(CNN) -- After nearly going to war last year over a Colombian military raid inside Ecuador, the two nations seemed to be patching relations when their foreign ministers met a few weeks ago.



Then an Ecuadorian judge issued an arrest warrant this week for the head of the Colombian armed forces, pushing relations back one giant step.



Colombian Gen. Freddy Padilla, the armed forces chief whose arrest is sought, canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday with Ecuadorian Gen. Fabian Varela. Padilla thought he might be arrested if he traveled to Ecuador.



It's not the first pothole on the path to normalization. Ecuador previously issued an arrest warrant for former Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who held the post during last year's raid.



Colombia has dismissed both warrants, saying Ecuador has no jurisdiction to investigate and judge Colombian officials.



Analyst Patrick Esteruelas of the Eurasia Group consulting firm calls Ecuador's actions "schizophrenic."



Two former U.S. ambassadors to the area agree this is par for Ecuadorian foreign policy.



"That's the history of Ecuador, unfortunately," said Peter Romero, ambassador to that nation from 1993 to 1996. "One step forward, two steps back."



Myles Frechette, U.S. ambassador to Colombia from 1994 to 1997, said Friday that "Ecuador is a specialist in bonehead plays. It has been for years. Nothing's changed much."



Former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Heinz Moeller, who served from 2000 to 2003, called the arrest warrant "lamentable."



"It's absurd that these things happen," he said Friday.



Tension between the two nations has existed for years. The latest enmity started in March 2008, when Colombia bombed a guerrilla base inside Ecuador. The raid killed a top leader for the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia, commonly known as the FARC. The Marxist guerrilla group has been waging war on Colombia since the 1960s and often takes refuge on the Ecuadorian side of the border.



At least 25 people were killed, most of them said to be FARC guerrillas.



Colombian President Alvaro Uribe hailed the attack, saying "terrorism ... does not respect borders."



Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called the attack "aggression" and a "massacre" and severed diplomatic relations with Colombia.



Both nations went on war footing but stopped short of military action.



Over time, tensions seemed to dissipate and Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Fander Falconi, met last month. After the meeting, Colombia signed a statement saying it would never attack inside Ecuador again.



Friday's meeting between the two nations' top generals was supposed to further repair the damage.



Then came the arrest warrant.



What happened? Perhaps politics. Definitely one branch of the government acting without the consent of the other.



Falconi quickly pointed out that the nation's judicial branch, not Correa's administration, decided to issue the warrant.



Analysts agree that it wasn't Correa's doing.



"That's not a very coordinated government," said Frechette, the former envoy to Colombia. "The executive branch didn't issue that order."



Moeller, the former Ecuadorian foreign minister, said the judge who issued the arrest warrant is "motivated by political criteria."



"I don't have another explanation," said Moeller, who also served as president of the Ecuadorian Congress three times.



Normalization of relations will be a slow process, Eurasia analyst Esteruelas said.



"We're going to see a lot of stops and starts," he said.



Alejandro Santos, editorial director of La Semana weekly news magazine in Colombia, said relations will not improve until the two countries "can close the chapter" on last year's bombing raid.



"That chapter can be closed when the Colombian government promises not to do that. They have done that (promise)," Santos said. "Now Ecuador needs to start avoiding those types of judicial measures against Colombian officials."



Esteruelas said Ecuador felt justifiably aggrieved over the attack and wants to make sure it never happens again. But he also sees another issue at play
Who did the Ecuadorian judge issue an arrest warrant for? what was the nationailty of the judge who issued an arrest? Where did the FARC rebels took refuge on? What rebels are taking refuge in Ecuador? Who cancelled trip to Ecuador? Who cancels a trip to Ecuador?
Gen. Freddy Padilla, Ecuadorian the Ecuadorian side of the border. The Marxist guerrilla group Colombian Gen. Freddy Padilla, Colombian Gen. Freddy Padilla,
question: Who did the Ecuadorian judge issue an arrest warrant for?, answer: Gen. Freddy Padilla, | question: what was the nationailty of the judge who issued an arrest?, answer: Ecuadorian | question: Where did the FARC rebels took refuge on?, answer: the Ecuadorian side of the border. | question: What rebels are taking refuge in Ecuador?, answer: The Marxist guerrilla group | question: Who cancelled trip to Ecuador?, answer: Colombian Gen. Freddy Padilla, | question: Who cancels a trip to Ecuador?, answer: Colombian Gen. Freddy Padilla,