Ecuador asks Colombia to control the border

Ricardo Patino, Maria Fernanda Espinosa and Leonardo Barreiro

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino called on Colombia to have better control on the border. “We are deeply outraged by the attitude of this irregular group entering our territory,” Patino said during a press conference with the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Joint Command, Leonardo Barreiro, the report details the Ecuadorian military confrontation with insurgents that left six dead, several injured and two arrested.

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Minister of Defense, said that the military checkpoints are constantly under land, air and naval surveillance. She added that between 2010 and 2013 there have been more than 10,500 patrols through 82 land border detachments, 68 control and surveillance operatives of marine control, and also highlighted the 13 795 flight hours of surveillance on Ecuadorian airspace, mainly in the North border.

Leonardo Barreiro, head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, said the two men “are under the protection of the military and will be delivered to the competent authorities for investigation.”