Ecuador refuses to consider Colombia's largest rebel group FARC terrorists, its Defense Minister said Monday. Quito prefers using the term "irregular force."
"We have not declared the FARC as being of this belligerent character. This was not mentioned and is not mentioned and I think that Venezuela has also rejected this possibility," Defense Minister Javier Ponce told local newspaper Vanguardia.
While Quito considers the FARC an "irregular force," Colombia, the United States and the European Union do consider the Marxist rebels terrorists.
Despite not considering the FARC to be a terrorist organization, the Ecuadorean government does maintain a "zero tolerance policy" against the guerrillas, Ponce added.
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