In the nearly two years since Guillermo Lasso, a millionaire and conservative banker, won the presidency in Ecuador, the region has changed considerably. Left-wing leaders have won election after election, including in neighbouring Colombia, which had been the United States’s primary strategic ally in the hemisphere for decades. This far-reaching geopolitical shift to the left has made the US-Ecuador relationship of utmost importance to Washington – as well as to Quito.Multiple high-level US officials have travelled to Ecuador and Lasso himself was given a warm welcome at the White House in December. On the eve of that visit, the US Congress passed the US-Ecuador Partnership Act, which seeks to further strengthen bilateral relations.“Ecuador has emerged as a model in Latin America and the Caribbean for its ongoing efforts to strengthen democratic governance and human rights,” Senator Bob Menendez, who co-sponsored the bill, said at the time.
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