Colombia, Ecuador mend diplomatic ties after bombing

BOGOTA (AFP) -- Twenty months after Colombian forces bombed a guerrilla encampment in Ecuador bringing the two countries to the verge of war, both capitals on Friday said they restored diplomatic ties.

The governments announced the exchange of embassy envoys ahead of a self-imposed November 15 deadline, a key part of a “roadmap” to normalize ties.

“As planned in the roadmap, we have agreed to appoint our charges d'affaires,” Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez told Radio Caracol, speaking from Singapore.

The move was described in Quito as “a new step toward normalization of diplomatic relations,” a government statement said.

Ties between the neighboring South American nations were shattered on March 1, 2008, when the Colombian military bombed a clandestine base run by Colombian FARC guerrillas. Diplomatic relations were severed two days later.

FARC's number two Raul Reyes was killed in the raid, as well as 24 others.

The raid plunged the region into crisis as leftist governments rounded on Colombia's pro-U.S. leaders.

Tensions were exacerbated when Colombian soldiers who entered the camp recovered computer hard drives and flash drives with data that Bogota said linked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to both the leftist guerrillas and the illegal drug trade.

Months of diplomatic back-and-forth were jump-started in September when the two countries announced they had opened direct talks and would be naming diplomats at their respective embassies.

The fractured relations has prompted tense situation at the nations' border, with Ecuador boosting its security contingent to some 7,000 Ecuadoran soldiers and over 3,500 policemen deployed along the 720-kilometer (447-mile) frontier, where insurgent groups, paramilitaries and drug traffickers are known to operate.

Colombia and Ecuador have since been edging toward improving ties, but a meeting of both militaries was canceled last month after Quito issued an arrest warrant and extradition request for the chief of Colombia's armed forces.

The 2008 bombing raid also spurred concern of conflict with neighboring Venezuela, where firebrand leader Chavez has spoken of “war” with Bogota over the incident.

Relations between staunchly anti-U.S. populist Chavez and the government of President Alvaro Uribe in Colombia have been tense for years.

Although Chavez restored diplomatic ties with Bogota following the bombing raid, Ecuador did not.

Heavily backing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama faces a dilemma in the region as it faces off with the leftist governments in Quito and Caracas.

The U.S. agreement with Colombia to use military bases in anti-drug operations -- which sparked a severe backlash across South America -- has been seen as part of Bogota's responsibility in the war on drugs: Colombia is the world's cocaine largest producer, and the United States is the world's largest cocaine consumer.

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