BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY A SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL
ON THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT MORENO OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR
Via Teleconference
4:04 P.M. EST
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining. As the moderator indicated, this call is on background for attribution to a senior administration official who will be giving brief remarks, and that will be followed by a short Q&A.
With that -- again, I just want to reiterate the call is embargoed until the conclusion of the call. And with that, I'll hand it over to [senior administration official].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, thank you so much. Well, as all of you know, tomorrow, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno will be arriving at the White House for a bilateral meeting with President Trump. In the last couple of years, we've had a historic number of bilats with the Western Hemisphere, really showing how the Western Hemisphere has been a priority; that the neighborhood we live in is a priority for President Trump.
Just recently -- obviously, last week -- we had the Interim President of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó. A few weeks back, the President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez. And then, last year, there was a slew of visits, from Brazil, to Colombia, the Caribbean Five at Mar-a-Lago. We've had Chile. And then, obviously, at UNGA, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and others. So it's really been a non-stop focus.
This visit is special because President Moreno and Ecuador really have -- is really the model of how a country, which just a few years back was in a completely different state of relations with the United States whereby his predecessor, Rafael Correa, had really created a wedge in relations with the United States. President Moreno has really brought back -- is really the model of a transition from the 21st century Bolivarian socialism to, really, a -- to a democracy that is growing and that is forward leaning, sharing our values.
As I said recently, when I was in Ecuador, Bolivia, the fact of Ecuador as a country that shares our values, shares a long friendship with the United States -- we are natural partners in trade, in counter-narcotics, and in our democratic ideals. And so, in so doing, President Moreno really serves as a leadership figure for what a peaceful transition towards democracy and transparency looks like in the Western Hemisphere.
And at the end of the day, even though we spend a lot of time focusing and talk a lot about Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, the grand majority -- 32 out of 35 countries -- in the Western Hemisphere are democracies. Ecuador is the example of -- it's an example for Venezuela and it's an example for Nicaragua of how countries can peacefully transition even from within. That's been due to the leadership of President Moreno. And we're seeing that dramatic change. So it's really a special visit in that regards.
Topics of conversation will obviously be -- one will be Venezuela. Obviously, Ecuador is suffering firsthand not only what it had suffered under Rafael Correa, but is suffering firsthand the effects of Nicolas Maduro and his dictatorship in Venezuela in regards to the large wave of migrants from Venezuela that are arriving Colombia and -- through Colombia to Ecuador. Those large numbers are obviously creating fiscal strains, and they are even a security threat, frankly, in Venezuela -- in Ecuador.
Venezuela generally -- recently, there had been, a few months back, back in December, of massive protests -- some protests that were left by groups that clearly had Venezuelan and Cuban and other external actor influences seeking to destabilize and target that democracy in Ecuador.
President Moreno masterfully was able to (inaudible), with its leadership, deal with those protests at the time. And it was clear that there was clear external factors that were supporting that effect -- effort to destabilize the Ecuadorian government in that regards. And President Moreno, again, led and (inaudible) as a model to the region of how to really masterfully deal with that (inaudible) by bringing people together.
So, obviously, Venezuela will be a topic of conversation. Counter-narcotics will be a topic of conversation. And a big part of the conversation will be about America Crece, about our regional economic growth initiative, about trade. Obviously, Ecuador has an abundance of products. And we had really wonderful trade relationships at one time before Rafael Correa upended everything.
The United States and Ecuador are very close to a free trade agreement. I’m not saying that we’re going to get to a free trade agreement at this point. But something, definitely, I think both countries would like to explore and see if we can finish it off. So, really, there is no limit in that regards.
But we’ve already had a couple -- one round of Trade and Investment Committee, led by USTR and the Ecuadorian Commerce Ministry. And we’re going to have a second round soon.
So you’ll be seeing a lot of talk and you’ll see, obviously in our joint statement, discussions about America Crece and its different vehicles, obviously from the trade component, but also from the investment component. We’ll have signed -- Ecuador and the United States will have (inaudible) an energy and infrastructure framework agreement under America Crece.
And by my count, that is -- let me actually tell you the exact number. That is, I believe, eight of these energy and infrastructure frameworks that we have signed with countries in the region, which is -- in itself is quite -- is a feat. We've done Panama, Chile, Argentina, Jamaica, Colombia, El Salvador, and now Ecuador. So this will be now the seventh, and we anticipate in March to have Brazil, which is the eighth that I was thinking.
This is an extraordinary effort under the America Crece banner, and we’re very excited to have Ecuador join. And obviously, it will be a great initiative in that regards.
Ecuador is also -- in that regards, shows kind of the remnants of what the predatory lending of China in the Western Hemisphere. In the Correa years, President Correa essentially handed over the natural resources -- oil in particular -- from Ecuador to over-collateralize in regards to loan from China. And that burden -- that debt burden of China in Ecuador has made it very difficult for that economy to grow and to get out of that.
And that’s also been an effort which President Moreno has undertaken and has sought to -- despite those efforts, to be able to (inaudible) the country and economy forward. And the United States is proud to be doing so in partnership with President Moreno.
I will also mention that, really, this is also historic in the sense that this is the first time that the head of state -- the President of Ecuador -- visits the White House in almost 20 years. And that’s also extraordinary in the sense of -- in our partnership with this country and the leadership that it has in the region.
So with that, I’ll just open it up for questions.
Q Hi. Good afternoon. This is Lucia Leal with EFE. How are you? I just wanted to ask -- you mentioned they would be discussing trade. I know that President Moreno wants to ask President Trump for a similar framework in terms of trade as the one Ecuador has with the European Union. So I was wondering, is that something that the U.S. is open to doing?
And then, secondly, is there something in particular that President Trump wants to ask of Ecuador, as it regards to Venezuela? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I think President Trump obviously wants to hear firsthand from President Moreno, as a regional leader, just what he thinks about the current situation in Venezuela and what he thinks that all of us as allies, as Democrat allies in the region, should be doing in order to help that democratic transition take place and be fully executed in Venezuela.
So his leadership -- he’s a well-respected figure in the region and, obviously, will seek to see what his -- President Trump will seek to see what his advice is in that regards and what more we can be doing. We share the same goal. We share the same values. And we look forward to continuing that partnership with Ecuador in that regards. So that’s very -- that definitely will be a topic of conversation.
In addition to that, in regards to trade and your question on trade -- I mean, obviously, you know, our benchmark of trade agreements are the gold standard. President Trump’s gold standard of trade agreements is obviously our new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the USMCA. And, obviously, anything -- any agreement we do in the region will have that as a starting point. And so we look forward to discussing with Ecuador how we can continue to work together and what can be done in order to move a long-awaited trade agreement between both countries.
So that’s something -- Ambassador Lighthizer will be joining the meeting with President Trump and President Moreno. So, clearly, that will be a subject of conversation.
Q Hello, this is Bricio Segovia with Voice of America. Thank you for doing this. I know you just said President Trump wants to hear Ecuador President's concerns regarding the Venezuela crisis before taking any decisions, but is there anything that the administration has on the table to offer as of now to Ecuador and the other countries, which are taking a lot of the load on the immigration crisis?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, well, the United States -- obviously, we have been a leader in helping countries in the region deal with the humanitarian crisis that has been caused in Venezuela and sparked by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.
I don’t have in front of me the numbers -- the exact numbers that we have contributed, but we have been -- through USAID, we've been helping Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru deal with, obviously, the fiscal strains and the humanitarian aspect of this migration crisis. And so we will continue doing so, and that will obviously be important.
As regard our policy towards Venezuela, as I have mentioned in the past, we are -- President Trump has taken the decision to further accelerate our maximum pressure policy to try to get it to maximum. I've said before that (inaudible) probably halfway through what maximum pressure could be, and we're willing to move more in that direction in the days and weeks to come. We will see that, and obviously, this is something that we look forward to discussing with President Moreno.
Q Hey, thanks for doing this call. This is Franco Ordoñez from NPR. Just related to those questions, is there an ask of Ecuador in regards to assisting with the maximum pressure campaign? In the past, the administration has considered -- discussed with regional leaders possibly them implementing their own sanctions. Some of the response has been they have their own legal limitations. But is that something that Moreno is open to, that Ecuador is open to? Is that something that will be discussed? Or is there other things that could be -- other options that the administration will ask of Ecuador to put more pressure on Maduro at this point?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah. Well, you know, obviously, we will be working as we have been with all of the countries of the Lima Group and with Ecuador -- which has been both in the Lima Group and the International Contact Group -- in regards to having a -- sharing a lot of the policies and creating their own structure in order to be able to increase pressure on Venezuela. All of those issues will be discussed and we look forward to doing so with Ecuador.
As (inaudible), we -- the (inaudible) region recently reinstated the Rio Treaty in regards to -- which will help a lot of those countries in the region with those legal frameworks from within so that therefore we can have a united effort in regards to sanctioning and that pressure can increase (inaudible) with Ecuador, as well, in dealing with this. And I think it will be definitely a subject of conversation.
Ecuador can be helpful in many fronts -- on the diplomatic front, which is very important, as obviously they’re very well-respected in the region.
Remember, President Moreno is a leader of the left, per se, and in so doing, was partner -- he was President Correa’s Vice President. And so he speaks with a non-ideological voice. And so, therefore, he carries a lot of weight. So, there, from the diplomatic front.
From the sanctions front, unfortunately -- so they’re not part of the group of countries that signed -- that are part of the Rio Treaty, but we would love to have their support and work with them as well to share in a lot of those issues that the Rio Treaty has enacted and the sanctions that the Rio Treaty countries that (inaudible) as a whole have already enacted, and in future actions.
Obviously, as a prominent member of the neighborhood (inaudible) be able to deal with those. I think it would be very helpful and it’s something that we look forward to discussing with President Moreno, per se.
By the way, I just wanted to clarify that we have provided, thus far, more than $656 million in humanitarian and development assistance to help Venezuelans affected by the ongoing crisis, both inside and outside, of which USAID, in itself, has provided $437 million of those 656 (inaudible).
Q Hi. This is Kathleen (inaudible) from the Asahi Shimbun. Thank you so much for doing the call. I wanted to ask: So you had mentioned security issues that Ecuador has and that Ecuador and the United States will be talking about. What security risks do the two countries have in common?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, obviously, counter-narcotics is front and center. The other thing that the current Ecuadorian President Moreno -- the current Ecuadorian government has been working on is reverting some of the policies of the Correa administration.
For example, the Correa administration had taken away visa requirements from all countries in the world, and that has led to people and to potential risk of bad actors, including terrorists, looking to use Ecuador as a transiting point without a visa to come to the United States.
I actually -- I had seen yesterday that three Iranians were using Israeli passports to try to get to Spain through Ecuador just this week. So, obviously, those issues, they have been rectifying that. President Moreno has now (inaudible) visas from a lot of countries, trouble spots throughout the world that have been using -- that Correa had opened the door to, to use Ecuador as a transiting spot. So, from also -- not only from a counter-narcotics, from a counterterrorism perspective, we're working closely with them.
And then, obviously, in dealing with Venezuela, which, in itself, the issues of the FARC, which have always -- also been a complicated issue on the border between Colombia and Ecuador, those are important issues that involve narcoterrorism. And so obviously, there, we have a lot of issues that we're working closely with them with.
So there's a whole gamut of those issues that are really important and are priority (inaudible) those countries.
By the way, if I could just add -- going back again to the aid, because I want to make sure to get you specific figures of that humanitarian aid (inaudible) Venezuelan humanitarian crisis -- Ecuador has received $72 million, and there are currently almost 400,000 Venezuelans in Ecuador.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. Thanks, everybody. That will be it. And we look forward to getting the transcript of this call out.
In the meanwhile, if you have any follow-up questions, feel free to reach out to me directly. Again, this call is embargoed until its conclusion and the contents are for attribution to a "senior administration official." Have a good day, everyone.
END 4:23 P.M. EST
