Colombia, Ecuador step toward re-establishing ties
COTACACHI, Ecuador, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Ecuador and Colombia agreed on Tuesday to name embassy charges d'affaires over the next two weeks as a step toward re-establishing diplomatic ties broken by Ecuador last year over a cross-border spat.
President Rafael Correa pulled his ambassador from Bogota after Colombia bombed a Marxist guerrilla camp set up on Ecuador's side of the border. The bombing killed a key leader of the outlawed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The rift between leftist Correa and Colombia's conservative leader Alvaro Uribe has been slow to heal. Uribe is considered Washington's most reliable ally in South America.
Diplomats from both Andean countries met on Tuesday in the northern Ecuadorean town of Cotacachi.
"We have agreed to name our respective charges d'affaires before Nov. 15," Ecuador's Foreign Minister Fander Falconi told reporters after the meeting with his Colombian counterpart.
The charge d'affaires heads each embassy's mission in the absence of an ambassador.
Correa is an ally of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who accuses the United States of meddling in the region. Washington sees Uribe as a buffer against the socialist duo.
On Friday the United States deepened its cooperation with Colombia by signing a deal allowing U.S. forces access to seven air, army and naval bases in the country to be used as a platform for anti-narcotics and anti-insurgency efforts. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia, writing by Hugh Bronstein, editing by Philip Barbara)
President Rafael Correa pulled his ambassador from Bogota after Colombia bombed a Marxist guerrilla camp set up on Ecuador's side of the border. The bombing killed a key leader of the outlawed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The rift between leftist Correa and Colombia's conservative leader Alvaro Uribe has been slow to heal. Uribe is considered Washington's most reliable ally in South America.
Diplomats from both Andean countries met on Tuesday in the northern Ecuadorean town of Cotacachi.
"We have agreed to name our respective charges d'affaires before Nov. 15," Ecuador's Foreign Minister Fander Falconi told reporters after the meeting with his Colombian counterpart.
The charge d'affaires heads each embassy's mission in the absence of an ambassador.
Correa is an ally of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who accuses the United States of meddling in the region. Washington sees Uribe as a buffer against the socialist duo.
On Friday the United States deepened its cooperation with Colombia by signing a deal allowing U.S. forces access to seven air, army and naval bases in the country to be used as a platform for anti-narcotics and anti-insurgency efforts. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia, writing by Hugh Bronstein, editing by Philip Barbara)
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