Correction: Ecuador-US story

Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — In a story May 15 about an agreement between Ecuador and the U.S. Agency for International Development, The Associated Press reported erroneously that aid for Venezuelan refugees is part of the USAID agreement. It is not.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Ecuador agrees to return of USAID as relations warm

Ecuador has agreed to the return of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has been kicked out of the country four years ago under leftist former President Rafael Correa

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador has agreed to the return of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has been kicked out of the country four years ago under leftist former President Rafael Correa.

Foreign Minister José Valencia and U.S. Ambassador Mark Green signed the memorandum of agreement on Wednesday setting terms of the deal. The new partnership is in addition to $30 million Ecuador is receiving as part of a region-wide initiative to help countries cope with migrants fleeing Venezuela's political and economic crisis.

Valencia said the "special connection" with the U.S. is an expression of President Lenin Moreno's policies.

Moreno has aligned the South American nation more closely with the U.S. since taking office in 2017. He's been feuding with Correa, who had prickly relations with the U.S. and expelled USAID in 2014.