ECUADOR-COLOMBIA | One step forward, two back. The restoration of diplomatic relations between Colombia and Ecuador suffered a setback this week after the Colombian government said it felt “uncomfortable" restoring ties to the chargés d'affaires level (as agreed on 6 June) in the wake of “aggressive" remarks by Ecuador's President Rafael Correa. In an interview with the Argentine daily Página/12 on 22 June, Correa said that the bombs dropped during the 1 March bombing of a Farc camp in Ecuador were “North American" and that Colombia's military had shot survivors of the raid in cold blood. The response from Quito was unequivocal: the foreign minister, María Isabel Salvador, said that not only did her government have no intention of restoring relations with a country whose actions lacked consistency or coherence but unless things improved Ecuador would consider restricting bilateral trade.
She provided no further details. Colombia is Ecuador's second most important trade partner after the US with bilateral trade amounting to US$2.14bn in 2007 (70% imports).
End of preview - This article contains approximately 287 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
