The country needs cooperation in its fight against insecurity and drug trafficking; in addition to more transfer of knowledge and technology, as well as the signing of more commercial agreements.
Juan Carlos Holguinminister of External relationshipsassured that the vision of the Government of Guillermo Lasso is that in the diplomacy The interests of the country must prevail, without ideological biases.
The most immediate priority is the signing of the largest number of trade agreementsbut also get the best cooperation on topics of security and fight against drug trafficking; in addition to the transfer of technology and knowledge.
The new vision of the Foreign Ministry focuses on having relations with everyone, according to the needs of the country.
Did international relations and diplomacy change after the pandemic?
You have to understand that the pandemic created a turning point in the diplomacy. We would not have thought two years ago to see European countries buying essential supply products from certain economies with which they did not even have diplomatic relations.
But post-pandemic needs cause a new global situation to be generated. And where Ecuador wants to be ready is to have as many commercial opening so that there is more world in Ecuador, which means lower prices and more well-being here; and more Ecuador in the world, which means more employment and money in the pockets of citizens.
Ecuador You must know how to play your role, and at this time, the important thing is to know how to act in favor of your interests.
In that sense, what will be the axes of post-pandemic Ecuadorian diplomacy?
We have six axes of the diplomacy of prosperity in the new post pandemic stage. First is the commercial Diplomacy, which is not the only axis, but it is the most important at this time to be able to close the circle of economic reactivation after what was the vaccine diplomacy.
Second, we have the ecological transition diplomacywhich has already allowed us to succeed in initiatives such as the expansion of the Galapagos marine reserve.
Third is the diplomacy for peacewhich includes all issues of citizen security, food security, defense.
The fourth axis is science and academic diplomacy. We are seeking cooperation from governments and multilateral organizations, among others, for the transfer of knowledge, technology and innovation in central issues such as public health.
In addition, we plan to reactivate the diplomatic academy to have a new class of diplomats with their sights focused on science and technology.
The last two axes are a digital transformation of all the processes of the Chancellery; and one diplomacy that reinstates culture as an axis of development.
How will this new vision help to achieve the necessary cooperation in the fight against insecurity and drug trafficking?
Many have thought that when talking about security you should automatically see the United States or Israel. But, for example, the problem of prisons is where there can be much more cooperation from Mexico and Colombia because the phenomenon of cartels in prisons is something that does not occur throughout the world.
We explore mechanisms of cooperation on defending and security depending on the need that Ecuador has in each field.
The fight that the country is making against the transnational criminal structures it can have a regional approach. More than in CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), the space is the Pacific Alliance, and above all in Prosur (Forum for the Progress of South America).
In the Cartagena declaration of Prosur, it was included that the regional integration mechanisms should have an approach to the security, because they are fighting against structures that have operations in almost all of our countries, as if they were multinationals.
Don’t ideological differences with governments like the Mexican affect possible joint actions against international crime?
With Mexico we have a problem of risky migration on the border that we have addressed together despite the ideological differences. An immediate action group was created, also with the support of the US border patrol, to help illegal migrants and even identify the causes of the increase in this phenomenon in the last 18 months.
That same logic of cooperation can be replicated to combat problems such as drug trafficking and consumption. In fact, Ecuador has now given its support to a Mexican initiative to understand the origin of the weapons that the cartels have, which are the same ones that handle drug and human trafficking.
If it is not for defense issues, what can be jointly promoted from instances such as CELAC?
In CELAC there is still little discussion of the international relations. It remains to be seen what Argentina’s position will be in its pro tempore presidency with respect to international cooperation.
But from that regional body, in addition to the successful integration to obtain vaccines against COVID-19, issues such as the aerospace.
A couple of weeks ago I saw that in networks the sending of an instrument to space by the Ecuadorian Aerospace Agency was remembered. That was left in a meme. Ecuador does not have those state priorities. But from a regional instrument it can have it because it comes with the cooperation of all the countries. The aerospace issue is vital for the world geopolitics at the moment.
International cooperation agreements should be linked to this type of issues from CELAC. We must explore those agreements with Russia, with China, with the United States, with India, which are the most advanced in this type of technological sector. (JS)
