Wildfires rage in Azuay and Loja Provinces; Ecuador and Colombia officials to meet; Abad case against Noboa suspended; EU rejects Maduro election

Large wildfires burned out of control Thursday night in San Fernando, Nabón, Susudel and Oña. The fires in Azuay Province, which have consumed hundreds of hectares, were located in mountainous terrain difficult to reach by firefighters, according to the Cuenca Risk Management office.

An even larger fire, in Quilanga canton of Loja Province, was only partially contained Thursday. The fire has burned an estimated 4,000 hectares and destroyed several homes and part of a large poultry farm. On Friday morning, the Interior Ministry accepted Peru’s offer to send aircraft to help battle the blaze.

A fire burns out of control Thursday above the town of San Fernando, south of Cuenca. It is one of several wildfires burning in Azuay and Loja Provinces.

“Our personnel are on site at the fires in Azuay and Loja Provinces with the first objective to protect people and property,” Risk Management said in a statement. “Drought conditions and high winds are making efforts at containment difficult but more units will join the effort Friday.” The statement added that due to the terrain, the only method of fighting most of the fires was by air.

According to Risk Management officials, at least three of the fires were set deliberately. “These were set to burn brush in preparation for planting,” said risk manager Jorge Castro. “The actions were not malicious, but they were a violation of ‘no burn’ orders due to the extended drought. We urge all agricultural interests to refrain from burning under the current dry conditions.”

Abad case against Noboa suspended
The complaint filed by Vice President Verónica Abad against President Daniel Noboa for political gender violence has been temporarily suspended by the Contentious Electoral Tribunal (TCE). The pause is due to a recusal filed on August 26 by presidential advisor Diana Jácome against Judge Fernando Muñoz, who is handling the case.

Jácome is seeking to have Muñoz replaced by another TCE judge, claiming he has a conflict of interest. Muñoz agreed to suspend the hearing until the recusal request is resolved.

Ecuador, Colombia officials to meet
Setting aside differences from Ecuador’s April raid on the Mexican embassy, the foreign ministers of Ecuador and Colombia met Wednesday in Quito to set an agenda for next week’s bilateral meeting in Bogota. President Daniel Noboa, Colombia President Gustavo Petro and their cabinets will meet to discuss a range of issues affecting the two countries.

“Our countries have more in common than any other two countries in the hemisphere, and we also share many of the same problems,” Ecuador Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld said following a meeting with her Colombian counterpart Luis Gilberto Murillo. Among the topics to be covered at next week’s meeting, Sommerfeld and Murillo said, were drug trafficking, border control and the electrical interconnection between the countries.

Diplomatic relations between Ecuador and Colombia were strained after Ecuador stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito to capture former vice president Jorge Glas, who had taken refuge there and was seeking political asylum. Colombia condemned the action, citing violation of international protocols. Sommerfeld said that the two countries continue to disagree on the raid but agree to move forward to address joint projects.

EU rejects Venezuela election results
European Union foreign ministers agreed Thursday not to recognize the “democratic legitimacy” of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro following the country’s July 28 election. “We cannot accept the legitimacy of Maduro as elected president based on the election results,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters following a meeting with 27 EU ministers in Brussels.

Borrell said that the refusal of the Venezuela government to release “verifiable” election results means members of the European Union consider Maduro president only under de facto status. “The voting tallies released by the opposition have been reviewed and determined to be legitimate,” Borrell said. “They indicate that Maduro was defeated by a large voting majority.”