Ecuador, Colombia formally establish ties at trade representations level

Ecuador and Colombia formally established on Monday ties at trade representation level, official sources said.

Both governments said that the full normalization of their ties will happen when the so called "sensitive" issues are surpassed.

In this way, after almost 21 months of severed diplomatic ties, the officers of both countries began to work on Monday, according to the course agreed in the so called "waybill."

The trade representative of Ecuador, Andres Teran, took office in Bogota, while his Colombia counterpart Ricardo Montenegro also took office in Quito.

The appointment of the trade representatives was due to the agreement singed between both countries on Oct. 3, 2009 in New York, to restore their diplomatic ties.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said on Monday that Teran will be in charge of representing the trade of Ecuador and its interests in Colombia.

Teran "must work on the bilateral tie, the trade and investment aspects, and the normalization of the diplomatic ties," Falconi said.

Falconi said that to work on the "sensitive" issues, Ecuador will use aid mechanisms of Carter Center and of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Last week the defense ministers of Ecuador Xavier Ponce and of Colombia Gabriel Silva reactivated in Bogota, Colombia the activities of the Border Bi-national Commission (COMBIFRON), created in 1996.

Both countries also agreed to appoint before Dec. 10, 2009, their military and police attaches for their diplomatic representations, as well as a high level group of the COMBIFRON.

Ecuador severed ties with Colombia on March 3, 2008, after Colombia army raided a guerilla camp in Ecuadorian territory, without notifying the government, which was considered by Ecuador as a violation to its sovereignty.

Source: Xinhua