Soldiers stand guard on the Ecuadoran side of a border crossing with Colombia, in Tufino, Ecuador, March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Tapia

Ecuador and Colombia on Sunday agreed to the bilateral reopening of their shared border from the start of December after it was closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, and pledged to work together to combat drug trafficking.

Iran Press/America: The shared border was shut in March 2020 as each government regarded to curb the unfold of coronavirus. The managed reopening, full with epidemiological measures, will carry larger safety and financial exercise to the zone, Reuters reported.

“Opening the borders means no Ecuadorian or Colombian household should pay felony bands charging to cross through different routes, quite than the official ones, which will likely be opened on December 1,” Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso mentioned in Quito following a gathering along with his Colombian counterpart Ivan Duque.

In the course of the assembly, Colombia provided to assist Ecuador within the combat towards drug trafficking.

Ecuador is beset by a wave of crime that has precipitated homicides to spike which the nation’s authorities hyperlink to the trafficking and consumption of medicine.

On Friday Lasso prolonged a state of emergency throughout Ecuador to maintain army patrols on the streets in areas with excessive charges of murder and different crimes related to the drug commerce.

“Ecuador will obtain the whole lot it wants from Colombia to combat towards organized crime,” Colombia’s President Ivan Duque mentioned.

The 2 presidents additionally mentioned repatriation of prisoners. Duque mentioned the method to repatriate 170 prisoners will proceed in step with legal guidelines and protocols.

Violence in Ecuador’s prisons has spiked this 12 months as felony gangs duke it out for supremacy. The newest riot within the Penitenciaria del Litoral jail noticed 62 prisoners killed.

Lately Ecuador’s jail system has struggled with violence, overcrowding, and poor dwelling situations for some 39,000 prisoners.

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