Biden's meeting with the president of Ecuador

US President Joe Biden met with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso at the White House on Monday. The two discussed security and economic cooperation in Washington and Quito.

Lasso is visiting the United States to discuss a number of priority issues. Before leaving for Washington, he raised the issue of cost-sharing in the fight against drug trafficking to reporters.

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Besides, the main problem of the country is the conflict and fighting between the rival groups. Hundreds of people have died in the South American country in such clashes in prisons and on the streets. The Lasso government was even forced to declare a state of emergency in some parts of the country. Drug trafficking groups are also active and involved in conflicts in Ecuador, located between Colombia and Peru, two of the world's top cocaine producers.

In view of this, calling for cost sharing before leaving the state, he also said that the fight is happening here. But the beneficiaries are not only teenagers and children in Ecuador, but also teenagers and children in the United States.

As for Ecuador, they will need $500 million to win this fight. The White House hinted this week that it will examine how to increase security assistance to combat ethnic and gang violence.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the closed-door meeting, Biden told Lasso, "We have made historic progress on immigration." We will discuss how to deepen our security and economic partnership.

Lasso, Ecuador's first conservative president in 14 years, cited the meeting as an opportunity to reaffirm the ongoing process of sharing the values of democratic freedom and human rights with the American people.

Lasso said that Ecuador is one of the few American countries with which the United States has a free trade agreement. In addition, Ecuador, like other countries in Latin America, is trying to distance itself from China's US tensions.