QUITO, (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary  Clinton wooed one of Latin America’s vocal leftist leaders yesterday, hoping to show that the United States can cooperate  even with countries that criticize U.S. policies.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, often aligned with U.S.  foe Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, expressed “joy” at Clinton’s  arrival, and assured her whatever their differences, the United  States and Ecuador could work together.

“We will not bow down,” Correa said in a joint appearance  with Clinton. “However we are not anti-American, we love the  U.S. very much.”

The Obama administration has repeatedly vowed closer  cooperation with Latin America, but remains dogged by  disappointment in the region over the slow pace of change on  key issues including immigration and the U.S. economic embargo  against Cuba.

Many Latin Americans were also disappointed with what they  saw as an insufficiently forceful U.S. response to last year’s  coup in Honduras. Clinton’s Latin America tour is aimed at once  again trying to create momentum in U.S. ties with its southern  neighbors.

Correa is often grouped with other leftist leaders in the  region, including Chavez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, and has  been critical of the United States in the past. He ended an  accord allowing the U.S. military to use Ecuador’s Manta air  base for counter-narcotics flights in the Pacific.

Correa’s government says it is not under the influence of  Chavez’s socialist revolution. Like Chavez, he has also  tightened state control over natural resources and in April  threatened to nationalize foreign oil operations unless  companies sign contracts boosting state influence.

REMEDYING PAST WRONGS

Correa’s popularity ratings have slipped in recent months  as Ecuador battles a deep recession, and U.S. officials are  hopeful that he may be open to a more conciliatory approach as  he seeks an economic boost for his OPEC member nation.

Clinton said Washington did not regard the rise of leaders  like Correa with alarm, but rather wanted to help them try to  improve their countries.

“We see a dynamic and vibrant hemisphere, and we see  leaders in Latin America that are trying, sometimes against  great odds, to remedy past wrongs,” Clinton said.

Correa said he brought up neighbouring Colombia’s decision  to permit U.S. forces more access to its military bases — one  nagging issues that has clouded U.S. ties with the region in  the past — and that he was glad to discuss it further.

During the appearance with Clinton, a representative from  an Ecuadorean journalists group read a statement decrying a  proposed press law that critics say could limit media freedoms  in the country.

Clinton and the Ecuadorean president appeared to get along  well, and after the meeting, Correa, a U.S.-educated economist,  said he was encouraged by what he called a new approach in  Obama’s Latin America policy.

In a speech to a group of officials and academics in Quito,  Clinton sought to outline the appeal of the proposed U.S.  partnership, saying Washington would help to promote economic  opportunity and find ways to tackle huge wealth disparities in  the region.

“In many places, including often in my own country, the  simple fact is that the wealthy do not pay their fair share,”  Clinton said, adding that levels of tax evasion were  unacceptably high.

She said it was important to remember, however, that it was  not a “zero-sum game” and that building together could result  in a more stable democracy.