This will be short... but in case you haven't been watching the news (more likely, it just hasn't been covered much in the American news media), there is a slight situation going on in Ecuador right now. Apparently, the Colombian police or military cross the border of Ecuador in order to enact a raid on FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) leaders who were, for some reason, in Northeast Ecuador; they ended up killing some important FARC leaders, including the second in command, Raul Reyes. I won't go into the details of what the FARC is, but basically they are a revolutionary group that has been fighting the Colombian government for years. You can look it up if you want to know more.
Anyway, Correa, the President of Ecuador, was outraged by Colombia's infringement on Ecuador's sovereignty, and is threatening war; the Venezuelan government (Venezuela is Colombia's Southeastern neighbor) has backed Ecuador, and both governments have moved troops to their respective Colombian borders... which in Ecuador is not too far from where Molly and I are supposed to be staying in Esmeraldas.
We are watching the situation closely, and coming up with alternate plans in case the situation does, in fact, escalate to war. But, we are hoping that the countries can come to some peaceful, diplomatic agreement and we won't have to change our plans.
You can monitor the situation at CNN.com. Here's today's updates: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/03/ecuador.colombia/index.html
Of course we'll let you know in case plans change, but keep the people of Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela in your thoughts and prayers... and also Molly and me. Because we are really excited about going to Ecuador and we hope there will be no violence!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment