The first South American in Congress receives Ecuador’s second-highest honor

Thursday was not a typical day for Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

The Miami Democrat and first-term lawmaker received Ecuador’s second-highest civilian honor from President Lenin Moreno during a Capitol Hill ceremony complete with the kind of grandeur normally reserved for senior congressional leaders and heads of state.

After remarks from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mucarsel-Powell received Ecuador’s National Order of Merit from Moreno, an award previously bestowed on heads of state across South America and to notable Ecuadoreans like former Manchester United soccer player Antonio Valencia. A half dozen members of Congress crammed into a small room for the occasion, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Broward County.

“It’s an incredible honor and it was such an incredible moment for me to have...the president of Ecuador here along with the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi,” Mucarsel-Powell said. The award “represents all the work that I’ve been doing for so many years to protect the environment, and working hard to protect the rights of immigrants.”

Mucarsel-Powell was born in Ecuador and is the first member of Congress born in South America. When she was 14, she moved to the United States and attended college in California before settling in Miami.

Moreno and Mucarsel-Powell are also both victims of gun violence, an issue Mucarsel-Powell has worked on extensively since assuming office last year. Moreno was shot in a 1998 robbery attempt and has used a wheelchair ever since. Mucarsel-Powell’s father was killed 25 years ago in Ecuador, a life experience she highlighted during her campaign for Congress in 2018.

“I do respect what newcomers to our country bring from our own hemisphere,” Pelosi said. “Today is a special day where we can pay tribute to the Ecuadorean-U.S. relationship personified by our congresswoman, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. She takes great pride in her roots and her heritage from Ecuador and is a great American patriot. She looks out for the Dreamers, thousands of whom come from Ecuador, and in doing so she has been a teacher to the rest of us and a leader for the Congress.”

Before the award ceremony, Moreno also met with President Donald Trump. Moreno’s White House visit was the first for an Ecuadorean head of state in nearly 20 years, in part because U.S. relations with Ecuador deteriorated during the previous presidency of Rafael Correa, a leftist.

Moreno was Correa’s vice president and ran as a socialist during his successful 2017 campaign, but has since made neoliberal changes to Ecuador’s economy and foreign policy. He recognized Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela in 2019 and welcomed U.S. cooperation on security and economic measures, including accepting $72 million from the U.S. to assist an influx of Venezuelan immigrants.

There are nearly 400,000 Venezuelans in Ecuador, which has a population of 16.6 million.

But Moreno’s decision to end fuel subsidies last year touched off violent protests and led him to cancel an austerity package with the International Monetary Fund. His approval ratings remain low.

Moreno, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for his advocacy for people with disabilities, discussed a potential U.S.-Ecuador trade deal with Trump during their White House meeting on Wednesday.

“Ecuador has, after having gone through very hard times, and especially in regards to its international relationships, has decided to come together again with the international community and refresh relationships,” Moreno said in the Oval Office. “We need to remember that the U.S. is the main trading partner for Ecuador.”

Trump said Ecuador could buy U.S. military equipment.

“We are working on great deals,” Trump said at the Oval Office.”We’re working on military options including the purchase of a lot of our military equipment.”

Mucarsel-Powell said the award from Moreno is an inspiration to other immigrants who left South America for opportunities in the United States.

“For them to recognize me, I take it with great responsibility to set a path for so many others that have came here looking for those opportunities,” Mucarsel-Powell said.

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 3:27 PM.