Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa on Thursday met with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in Managua as part of his Latin American offensive to denounce Colombia’s alleged violation of his country’s sovereignty.
Correa also visited Peru, Brazil and Venezuela this week.
In his first visit to Nicaragua, which on Thursday broke ties with Colombia, Correa called Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a liar who doesn’t want peace.
“Everyone knows why we are here,” Correa said via the official media covering the event. “We were bombed by a government that doesn’t know the words decency or loyalty.”
Correa, in a passionate and heated message, said that Uribe “is a danger for the entire region” and called on all of Latin America to stand up to the act of Colombian aggression.
Ortega, for his part, called the Colombian attacks “cowardly aggression” and said that, like Ecuador, Nicaragua “is also threatened by the arrogance of Colombia,” in reference to Nicaragua’s ongoing maritime dispute with Colombia.
The Organization of American States (OAS) Wednesday voted to form a committee to investigate what happened in the attacks. But Ortega said he was against the resolution because it didn’t condemn the attacks. He said Nicaragua is offering Correa “unconditional solidarity in these moments.”
After Correa’s short but heated speech, he quickly left for Panama and then planned to go to the Dominican Republic, where the Colombia theme is expected to be central in this week’s Grupo de Río presidential summit of the Americas.
Correa said this weekend’s summit will be key to the future of Latin America.
“If we are going to let this aggression stand,” he said, “tomorrow is the moment to be or not to be, if we are going to build a new future or not.”
