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U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Meets Ecuador’s Foreign Minister to Reaffirm Cooperation on Migration, Economy and Critical Minerals

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Key takeaways

  • Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau met with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld in Washington, D.C.
  • The meeting took place on the margins of the Critical Minerals Ministerial.
  • Both officials reaffirmed a mutual commitment to ending illegal immigration.
  • They discussed advancing economic prosperity and strengthening economic cooperation, including on critical minerals.
  • The U.S. reiterated its commitment to partner with Ecuador to promote a safer, more secure, and more prosperous Western Hemisphere.

Follow Up Questions

What is the Critical Minerals Ministerial and which countries participate?Expand

A U.S.-hosted, high-level meeting (inaugural on Feb 4, 2026) to coordinate partners on securing, diversifying, and strengthening critical-minerals supply chains; it brought delegations from “over 50” nations — including G7 members and many mineral-producing and consuming countries — plus allied initiatives such as the Minerals Security Partnership.

What specific steps do the United States and Ecuador plan to take to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals?Expand

The readout does not list specific bilateral steps; U.S.-Ecuador cooperation on critical minerals is being advanced through Ecuador’s participation in multilateral mechanisms (e.g., the Minerals Security Partnership/MSP) and typical U.S. measures: information-sharing, project-level support, investment facilitation, and standards for responsible mining and processing — but no new, country-specific steps were announced in the Landau–Sommerfeld readout.

What programs or policies were referenced for addressing illegal immigration between the two countries?Expand

The readout simply says they “reaffirmed their mutual commitment to ending illegal immigration” but does not specify programs or policies; publicly known U.S.–Ecuador migration collaboration has included law-enforcement cooperation, information sharing, and migration-management capacity-building under regional migration and counternarcotics programs, though none were named in this readout.

Are there any new agreements, funding, or timelines announced as part of this partnership?Expand

No new agreements, dedicated funding, or implementation timelines were announced in the State Department readout of the Landau–Sommerfeld meeting.

Who is Gabriela Sommerfeld and what is her role in Ecuador’s foreign policy?Expand

Gabriela Sommerfeld is Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Minister); as Ecuador’s top diplomat she leads foreign-policy formulation and represents Ecuador in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, including engagement on economic and regional-security issues referenced in the meeting.

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