Geopolitical Situation
Ecuador shares a 1,420 km (882 mi) border with Peru, although marked by many conflicts, relations improved since the signing of a renewed Peace Treaty in 1998. However, along the 590 km (367 mi) long border with its neighbour Colombia, relations have been strained mainly due to a cross-border raid by Colombian forces on FARC guerrillas. The Armed Forces had logistical shortcomings and were caught off-guard. Their radar did not work, aviation was virtually non-existent and communications were not fully operational. A diplomatic crisis followed in 2008 which some attribute partial responsibility to the need of better equipment as well as a new national defence doctrine.
The new administration at the Defence Ministry launched a deep restructuring program under the name of "PATRIA I". It involves the modernisation of military equipment, improvement of planning and operations within the Ecuadorian territory. "PATRIA I" shall be completed by 2011. In 2009, the spending budget was increased by 25% and totaled $920 millions.
Read more about this topic: Military Of Ecuador
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“Much poetry seems to be aware of its situation in time and of its relation to the metronome, the clock, and the calendar. ... The season or month is there to be felt; the day is there to be seized. Poems beginning “When” are much more numerous than those beginning “Where” of “If.” As the meter is running, the recurrent message tapped out by the passing of measured time is mortality.”
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