Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute
"[6]This cedula greatly modified the original demarcation, but served only to fix the starting point of the line on the pacific coast at the river Tumbes.[7] The text of the decree, as reproduced in the Annals of the diplomatic and consular missions of Colombia (1901), reads: I have resolved that the administration and General Command of Maynas with the towns of the administration of Quijos be separated from the province of Quito and added to the Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, except for Papallacta, for reason that they are all on the shores of the Napo River or its immediacies, extending the aforementioned General Command not only downstream of the Marañón River, to the borders of the Portuguese colonies, but also down all the other rivers entering the Marañón by its northern and southern margins as do the Morona, Huallaga, Paztaza, Ucayali, Napo, Javari, Putumayo, Japurá, and other less significant, until the place in which these cease to be navigable streams: the villages of Lamas and Moyobamba must also become part of the aforementioned General Command... To which end I order that you aid, added as is the administration of Maynas and Quijos to this Viceroyalty, with whatever steps you deem necessary, and I request of you, the Commander General, that you serve them not only for the advancement and conservation of the peoples in the custody of the missionaries, but also for the security of my dominions, by preventing them from being brought forward by the vassals of the Portuguese Crown, by naming the junior sergeants or Lieutenant Governor that you see fit, for the defense of these frontiers and the administration of justice...I THE KING[Note 8]In a footnote, Dr. Antonio José Uribe, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia from 1901 to 1902, wrote, With respect to this Real Cédula of 1802, it is worth noting that there are three specimens available, all of them Peruvian in origin, and not one of them agrees with any of the others, they are: the one produced by Dr. [Enrique Vacas] Galindo; the one contained in the volume published in Brazil; and the one in the Peruvian brief presented before the Government of Spain in the matter of the limits with Ecuador.[Note 10] According to Pedro Moncayo y Esparza, a 19th-century Ecuadorian writer, the Viceroy of Santa Fe and the President of Quito objected to the execution of the Real Cédula of 1802, as it had all the makings of an apocryphal document: it was not registered in the official cedulario, and its contents could not be found in the Recopilacion de Indias, nor had it been located in the Archive of the Indies in Spain.[9] However, during the Peruvian congressional committee hearings regarding the dismissal of the Treaty of Mapasingue, signed between Ecuador and Peru at the end of the war of 1857–1860, it was stated that the Real Cédula of 1802 and the documents proving its execution were found in the archives of the ancient government of Maynas.Peruvian President José de la Mar, who had been a member of Bolívar's troops during the wars of independence and born in Cuenca, Ecuador, had his own political ambition.On June 3, 1828, de la Mar invaded the southern region of Gran Colombia; he occupied Loja and tried to capture Guayas, and intended to annex those territories to Peru.In Peru, the dissolution of Gran Colombia is seen as a country ceasing to exist, giving way to the formation of new nation states that had nothing to do with the original federation.On September 21, 1857, Ecuador decided to adjudicate to Britain territories in the Canelos region as payment for international debt it had incurred during the war of independence.On February 25, 1860, Peruvian minister Manuel Morales and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Nicolás Estrada, signed the Treaty of Mapasingue in order to end the dispute.Peru's version of events (notably well documented in Peruvian sources [15][16][dead link]) is that Ecuador had been making incursions into its territory since 1937 and occupied several border locations by 1940.In fact, the only artillery in the whole province of El Oro consisted of six Italian 65 mm mountain guns, sold to Ecuador as leftovers from the Great War, and almost without shells.As for anti-aircraft defenses, the Ecuadorians had only a pair of 20 mm Breda guns deployed on Puerto Bolívar, which was the only port of entry for supplies, reinforcements, and weapons to arrive to the province, by sea, from the port-city of Guayaquil.It is claimed that on Saturday, July 5, 1941, the Huaquillas unit of the Ecuadorian army invaded Peruvian territory, an action which originated a combat that extended across the entire Zarumilla front, up to a region known as Quebrada Seca.This attempt was largely successful in allowing a relatively easy takeover of El Oro towns, devoid by then of any Ecuadorian military presence after the short-lived ceasefire of July 26, brokered by the mediator countries (USA, Brazil and Argentina).(Delgado) Even then, hostilities didn't cease, as Peruvian forces began operations against the Ecuadorian posts on the Amazonian jungle, most of which were easily overrun.In May 1941, as tensions at the Ecuadorian–Peruvian border mounted and war was imminent, the governments of the United States of America, Brazil, and Argentina offered their services in aiding in the mediation of the dispute.An area of 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) of hitherto disputed territory in the Maynas region of the Amazonian basin was awarded to Peru, which had been established to be the de facto possessor of the land since the end of the 19th century.During 1943 and 1946 the United States Air Force performed several aerial reconnaissance missions over the Cordillera del Cóndor region (losing 2 aircraft and 14 men in accidents.)This finding conflicted with article VIII, point B-1 of the Rio Protocol, which laid out delineation of the border for that area as follows: The difficulty was that there is not one watershed between the Zamora and the Santiago, but two, as interpreted by Ecuador.(Peruvian analysts have speculated that this was a politically motivated move by Velasco Ibarra, who was considered a populist, but evidence to support this assertion is totally circumstantial).The Cenepa War was a brief (January 26 – February 28, 1995) and localized military conflict between Ecuador and Peru, fought over control of a disputed area on the border between the two countries.The indecisive outcome of the Cenepa War—both sides claimed victory—along with the mediation efforts of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States, paved the way for the opening of diplomatic negotiations that ultimately led to the signing of a definitive peace agreement (the Brasilia Presidential Act) on 26 October 1998.The MOMEP contingent was made up of observers, logistics, and aviation support from the United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile as part of Operation Safe Border.Ecuador was going through a period of political instability as President Abdalá Bucaram, a strong supporter of an agreement on the border issue, was removed by congress due to alleged mental incapacity.The solution that the commission reached was that an area of one square kilometer in the place of the fiercest struggle, Tiwinza, on the Peruvian side of the border, would be granted to Ecuador as a non-sovereign private property.U.S. President Bill Clinton said: "This signing marks the end of the last and longest running source of armed international conflict in the Western hemisphere".Ecuador and Peru are populated by people who share a language, a culture, a religious preference, have basically the same social and ethnic diversity, and comparable economic difficulties.A 2000 study carried out as part of the educational ASA Program found teaching curriculum relating to the dispute to be extremely one-sided in both countries:[15] Many examples of bias are cited, which can typically be characterized as removal of critical information about the other side's position.Thomas McLarty, US envoy at the resolution talks and former aid to President Bill Clinton, has said peace is essential to South America's economic recovery.
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