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Following a surge in violence along the border with Colombia, Ecuador's government is planning to meet with the United States to discuss an agreement for cooperation over 'security.'
Ecuadorean Ambassador to the United States Francisco Carrion told El Universo he is "planning a meeting between Ecuador and the United States to discuss material related to information and intelligence, something the United States has much experience with."
The move by the government of Lenin Moreno would signal a further dramatic shift away from the policies of his left-wing predecessor and former ally, Rafael Correa, whose term in office oversaw the expulsion of a U.S. military base in Manta.
"We are pushing relations forward: there is a good atmosphere in the United States right now because we feel that there is a change in Ecuador," the ambassador said, adding that previous relations had been "very closed."
President Moreno has also accused former President Correa of having alleged ties to the now-disarmed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). On Wednesday, he ordered an investigation into whether the FARC had given campaign funds to Correa.
The same day, Moreno announced that he would be ending Ecuador's role as guarantor for the negotiations between the still active left-wing guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Colombian government.
Former far-right President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe Velez, who has opposed the Colombian government's peace agreement with the FARC and has been accused of having close ties to right-wing paramilitary organizations, praised Moreno's decision.
"President Lenin Moreno of Ecuador sets a good example: to prohibit dialogue with the ELN while violence still persists," Uribe tweeted.
CNN journalist Fernando Del Rincon tweeted that Moreno had told him that the massive highway and road projects undertaken by the Correa government "could have been constructed to benefit the transport and trafficking of drugs."
The latest measures and statements follow the kidnapping and murder of three Ecuadorean journalists who were covering border violence.
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