Colombia–Ecuador relations
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Colombia–Ecuador relations refers to the diplomatic relations between the neighboring Republic of Colombia and Republic of Ecuador. The present territory of both countries was part of the Spanish Empire from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. After the wars for independence against the Spain led by Simón Bolívar, Ecuador, Colombia (then called New Granada), and Venezuela became part of the Republic of Gran Colombia in 1819. Gran Colombia struggled to hold itself together as a country, and after intense civil conflicts between political factions, the union fell apart in 1830.
Present-day Colombia and Ecuador trace back established official diplomatic relations to December, 1831 with the signing of the Treaty of Pasto, in which both countries recognized each other as sovereign states. The Ecuadorian diplomatic mission in New Granada (Colombia) did not open until 1837. It wasn't until 1939 that Ecuador raised the diplomatic mission's status to an official Embassy. Colombia did the same the following year in 1940.
On March 1, 2008 the Colombian military launched an attack against FARC in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, which ended with the death of some 19 guerrillas including the group's second in command Raul Reyes and one Colombian soldier. The attack targeted a guerrilla camp some 1.8 km inside Ecuadorian territory.
Colombian president Álvaro Uribe called the Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, arguing that Colombian forces had crossed the border during combat in pursuit of the guerrillas. Correa said he would investigate the events and later accused the Colombian president of being either misinformed or lying to him. The accusation was based on the information provided by the Ecuadorian army in the bombed area, describing what Correa later called a "massacre". According to the Ecuadorian president, bodies in their underwear or pajamas were found in the guerrilla camp, indicating that they would have been sleeping at the time of the bomb raid and that there was no "hot pursuit" as president Uribe had informed him hours earlier. The Ecuadorian president decided then to recall his ambassador in Bogotá for consultations. The Colombian government subsequently apologized for its actions while accusing the Ecuadorian government of giving safe conduct to the FARC. The Organization of American States authorized the Colombia-Ecuador Good Offices Mission to promote the re-establishment of trust among the two governments through confidence building measures and prevent and verify any border incidents.
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