Laura Gamba
19 March 2026•Update: 19 March 2026
BOGOTA, Colombia
The Brazilian government formally offered Thursday to mediate the conflict between Colombia and Ecuador, calling for "maximum restraint" as accusations of cross-border bombings and mass casualties threaten to destabilize the region.
A statement said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed "grave concern" about reports of deaths in the border area, the causes of which remain unverified, and urged both nations to seek a peaceful resolution.
“Brazil stands ready to support efforts toward dialogue, with the aim of preserving peace and security in the region,” it said.
The diplomatic intervention follows an allegation by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who claimed Tuesday that Ecuadorian airstrikes had left “27 charred bodies” near the shared frontier. Petro dismissed the denials from Quito as "not credible," asserting that the sophisticated nature of the ordinance points to a state actor.
“The bombs are on the ground near families, many of whom have peacefully decided to replace their coca leaf crops with legal crops,” Petro wrote on US social media company X. He said the denials are "not credible," arguing that because Colombian forces were not involved and local armed groups lacked aviation capabilities, the strikes could only have originated from the Ecuadorian side.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa labeled the claims as “entirely unfounded.”
The friction comes as Noboa intensifies domestic military operations with heavy US backing. Ecuador has emerged as a cornerstone of Washington’s regional security strategy, joining the 17-nation “Shield of the Americas” alliance.
Petro revealed Monday that he appealed to US President Donald Trump to intervene.
“Take action, call the president of Ecuador, because we do not want to go to war,” Petro reportedly told Trump.
The current military tension is the direct culmination of an aggressive trade war that ignited in January. The conflict began when Noboa initiated hostilities by imposing a 30% "security tax" on Colombian imports, citing Bogotá's alleged failure to adequately police the shared border.
The economic rift deepened significantly on March 1, when Ecuador hiked the tax to a staggering 50%, further isolating Colombian goods from its market.
In a series of rapid retaliations, the dispute moved beyond tariffs to critical infrastructure. Colombia responded by suspending all electricity exports to Ecuador, a move that effectively crippled its neighbor’s power grid, while the Noboa administration countered by raising transport fees for Colombian crude oil flowing through its pipelines.
