BOGOTA, March 26 (UPI) -- Colombian officials said Tuesday they hope to renew diplomatic relations with Ecuador despite ongoing tensions over the killing of a rebel commander.
"We intend to re-establish relations with Ecuador as soon as we can," El Tiempo reported online Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo as saying.
Tensions between the South American neighbors remain high despite a meeting of Ecuadorian and Colombian leaders at a regional summit during which both sides said they sought to end the animosity between them.
Colombian forces killed rebel commander Raul Reyes and more than two dozen members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, during an incursion into Ecuadorian territory early this month.
Colombia's unilateral military action triggered diplomatic high drama that included both Ecuador and Venezuela temporarily severing relations with Colombia and dispatching troops to their borders.
