BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombia yesterday released 11 Ecuadorean troops a day after they were seized in Colombian territory at a time of heightened tensions between the Andean neighbors, authorities from both countries said.
The two officers and nine soldiers, caught 300 yard/meters from the frontier in Putumayo province on Saturday, were turned over to the Ecuadorean military at the border. Ecuador’s Defense Minister Javier Ponce said the men were unarmed when they crossed the Putumayo River, which separates the countries along a jungle frontier.
“They crossed over to the other side of the frontier to buy some fish. Naturally they were detained by the Colombian armed forces,” Ponce said. “Everything is calm. They were not armed and now they are back in the country.” Ties between U.S. ally Colombia and Ecuador have been tense since March last year, when Colombian troops penetrated Ecuadorean territory to kill a Colombian FARC rebel commander. Since then, Colombia has accused Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa’s leftist government of backing the FARC, and Correa has complained that Colombia was failing to prevent its fight against the Marxist rebels from spilling over the frontier.
The troop incident came as Correa hosts a regional summit of South America governments, where leaders will discuss Colombia’s plans to expand U.S. troop presence at its military bases.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said the move would be an extension of U.S. military cooperation with Bogota in the battle against drug trafficking.
But South American governments have expressed concern to Venezuela’s leftist President Hugo Chavez, a fierce U.S. critic, warning it could spark war in the region.
Colombia, the world’s No. 1 cocaine producer, has received more than $5 billion in mostly military aid from Washington to fight drug traffickers and the FARC.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday denied the United States is planning to set up military bases in Colombia as part of the upgraded security agreement, and said Washington has no intention of sending large numbers of troops.
The plan is expected to increase the number of U.S. troops in Colombia from about 300 to no more than 800 — the maximum permitted under the existing military pact, officials said.
