CAN Secretary General hails
decision of Colombian and
Ecuadorian Presidents to resume
diplomatic relations
Lima, June 6, 2008.- The
Secretary General of the Andean
Community, Freddy Ehlers, hailed
the decision of the Presidents
of Colombia and Ecuador to
accept the proposal put forward
by former President Jimmy Carter
to resume diplomatic relations
“without preconditions,”
initially on a chargé d’affaires
level.
Ehlers stated that this
constitutes the first step
toward full normalization of
relations and trust between the
two sister countries and the
search for permanent mutual
confidence-building
mechanisms.
He went on to point up the
mediation mission carried out by
former United States President
and Nobel Peace Prize winner,
Jimmy Carter, and the OAS, both
of whom worked intensively for
the reestablishment of
relations. The Secretary
General also praised the silent
efforts made for that same
purpose by the Vice-Ministers of
Foreign Affairs of Colombia and
Ecuador, Camilo Reyes and José
Valencia.
The Presidents of the two
countries confirmed the
reestablishment of relations
between Colombia and Ecuador.
President Álvaro Uribe, in a
press statement, declared his
“complete willingness” to resume
those relations “immediately and
without preconditions” and
President Rafael Correa
expressed himself in a similar
vein. Like the Colombian
President, he reported that he
had “duly instructed the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
immediately proceed to implement
this measure.”
