Leaders of countries including Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Haiti arrived in Quito, Ecuador, on Tuesday to discuss a collective response to Haitian President René Préval’s appeal for aid. It was the first time Alvaro Uribe, president of Colombia, had visited Ecuador since 2008 when he ordered the bombing of a rebel camp on Ecuador’s side of the border. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had also planned to attend, but cancelled his trip at the last minute to attend to his country’s electricity emergency. He sent Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro in his place.
Rafael Correa, the current president of the 12-member Union of South American States, also visited Port-au-Prince on January 29 to pledge from his country as well as the regional block.
Vice President of Bolivia Álvaro García Linera, also attended, along with representatives from Argentina, Suriname, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank. The gathering was to focus exclusively on coordinating aid to Haiti, putting aside other political differences between members of the two-year-old block.
