Ecuador army ordered to repel military incursions
Updated: 2008-03-14 10:08
QUITO -- The Ecuadorian government announced Thursday that its Armed Forces have been ordered to repel military incursions against its territory.
"Ecuador's Armed Forces and Police in the northern border (with Colombia) have the State order and the order of the president of the Republic to repel any incursion into Ecuadorian territory," Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said in a communique.
The ministry asked Colombia to control its border so that irregular groups do not enter Ecuadorian territory.
It also denied that President Rafael Correa's government has any links with Colombia's rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government "must remember that (Ecuador) is just one more victim of the Colombian conflict, not the one that started it. The guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers come to Ecuador from Colombia," it added.
Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia after Colombian troops entered Ecuadorian territory on March 1 to attack a camp of FARC rebels and killed over 20 guerillas, including a top rebel leader. Ecuador called the raid a violation of its territorial sovereignty.
Venezuela, Colombia's northern neighbor, expelled Colombian diplomats to express solidarity with Ecuador. Ecuador and Venezuela also deployed troops at their respective borders with Colombia at the height of the crisis.
On March 7, at the 20th Rio Group Summit held in the Dominican Republic, under the mediation of the host country and other countries, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia declared an end of the border crisis. Correa said he will reestablish diplomatic relations with Colombia.
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