Colombia, Ecuador, Veneuzuela Agree to End Border Crisis
By VOA News
07 March 2008
The leaders of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela say they have settled a weeklong crisis that brought them to the brink of military clashes, after Colombian forces attacked FARC rebels inside Ecuador.
At a Rio Group summit in the Dominican Republic Friday, the three presidents, Colombia's Alvaro , Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, publicly shook hands in a show of good will.
The handshakes, broadcast live throughout Latin America, appeared to be a signal that a week of military buildups and diplomatic repercussions was over.
Earlier Friday, Mr. Uribe had clashed with Mr. Correa, accusing him of not supporting the fight against terrorism. He alleged Mr. Correa had received political support from the FARC, citing as evidence a letter seized during the attack.
Mr. Correa denied the Colombian president's claim and called him a liar. He said Ecuador was a victim of Colombia's illegal actions.
Colombia's cross-border raid last week pitted Venezuela and Ecuador against Colombia and broadened into a regional crisis. Friday's summit brought the presidents of the three nations face to face for the first time since the conflict began.
As the resolution of the three nations' dispute was announced, Nicaragua said it would restore diplomatic relations with Colombia, which authorities in Managua had broken off earlier.
Meanwhile, Colombian officials say their security forces killed a FARC rebel leader, Ivan Rios, in another clash that took place inside Colombia. The original raid in across Ecuador's border last week killed FARC commander Raul Reyes.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AP and AFP.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
