By Leila Miller
BUENOS AIRES, May 30 (Reuters) – Colombia’s foreign ministry on Saturday accused Ecuador of “deliberate interference” in Colombia’s Sunday presidential election after Ecuador’s president agreed to lift tariffs in a conversation with a presidential candidate.Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa on Friday said his country would remove bilateral tariffs on June 1 after reaching an agreement with right wing Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De La Espriella.Noboa said on X the move would take place after “confirming (De La Espreilla’s) willingness to promote a real and joint fight against narcoterrorism.” He also said that they had agreed on the handover of Ecuadorean criminals who are in Colombia.The Colombian foreign ministry rejects “the misleading presentation of the decision to remove the tariffs as a measure of good faith by the Ecuadorean government,” it said in its own statement, though it added it would remove measures adopted to mitigate Ecuador’s tariffs.Noboa’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The two countries for months have been engaged in a trade dispute, with Ecuador levying tariffs because of Colombia’s failure to combat drug trafficking along their 586-kilometer (364-mile) border, an assertion Colombian President Gustavo Petro has rejected.De La Espriella, an independent candidate, will face Petro ally Ivan Cepeda and right wing Senator Paloma Valencia, among others, in the Sunday vote.
(Reporting by Leila Miller; additional reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb)
