 of its compatriots and that it has even sent a team “from the State Department to Haiti” to resolve the crisis. He added that on Haitian soil there is a broader problem of insecurity and that “it is unsustainable, gangs dominate in many parts of Port-au-Prince and other parts of Haiti, where the police cannot even operate in many of those areas, these gangs have ties with groups, individuals, parties that in many ways dominate the state and this cannot continue ”.
Asked about Ecuador’s growing relationship with China, Blinken said that “we do not ask countries to choose between the United States and China, nor do we want to contain China or stop it in any way,” although he warned that Ecuadorians should “be careful in investments in sensitive areas, for example that have the necessary scrutiny to ensure that the country and its people are protected ”.
Since noon, Blinken has been on an official visit to Ecuador, where he had a meeting with Lasso, who stressed that “I would like to tell the secretary that Ecuador today more than ever, shares the democratic values that have guided the USA”. He added that “we will work to take substantial steps in security, the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, migration and reactivation.”
Blinken highlighted “the strong democratic voice of the Ecuadorian president” not only in his country but in the region, congratulated him on his successful vaccination plan and highlighted the close bilateral relationship.
The visit comes hours after Lasso decreed a national state of exception to generate a forceful response by the police and the armed forces to drug trafficking, crime and criminal gangs that are keeping the country in distress, especially the port city of Guayaquil. Blinken said that he will support Ecuador in the fight against criminal mafias.
It is the first time that a high-level official of President Joe Biden has visited Ecuador. Lasso came to power at the end of last May. The last official visit of a secretary of state was in 2010, when Hillary Clinton arrived in this capital.
In the last hours, the undersecretary of the State Department’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A. Nichols, who accompanies him on the trip, asserted that Blinken’s visit “sends a clear signal that we support vibrant and inclusive democracies that they respect the rights of their citizens ”.
.
