Ecuadorean Leader Pleads Nation’s Case

Ecuador’s president flew from capital to capital in South America Monday to plead his country’s case in the border war with Peru.

With the breakdown of peace talks Sunday in Brazil, concern was growing that the 2-week-old conflict over a remote jungle region in the Andes might escalate.

“Contrary to what might have been said about Ecuador refusing to accept a truce, we’ve always been ready to accept one,” Ecuadorean President Sixto Duran-Ballen said in Buenos Aires after meeting with Argentine President Carlos Menem. “Neither I nor my country started this.”

Each side has accused the other of being the aggressor.