Colombia and Ecuador are planning to open a formal dialogue on September 22 as part of a special session of the UN in order to restore their diplomatic relations, which have been frozen for over a year, said Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Falconi Fander on Monday.
The foreign ministers of both countries will meet in New York City, for the first formal meeting between representatives of the neighboring countries since March 2008, when Ecuador broke relations with Colombia.
“There is a political will of both parties to move forward. In this sense the foreign ministries are going to formulate a map for this dialogue to be substantial,” said Falconi.
Falconi acknowledged he has talked by telephone with his Colombian counterpart Jaime Bermudez to arrange the official meeting and discuss points for consideration. There is no set date by which to obtain results.
Ecuador will attend the meeting if its conditions are met by Colombia: firstly, it requests information about the attack on its territory, and secondly, asks that Colombia stop linking the government of Rafael Correa to the FARC rebel organization.
“We cannot expect results overnight. I think we must [proceed] with caution, to determine whether we will initiate a meeting,” said Falconi.