The United States and Ecuador are in the final stages of establishing an agreement that would allow the US to send asylum seekers to the country, a senior State Department official said on Thursday. "It is not 100% finished," the official said, adding that the so-called safe third country agreement must go through the standard operating procedures involving the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. The topic was discussed on Thursday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country. "It is very case-by-case," the official said, adding that there are no plans to send a specific quota of asylum seekers to Ecuador. The official said this is part of the overall relationship between the two countries. "We have a whole lot of difference pieces in our relationship, and it is not a quid-pro-quo," the official said, noting that the new US security assistance for Ecuador announced during Rubio's trip was not connected to a specific number of individuals who could be deported to the country as part of a safe third country agreement. There are no current plans for the Trump administration to strike an agreement with Ecuador similar to the one with El Salvador that would involve a transfer of alleged gang members, according to the official. When it comes to Ecuador taking on violent crime and drug trafficking, the official said the country is "just getting ramped up" on those efforts. Gangs, drugs and public safety threats are still rampant in the country, but the official believes that there are legitimate efforts to tackle the problem. "You have got a government that really is all in now in trying to break the stranglehold that these gangs and cartels had on the country," the official said. Rubio praised Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Thursday, saying that he is a willing partner who has done more to take on drug traffickers in his country than any administration in the past. While the US works with Ecuador and other countries in Latin America to drive down drug trafficking, the US is concerned about judges, prosecutors and police being corrupted or intimidated by gangs in the region. That is one reason the US is also working to update its extradition treaty with Ecuador, which would allow the country to send more drug traffickers to the US for trial. Earlier Thursday, Rubio announced the US State Department is designating two Ecuadorian criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations. The designations of the gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, "brings with it all sorts of options in the United States to work in conjunction with the government of Ecuador in the future to stamp these groups out," Rubio said in the country's capital, Quito. Rubio said the designations not only allow the US to impose sanctions, but also mean it can share intelligence with Ecuador "that can be actioned for potentially lethal operations." Rubio also announced the US would provide $13.5 million "to help Ecuador improve its ability to provide security for its citizens, take on the combat drugs and crime." The US will provide another $6 million in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for Ecuador's Navy. — CNN
