Ecuador/Colombia: Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno said on 13 April that the Ecuadorean authorities have confirmed that the three journalists kidnapped by dissident members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrillas in Ecuador’s northern border province of Esmeraldas have been murdered by their captors. President Moreno had given the ‘Oliver Sinisterra’ front
12 hours to provide a proof of life of the journalists warning that if this was not met then the Ecuadorean and Colombian security forces would launch joint military operations in the border area targeting them. Following Moreno’s announcement, the Ecuadorean armed forces reported that they had arrested nine people in connection to the kidnapping during a major operation launched in Esmeraldas province. Noting that the Colombian armed forces have also launched an operation on their side of their border in Nariño department against the Oliver Sinisterra front, the Ecuadorean government has said it is now offering a US$230,000 reward to anyone who can provide any information on the whereabouts of the front’s leader, ‘Guacho’ (Walter Patricio Artízala Vernaza).
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