Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa affirmed that he will work with Colombian president-elect Juan Manuel Santos to fully normalize relations following the diplomatic crisis of 2008.
Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa affirmed that he will work with Colombian president-elect Juan Manuel Santos to fully normalize relations following the diplomatic crisis of 2008. “We’ve said that we will come second to no one in respecting the Colombian people’s sovereign decision, and with this new president (…), Juan Manuel Santos, we will continue to work to try to normalize bilateral relations,” the president maintained. Correa indicated that he called the president-elect Monday, after his triumph in Sunday’s balloting. “I’ve called Mr. Santos to congratulate him and to tell him that he can count on Ecuador (…) for the progress of two peoples that have always been brothers,” he added in a radio interview. Nevertheless, the head of state emphasized that in order to entirely normalize diplomatic ties, it is necessary to do so within a “framework of mutual respect, strict compliance with international law, and respect for each country’s sovereignty.” In November 2009 Quito and Bogotá exchanged chargés d’affaires, after a twenty-one-month break in diplomatic relations stemming from a Colombian military attack on the FARC guerrilla group in Ecuadorean territory.