The presidents of Colombia and Ecuador recalled their ambassadors amid insults about their politically opposed government’s roles in the international drug trade.
Bilateral relations all but broke down earlier this week after Colombian President Gustavo Petro referred to Ecuador’s jailed former Vice-President Jorge Glas as a political prisoner.
In a response, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa accused Petro of meddling in internal affairs and announced 100% tariffs on Colombian imports, which were set at 50% in January over growing tensions related to bilateral efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Bilateral attempts to improve the coordination between the armed forces and eliminate the tariffs failed, Noboa suggested in a post on social media platform X.
“Unfortunately, it is impossible to reach agreements with those who do not share the same commitment to fighting narco-terrorism,” said Noboa, whose country has been suffering extreme level of violence because of the drug trade.
The Ecuadorean president added that since imposing the initial tariffs, “violent deaths on the northern border fell by 33%.”
Noboa suggested that he wouldn’t resume talks with the Colombian government until after Petro leaves office in August.
The Colombian president called the tariffs a “monstrosity” and ordered the Foreign Ministry to improve trade relations with the rest of the Americas.
Petro additionally questioned the motives of his Ecuadorean counterpart and stressed that a transport firm of Noboa family has been implicated in multiple European drug trafficking investigations.
Let them explain in Ecuador why cocaine shipments are turning up on those shady business ships; let Ecuador’s politicians explain why security at the seaports has deteriorated so much that they have become the world’s largest exporters of cocaine. Colombian drug cartels are teaming up with Ecuadorian drug cartels and with people in positions of political and economic power.
President Gustavo Petro
The Colombian president additionally reiterated concerns about an alleged US-Ecuadorean plot to fabricate drug trafficking charges against him with the help of drug traffickers from the border region.
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