Colombia’s armed forces said that it will send reinforcements to the border with Ecuador in response to a wave of violence n the neighboring country.
In a post on social media platform X, the military said that it had agreed with its Ecuadorean counterpart to send troops to the border region “with the objective of preventing any criminal action that may affect the tranquility of its inhabitants.”
Colombia’s armed forces will send some 450 men and women to the border, said the military command in the capital Bogota.
Armed Forces
The military leadership also ordered “constant monitoring” of the border region with the help of drones that would allow the military to send troops to “strategic points to provide all the security and tranquility conditions for the development of commercial and daily activities in the region.”
The decision to send more troops to the border region followed a surge in violence in Ecuador that spurred that country’s president to declare an internal armed conflict.
The violence is mainly caused by organized crime groups that are involved in the international drug trade.
Drug traffickers and guerrilla groups have long been a major issue in the border region, which is of major importance for the cultivation of coca and the export of cocaine.