Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa vowed here to do everything possible
to help former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt secure the release of
hundreds of captives still held by the guerrilla group.
“Ecuador will do everything it can, everything in our power to
ensure these people are freed,” he told the former Colombian
presidential candidate, who was visiting the Ecuadorean capital, Monday.
Quito
was a stop on Betancourt’s regional tour to press Latin American
leaders for help in persuading the FARC to disarm and end their
guerrilla war.
She heads next to Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela.
Betancourt,
46, was in Colombia Saturday and Sunday for the first time since she
was rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
after a six-year hostage ordeal.
Speaking to reporters after her
meeting with Correa, Betancourt said she was “convinced” that Quito and
Bogota would re-establish diplomatic relations, which were severed in
March after Colombia’s military attacked a FARC camp in Ecuador.
The Marxist FARC rebels still hold between 350 and 700 hostages, including 28 politicians, policemen and military troops. (AFP)
