Recalls

April 10 (UPI) — Ecuador raised tariffs to 100% on imports from Colombia, and Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the immediate return of his ambassador from Quito.

This represents a new escalation of the diplomatic and trade crisis between the two countries, according to an Ecuadorian statement and remarks from both leaders.

Ecuador said it will implement the tariff increase May 1, according to the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment. It argued that Colombia has not taken concrete steps to curb drug trafficking and organized crime along the shared border.

“It is not possible to reach agreements with someone who does not have the same commitment to fighting narco-terrorism,” Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said Thursday night.

Petro described the tariff increase as “a monstrosity” and announced immediate measures.

“Our ambassador to Ecuador must return immediately,” he wrote on X, where he also called for a Cabinet meeting at the border between the two countries.

The Colombian president also defended his anti-drug policy.

“The president of Ecuador insults the Colombian government that has seized more cocaine than in the entire history of the world,” he said.

Ecuador’s decision marks a new critical point in a dispute that has intensified in recent months and is affecting bilateral trade, energy cooperation and diplomatic channels, according to local media reports.

Negotiations between the two countries within the Andean Community of Nations are suspended, Ecuador’s foreign minister Gabriela Sommerfeld said.

Relations deteriorated further after Petro’s recent statements about former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, whom he described as a “political prisoner” and to whom Colombia granted nationality. Glas is serving corruption sentences in Ecuador.

The case dates to 2024, when Noboa’s government ordered his capture inside the Mexican embassy in Quito — an operation that led to a break in diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Ecuador maintains that tightening its trade policy also responds to the need to strengthen security along the roughly 373-mile shared border, where networks linked to drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking and illegal mining operate.

The Ecuadorian government estimates these efforts imply additional spending of about $400 million.

Since the start of the trade dispute, Colombia has responded with reciprocal measures, including tariffs on Ecuadorian imports and suspending energy sales to Ecuador, which in 2024 experienced power outages of up to 14 hours per day.

The economic impact is raising concerns in both countries.

In Colombia, business groups have called for de-escalation, while in Ecuador, companies in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors have reported disruptions due to restrictions on Colombian imports, according to local media.

The figures reflect the scale of the exchange. In 2025, Colombia exported $1.846 billion in goods to Ecuador, making it its sixth-largest trading partner and second destination for non-mining, non-energy exports. Ecuador, exported about $857 million to Colombia, in a trade balance historically favorable to Bogotá.

Colombia’s National Business Council warned that with a 30% tariff, losses for exporters could reach $750 million annually and affect 82% of bilateral trade. With the increase to 100%, the impact would be far greater.

The new increase by Noboa “definitively closes any possibility of trade between Colombia and Ecuador,” Javier Díaz, president of the National Association of Foreign Trade, said to Clarín, Argentina’s largest newspaper.

On the Ecuadorian side, Pablo Cerón, a transport representative in the border province of Carchi, described the decision as “unilateral, improvised, misguided.”

The bilateral crisis comes at a politically sensitive time in Colombia, just months before general elections.

Ecuador has recalled its ambassador from Colombia over remarks related to a high-profile criminal case that has stirred tensions across Latin America.

The case in question is that of former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, a left-wing figure currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for corruption.

This week marks the two-year anniversary of a controversial police raid that saw Ecuadorian authorities storm the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest Glas, who had sought asylum in the diplomatic facility.

But the right-wing government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, which authorised the raid, has denounced criticisms of the Glas case as a violation of his country’s sovereignty.

Wednesday’s decision to recall Ambassador Arturo Felix Wong from Bogota is the latest sign of cross-border strife with Ecuador’s neighbour, Colombia, and its left-wing President Gustavo Petro.

In a local radio interview on Wednesday, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld confirmed that her country’s ambassador to Colombia had been recalled.

The criticisms of the Glas case, she added, were uncalled for. “It’s clearly a provocation because these kinds of messages come out of nowhere,” she said.

Her remarks echoed those of Noboa himself, who has led a months-long feud with the Colombian government.

“This country has waited years to see the corrupt answer to justice,” Noboa said in a social media message on Tuesday.

He denounced critics, like Petro, who consider Glas to be a “political prisoner” and warned that he considered such rhetoric to be a form of foreign interference.

“I wish to be emphatic: This constitutes an assault on our sovereignty and a violation of the principle of non-intervention,” Noboa said.

His statement appeared to be prompted by a series of social media posts Petro wrote on the anniversary of the Mexican embassy raid, which took place on April 5, 2024.

That episode resulted in Mexico breaking its diplomatic relations with Ecuador, a rupture that endures to this day.

Critics called the raid a violation of international law. Treaties like the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations protect embassies and consulates from military and law enforcement actions without prior consent.

Glas had been sheltering in the Mexican embassy since December 2023, claiming he was facing political persecution in Ecuador.

After the raid, he was sentenced to an additional 13 years in prison for the misuse of public funds, in addition to prison terms for two prior corruption cases.

Glas was one of several politicians who were convicted as part of the Odebrecht scandal, which saw government officials across Latin America accused of taking bribes in exchange for issuing favourable contracts to certain business interests.

In 2017, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison for allegedly accepting bribes worth $13.5m, and in 2020, he faced an additional eight-year sentence. He has been barred from ever holding public office again.

Last September, Colombia granted citizenship to Glas. President Petro then called for Glas to be transferred into Colombian custody. He reprised that request in a social media post on Monday.

“I called for there to be no political prisoners in any country in the Americas. It is undeniable that Jorge Glas is a political prisoner,” Petro wrote in the first of two posts on the subject.

In the second, published the next day, Petro raised concerns about Glas’s health and wellbeing. The former vice president is serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison in Ecuador, El Encuentro.

“Jorge Glas is a Colombian citizen, and he is a political prisoner,” Petro said.

“I call upon international human rights organisations to safeguard his rights. His health condition now poses a threat to his life; due to his imprisonment, he has not received adequate sustenance and is currently suffering from severe malnutrition and muscle mass loss.”

Petro added that “allowing a person to starve to death” would constitute a “crime against humanity”.

The heated rhetoric between Petro and Noboa is part of a long-running spat between the two leaders.

Since March alone, Noboa has slapped Colombia with 50-percent tariffs, based on accusations it has been too lax in its fight against drug trafficking.

Petro, meanwhile, has accused Noboa of carrying out a bombing campaign near the Colombian border, resulting in the recovery of 27 charred bodies.

Noboa has been leading an aggressive, military-led anti-narcotics campaign with the support of United States President Donald Trump, who has similarly criticised left-wing governments like Petro’s for failing to tamp down on drug trafficking.

Noboa and Trump have grown close since the US president was sworn in for a second term in January 2025, and Ecuador’s policies towards regional governments and drug-trafficking have echoed those of the US.

A Palestinian man’s long-awaited return to Gaza ended in anguish after Israeli forces detained his brother at the Rafah crossing.

This Morning presenter Alison Hammond has confessed to an ‘awful’ moment on Strictly Come Dancing.

Alison Hammond has revealed a mortifying Strictly Come Dancing confession, admitting to an embarrassing incident during her time on the programme.

The This Morning host shot to prominence on Big Brother in 2002, and has subsequently featured on shows including Strictly, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, and as presenter of The Great British Bake Off.

Alison graced the Strictly dance floor in 2014, paired with Aljaz Skorjanec, with the duo placing 10th overall. She has now owned up to “breaking wind” during the competition.

The 51-year-old recounted a particular incident from the show whilst appearing alongside Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar, comedian Richard Ayoade and Ready or Not 2’s Kathryn Newton on The Jonathan Ross Show, broadcasting tonight (Saturday).

She recalled performing to Robin Williams’ Friend Like Me during week seven of the competition, hoisting Aljaz off the ground at one stage, before confessing: “Oh, it was awful. At the time he couldn’t lift me so we thought don’t worry I’ll lift you, I can do it,” reports Birmingham Live.

“There is a moment where he does a cartwheel and I had to kind of pick him up and then help him over. He goes into this cartwheel and I pick him up and I break wind. I look at him and I go, ‘Let’s never talk about this again.’

“I didn’t realise that he’s quite a heavy guy – it literally took the wind out of me.” Alison has previously spoken about her experience on Strictly, and her bond with her former dance partner, Aljaz.

Amid several scandals Strictly has faced in recent years, including Graziano Di Prima and Giovanni Pernice being dropped from the professional line-up, Alison said: “I had Aljaz Skorjanec and he was absolutely incredible and as you know going back into Strictly.

“He was so amazing to me and gentle as well and kind. I’ve never experienced anything bad really.”

Elsewhere on The Jonathan Ross Show, Alison speaks about her new programme, Your Song.

She explains: “Your Song is exactly that. It’s your song that you feel emotionally attached to – it got you through a rough time at school or you know, it reminds you of someone who has passed on. A song that really means something to you.

“People come from around the country and perform it on a stage. People go on stage who have never sung before and they sing a song to a random audience. It’s just one of the most beautiful shows ever.”

The Jonathan Ross Show airs tonight from 10pm on ITV1 and ITVX.