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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Ecuadorian soldiers caught inside Colombia | |
| 2009-08-12 | |
The soldiers -- an officer, a noncommissioned officer and 9 soldiers that were captured 300 meters inside Colombian territory, in the southern department of Putumayo -- were quickly returned to Quito, the Equator Defense minister said, Javier Ponce. "There is no inconvenience. All is absolutely tranquil (..) they were not armed and already they are back in their country", detailed Ponce. The Ecuadorian vice-chancellor, Lautaro Well, had explained previously that the soldiers "went to buy fish in the other side of the river Putumayo and in application of the handbook of security they will be returned, not deportees to the country". In turn, Miguel Carvajal, minister of Interior Security and Outside of Equator, confirmed the "involuntary incident". Colombia and Equator do not have diplomatic relations after in March 2008 the Colombian Air Force bombarded the camp of the leader of the FARC guerilla group, Raúl Kings, in Ecuadorian territory, and after accusations of Bogota that the Government of Ecuador has supported the insurgent group. The situation intensified after the decision of Colombia to extend a military agreement with its ally, the United States, that would permit the latter to use Colombian naval and air bases. The president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, has said that those bases are an extension of the military cooperation that his country maintains with the United States to fight drug trafficking and terrorism. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |