The situation has turned from bad to worse to absurd in Peru, where the Ecuadorian ambassador is being forbidden from reentering the country due to an altercation at a supermarket in Lima two weeks ago. Long story short, Rodrigo Riofrio got into a fight with a woman and her daughter at his local supermarket on April 21, after they allegedly cut him in line. Riofrio initially insisted that he was the one who'd been assaulted, but a security tape later showed him punching, kicking and swatting the women with a magazine suggested otherwise. As if the incident itself weren't bad enough, it dredged up the long held tension between the two countries, who only singed a peace accord in 1998 after over a century of border wars. One thing led to another, and a week after the supermarket brawl, both countries recalled their respective ambassadors. 
 
 Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and Peru's Foreign Affairs Ministry now find themselves at a stalemate. On Monday, Ecuador's Correa offered a bargain. Actually, it was sort of the opposite of a bargain, since Correa framed the conditions almost as if they were terms for surrender. "If Ambassador Rodrigo Riofrio cannot return to Lima, with heartache, the Peruvian ambassador, Javier Leon, will not return to Quito," said President Correa during his weekly media address. The positive way to interpret that line: Correa will allow Peru's ambassador back into Quito if Riofrio can return to Lima. 
 
 In the context of his recent foreign relations, Correa is really making a threat. He's no stranger to tossing ambassadors out of the country. He kicked out the American ambassador to Ecuador in 2011, after a WikiLeaks cable revealed that she "was aware of acts of corruption by the police high command." This was just three years after the Colombian ambassador received the same treatment during the climax of a border conflict. But this time, the strong man act doesn't seem to be working. Riofrio already tried the apologetic man act, telling the press that he was sorry for the "personal incident." Correa, meanwhile, continues to frame his ambassador as the "victim of aggression." 
 
 It's very unclear where things go from here. This could be the beginning of a longer standoff. Both countries certainly have the patience. After all, they were more or less at war with each other since the late 19th century. Experts think Correa should just grow up. "It's important that Correa fights for truth and justice, but at this point, he's putting the security and credibility of the state at risk," Michel Levi, coordinator of the Andean Center of International Studies at the Universidad Andina, told Bloomberg News on Monday. "The relevant thing here is that there's a diplomatic crisis created by a street fight." A street fight between an ambassador and two women. In a supermarket. 
 
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 Adam Clark Estes 

 QUITO Ecuador removed its ambassador in Peru from his post on Monday over his involvement in a supermarket brawl in Lima, an incident that threatened to sour relations between the neighboring countries. 
 
 Two Peruvian women alleged that the ambassador, Rodrigo Riofrio, hit them and insulted them with racist slurs after an argument in a checkout line on April 21 which was recorded by the store's security cameras and shown on Peruvian television. 
 
 "The national government announces that Ecuador's ambassador in Peru, Rodrigo Riofrio, has been removed from his post. This decision was taken following a request by ambassador Riofrio," Ecuador's foreign office said in a statement. 
 
 "With this decision, Ecuador reiterates its willingness to continue working intensively toward the strengthening of the excellent bilateral relations." 
 
 Ecuador has argued that Riofrio acted in self-defense, and initially rejected Peru's request to remove him from his post. 
 
 In the supermarket security videotape shown on Peruvian television, Riofrio is seen swatting a woman with a magazine after she hits him. Several women are then seen slapping him and pulling his hair. 
 
 (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Eduardo Garcia; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) 

 Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, pictured, backed off his May 4 threat to freeze relations with Peru over the issue, announcing last night that ambassador Rodrigo Riofrio asked to be removed to help resolve the crisis. 
 
 Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, pictured, backed off his May 4 threat to freeze... Read More 
 
 Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, pictured, backed off his May 4 threat to freeze relations with Peru over the issue, announcing last night that ambassador Rodrigo Riofrio asked to be removed to help resolve the crisis. Close 
 
 Ecuador and Peru replaced their ambassadors to resolve a diplomatic crisis after a fight between Ecuador’s envoy and two local women in a Lima supermarket threatened to disrupt relations between the two Andean nations. 
 
 Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa backed off his May 4 threat to freeze relations with Peru over the issue, announcing last night that ambassador Rodrigo Riofrio asked to be removed to help resolve the crisis, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry. Peru responded today by saying it would change its ambassador to Quito in recognition of Ecuador’s decision to accept its request to remove Riofrio, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry said in an e-mailed statement. 
 
 Peru’s government last week requested that Correa remove Riofrio after an “incident” in Lima involving the envoy, according to an April 30 statement from Peru’s Foreign Ministry. Correa, who threw out Barack Obama’s representative in 2011 and Colombia’s ambassador in 2010, defended Riofrio, saying he was the “victim of aggression” and that he wouldn’t respect Peru’s request to withdraw the ambassador. 
 
 “This decision was made following the request by Ambassador Riofrio,” the Foreign Ministry said in the statement. “In the coming days Ecuador will designate a new ambassador who will represent our country” in Peru. 
 
 Ambassadors Recalled 
 
 Both Peru and Ecuador recalled their ambassadors last week for consultations and Peru’s government had asked Riofrio not to return. Correa said May 4 he wouldn’t let Peru’s ambassador back into Ecuador if Riofrio wasn’t allowed to continue at his post in Peru. 
 
 One of the two women involved in the scuffle with Riofrio said the altercation began when she and her daughter cut in front of him as he stood in a Lima supermarket check-out line on April 21, according to a news report by Peru’s DiaD television station. Riofrio insulted the women and the daughter hit the ambassador first, according to the report. 
 
 Riofrio said in an April 29 statement e-mailed by the Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry that he was sorry for the “personal incident” and didn’t provoke the fight. Riofrio denied he insulted the women and said he only defended himself from the women’s attacks. 
 
 Videos distributed by Peruvian newspaper La Republica show a man identified as Riofrio punching and kicking a woman at a supermarket in Peru’s capital. 
 
 The fight has sparked protests outside the ambassador’s residence in Lima and a lawyer for the two Peruvian women filed assault charges yesterday, La Republica reported. 
 
 ‘Diplomatic Crisis’ 
 
 Both governments bear some responsibility for escalating the dispute, Michel Levi, coordinator of the Andean Center of International Studies at the Universidad Andina, said yesterday in a phone interview from Quito. 
 
 “It’s important that Correa fights for truth and justice, but at this point, he’s putting the security and credibility of the state at risk,” Levi said. “The relevant thing here is that there’s a diplomatic crisis created by a street fight.” 
 
 Ecuador and Peru signed a peace accord in 1998 ending border wars dating from the 19th century. In August, the two countries said they are planning a joint venture to explore for oil on the Ecuadorean side of their shared border. 
 
 The two also signed a $300 million agreement last year to connect their oil pipelines to carry Ecuadorean crude to Peru’s northern port of Bayovar. 
 
 Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry didn’t reply yesterday to a telephone message seeking comment on Correa’s statements. Attempts to reach Riofrio through the ministry’s press office were unsuccessful. Peru’s Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to a telephone message yesterday seeking comment. 
 
 To contact the reporter on this story: Nathan Gill in Quito at ngill4@bloomberg.net 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andre Soliani at asoliani@bloomberg.net
– A brief dust-up at a Peruvian supermarket has become an international incident. Ecuador's ambassador to the country squabbled with women in line, resulting in an exchange of blows. It all began when the women skipped in front of Rodrigo Riofrio in line, say a mother and daughter, per Peruvian news. They also say the diplomat used racist slurs in the April 21 incident. Security footage shows a woman hitting Riofrio before he hits back with a magazine, according to Reuters. Bloomberg and the Atlantic Wire say tapes show Riofrio punching and kicking the women. Now, officials in Peru and Ecuador are feuding over the fight. Ecuador President Rafael Correa says Riofrio was a "victim of aggression," but Peru called on Ecuador to remove Riofrio last week. Today, Ecuador did so "following a request by ambassador Riofrio," says the country's foreign office. Correa has threatened to prevent Peru's ambassador from re-entering the country over the flap, reports the Wall Street Journal.