By SPA
Santo Domingo : The presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela ended a border dispute on
Friday with a summit handshake after a week of regional diplomacy in the face of hostile rhetoric and troop buildups, Reuters said.
“And with this … this incident that has caused so much damage (is) resolved,” Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said before standing up and shaking hands with Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joined in shaking Uribe’s hand and applauded loudly and smiled.
The dispute erupted last Saturday when Colombia raided inside Ecuador to kill a rebel leader. It resolution brought the summit to a surprise ending after bitter exchanges, including Correa calling Uribe a liar.
The accord came after Uribe apologized to Correa under pressure from governments across the region, which worked to prevent the crisis escalating into Latin America’s first armed conflict among states in more than a decade.