QUITO, (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wooed one of Latin America’s vocal leftist leaders yesterday, hoping to show that the United States can cooperate even with countries that criticize U.S. policies.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, often aligned with U.S. foe Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, expressed “joy” at Clinton’s arrival, and assured her whatever their differences, the United States and Ecuador could work together.
“We will not bow down,” Correa said in a joint appearance with Clinton. “However we are not anti-American, we love the U.S. very much.”
The Obama administration has repeatedly vowed closer cooperation with Latin America, but remains dogged by disappointment in the region over the slow pace of change on key issues including immigration and the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.
Many Latin Americans were also disappointed with what they saw as an insufficiently forceful U.S. response to last year’s coup in Honduras. Clinton’s Latin America tour is aimed at once again trying to create momentum in U.S. ties with its southern neighbors.
Correa is often grouped with other leftist leaders in the region, including Chavez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, and has been critical of the United States in the past. He ended an accord allowing the U.S. military to use Ecuador’s Manta air base for counter-narcotics flights in the Pacific.
Correa’s government says it is not under the influence of Chavez’s socialist revolution. Like Chavez, he has also tightened state control over natural resources and in April threatened to nationalize foreign oil operations unless companies sign contracts boosting state influence.
REMEDYING PAST WRONGS
Correa’s popularity ratings have slipped in recent months as Ecuador battles a deep recession, and U.S. officials are hopeful that he may be open to a more conciliatory approach as he seeks an economic boost for his OPEC member nation.
Clinton said Washington did not regard the rise of leaders like Correa with alarm, but rather wanted to help them try to improve their countries.
“We see a dynamic and vibrant hemisphere, and we see leaders in Latin America that are trying, sometimes against great odds, to remedy past wrongs,” Clinton said.
Correa said he brought up neighbouring Colombia’s decision to permit U.S. forces more access to its military bases — one nagging issues that has clouded U.S. ties with the region in the past — and that he was glad to discuss it further.
During the appearance with Clinton, a representative from an Ecuadorean journalists group read a statement decrying a proposed press law that critics say could limit media freedoms in the country.
Clinton and the Ecuadorean president appeared to get along well, and after the meeting, Correa, a U.S.-educated economist, said he was encouraged by what he called a new approach in Obama’s Latin America policy.
In a speech to a group of officials and academics in Quito, Clinton sought to outline the appeal of the proposed U.S. partnership, saying Washington would help to promote economic opportunity and find ways to tackle huge wealth disparities in the region.
“In many places, including often in my own country, the simple fact is that the wealthy do not pay their fair share,” Clinton said, adding that levels of tax evasion were unacceptably high.
She said it was important to remember, however, that it was not a “zero-sum game” and that building together could result in a more stable democracy.
