Ecuador May Seek To Send
UN Peacekeepers to
Colombian Border
Ecuador's Security
Minister Gustavo Larrea
proposed on Monday
inviting United Nations
peacekeeping troops to
police the nation's
border with Colombia, if
the Organization of
American States (OAS)
cannot guarantee
security.
"We want the OAS to be
able to guarantee border
vigilance. If it cannot
we could ask for help
from the Blue Helmets,"
as the peacekeepers are
known, Larrea said
Monday.
The OAS should decide
how Colombia, under
international
supervision, police the
nearly 600 km border
shared by the two, "so
that peace between the
two nations can last,"
Larrea said.
He added that Ecuador
seeks guarantees that
there will be no raids
on its territory by
Colombia.
Colombia has opposed the
deployment of
international
peacekeepers on its
border and has publicly
committed to policing
its border so that no
rebels can enter, Larrea
said.
Ecuador and Colombia
have been at odds since
March 1 when Colombian
government forces raided
a camp belonging to the
nation's largest rebel
group, the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), 1.5 km inside
Ecuador. According to
Ecuador, the raid killed
25 rebels including the
FARC's number-two leader
and triggered a severing
of diplomatic relations
with Colombia by
Venezuela and Ecuador.
A fact-finding mission
led by OAS secretary
general Jose Miguel
Insulza is visiting the
site of the March 1
raid.
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