 |
| Ecuadorian Armed Forces |
Introduction
January 26, 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the start of the Cenepa War or Conflict, a military and political conflict between Ecuador and Peru. It began on January 26, 1995 and ended on February 28 of that same year, in the small Amazon town of Tiwintza, near the border with Peru. Since their birth as independent republics, Ecuador and Peru had disagreements about their territorial limits.Principle of "Possession according to Law"
The enmity between the two countries dates back to the time of Independence, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the territorial limits of each republic were established based on a principle of "Possession according to Law". Said principle established that the States had the right to possess the territories that belonged to them historically and geographically at the time of the colony.
Rio de Janeiro Protocol
However, the border between Ecuador and Peru was in a complex geographic area that made it difficult to establish the limits of both countries. The dispute could have been closed after the 1941 war , which lasted less than a month and ended in a Peruvian victory. With that victory, Peru managed to occupy a large part of the southern territory of Ecuador, and even threatened to advance towards the port city of Guayaquil. The defeat in this war forced the Ecuadorian State to sign the Rio de Janeiro Protocol.
This document not only meant a peace agreement between both countries, but also established new territorial limits. The Rio de Janeiro Protocol was signed by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julio Tobar Donoso, in the government of Carlos Arroyo. After the signing of that agreement, Ecuador lost around 240,000 square kilometers of Amazonian territory. The significant territorial loss caused the generalized rejection of the Ecuadorian population to the Protocol.
In 1948, when there were only 78 kilometers of border left to demarcate, in the southeast Ecuadorian Amazon, another geographical disagreement stopped the process. The president at the time, José MarÃa Velasco Ibarra, declared in 1960 that the Rio de Janeiro Protocol was “null.” He said that Ecuador did not want scandals or war, but that "it would never recognize the treaty." Since then, both countries lived in tense neighborhood.
 |
| Ecuadorian soldiers on a UN peacekeeping mission |
The Paquisha War
Between January and February 1981, also in the Ecuadorian Amazon, a new confrontation took place: the Paquisha War, in the Cordillera del Cóndor area. That war was also won by Peru. Fourteen years later, the disagreement of both countries gave rise to the Cenepa War or Conflict, which would be the last armed conflict between the two countries.
The Cenepa War or Conflict
The Cenepa War or Conflict took place precisely in the undemarcated area, between the Cenepa river basin, to which it owes its name, and the Cordillera del Cóndor. On January 25 of that year, Peruvian troops took Tiwintza, which triggered the conflict. The exchange of fire lasted just over a month, and under the slogan of "Not one step back" of the then president, Sixto Durán Ballén, the Ecuadorian troops confronted and successfully repelled the Peruvian troops.
On the following February 28, both countries agreed on a new border delimitation. However, although the fire ceased with this agreement, it was not until three years later that the conflict officially ended. The signing of the Peace Agreement in Brasilia on October 26, 1998, by Presidents Jamil Mahuad, of Ecuador, and Alberto Fujimori, of Peru, marked the end of the centenary conflict between their countries. José Jumbo, Corporal First in passive service who fought in the Cenepa, says that “from the military side Ecuador won, but in the diplomatic field – in the negotiations – everything was lost”.