Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez and his Ecuadorean counterpart Fander Falconi agreed on Tuesday to continue taking steps in what has to lead to the restoration of ties between the two neighbors, despite ongoing friction between the countries.
The two officials agreed to choose representatives to oversee an improvement of trade as planned in earlier meetings when the two countries decided to form commissions to deal with the different issues that need to be taken care of.
The ministers’ meeting was held despite an ongoing legal disagreement on the extradition of high Colombian Defense officials, who are wanted by an Ecuadorean court for their responsibility in the attack on a FARC camp south of the Colombian border in March 2008.
The attack caused Ecuador to break the diplomatic ties the officials now try to repair and killed some 26 people including the international spokesman of the FARC, alias Raul Reyes, Ecuador’s Franklin Aisalla and four Mexican university students.