The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, declared on Monday night (16) that his country was “bombed” by Ecuador. An explosive device was reportedly “dropped by a plane” near the border with the neighboring country.
In a public statement, the president stated that the bomb was not launched by illegal armed groups, but by an “official” Ecuadorian aircraft. He highlighted the need to “investigate well” what happened and reiterated that he “does not want a war”. Declaring that he has no intention of entering into conflict, Petro stated last week that he had asked Donald Trump to mediate.
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Petro’s complaint came amid a trade war between the two countries, which began in January. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced the imposition of a 30% “security tax” on Colombian imports, justifying the measure by an alleged lack of action by the neighboring government in combating drug trafficking on the border, according to the agency. EFE.
Colombia responded with tariffs on 73 products and cut electricity supplies to Ecuador, prompting Noboa’s government to increase the fee charged to transport Colombian oil through one of its biggest pipelines. Additionally, since March 1, it has raised rates to 50%.
Recording
In his report on the discovery of the bomb, Petro reported that “there were many explosions” and said that he would soon make public “a recording” sent to his government, coming from Ecuador, about what happened.
Last week, Ecuador and the United States signed an agreement that formalized the opening of the first FBI (American federal police) office in the Andean country, with the aim of supporting the fight against international organized crime groups.
In addition to the opening of the office, a new police unit was created that will allow both countries to improve their joint capacity to “identify, dismantle and bring to justice those who traffic drugs, launder money, smuggle weapons and finance terrorism”, according to information from the US embassy in Ecuador.
The agreement adds to the joint military operations that the two countries began at the beginning of the month, in Ecuador, against “terrorist” organizations. In these operations, they bombed and destroyed a training camp for the Border Commands, a splinter group of the demobilized Colombian FARC guerrillas.
In January last year, US President Donald Trump designated the Tren de Aragua, along with Mexican cartels and the Salvadoran gang MS-13, as terrorist organizations.
