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The UN condemns incidents on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border and offers support
Posted On 23 Apr 2018
Ecuadornews:
The UN today condemned the murder in captivity of three members of a journalistic team and the subsequent kidnapping of two civilians on the border between Colombia and Ecuador, and ratified their willingness to provide support to both governments in areas they consider necessary.
When referring to the murder of Javier Ortega (journalist), Paul Rivas (photographer) and Efraín Segarra (driver), of the newspaper El Comercio, the secretary general of the UN, António Guterres, expressed through his spokesman his “condolences to families of the victims and their sympathy and solidarity with the Government and people of Ecuador. “
A week after confirming, on April 13, the murder of the journalist team that had disappeared on March 26, the Ecuadorian government reported the kidnapping of two civilians in a border area with Colombia.
Both facts have been attributed to a dissident group of the FARC.
“These acts highlight the threats posed by the criminal groups that operate on the border between Ecuador and Colombia,” said the secretary general, according to the statement of spokesman Farhan Haq.
In addition to celebrating “the close cooperation between both countries to face this common threat,” Guterres ratified the “availability of the United Nations to support the two governments in the areas they deem necessary,” the communication added.
In response to the violence on the common border, Ecuador desisted from its role as guarantor of the peace process between the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which held dialogues in Quito.
On Thursday, Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín said at a press conference at the UN headquarters that her country will continue to work closely with Ecuador, whose government has ratified the close friendship that links it with its neighbor. (I)
