The defense ministers of Colombia and Ecuador on Monday announced they will jointly increase efforts to fight illegal armed groups that operate in the two countries’ shared border region.
Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera and his Ecuadorean counterpart Javier Ponce announced the creation of a bilateral working group on border security after meeting in the Colombian capital Bogota.
The countries’ deputy ministers of defense will take part in this group, which will meet for the first time on March 14 in the Ecuadorean capital Quito.
Ponce called the meeting with his Colombian colleague “fundamental” and stressed it was the first meeting between Colombia’s and Ecuador’s defense ministers after the rupture of ties in March 2008.
Ecuador broke off ties after a Colombian cross-border attack on a FARC camp. The governments of the two nations have been slowly reestablishing these ties since September 2009.