Ecuador, Colombia to restore ties

BOGOTA - Quito and Bogota have named charges d’affaires to restore diplomatic ties severed last year following an attack on a Colombian rebel base in Ecuador.

Colombia has named Ricardo Montenegro as its envoy to Ecuador, while Quito has named Andres Teran as charge d’affaires in Bogota.

Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, currently on a state visit to Singapore, confirmed the appointment of Montenegro in an interview with Bogota’s Caracol Radio Friday.

Quito severed diplomatic relations with Bogota in March 2008 after the Colombian military bombed a hideout of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Ecuador.

At least 25 people, including Raul Reyes, second-in-command of the FARC, and Ecuadorian and Mexican nationals, were killed in the attack.

–EFE