Ecuadorian–Peruvian War

The territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru dated from before Ecuador's independence, as part of a broader dispute between what was then Gran Colombia and Peru. It revolved around whether Ecuador's territory extended beyond the Andes mountain range to the Marañon (Amazon) river, including the Amazonian basin. The lack of resolution of the dispute, despite several attempts by both parties, led to several conflicting treaties being signed between different parties to the conflict, including Colombia and Brazil, and led to war on several occasions. The first of these armed conflicts took place in 1828, when Peru fought against Gran Colombia in the Gran Colombia–Peru War. After the dissolution of Gran Colombia, the conflict resumed with Ecuador, with skirmishes taking place often and the first Ecuadorian–Peruvian War taking place between Ecuador and Peru from 1857 to 1860. The dispute was again brought into the spotlight after the signing of the Salomón–Lozano Treaty in March 1922 by the governments of Colombia and Peru, which at that time was ruled by Augusto B. Leguía. The treaty, which was kept secret, set the boundary between Peru and Colombia as the Putumayo River, with the exception of a small strip of land controlled by the city of Leticia that would connect Colombia to the main flow of the Amazon River. With that, Colombia effectively recognized Peruvian control of the rest of the disputed region south of the Putumayo River. Following the coup d'état against Leguía by troops under the command of Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro, the treaty was made public and caused much anger among the Peruvian population, which perceived that the treaty awarded Colombia a section of Peruvian territory. This dispute over the Amazon region controlled by Leticia would eventually lead to a short war between Colombia and Peru from 1932 to 1933. The conflict over Leticia, which was populated by both Peruvian and Colombian colonists, was resolved after Sanchez Cerro was assassinated and the new Peruvian president Óscar R. Benavides accepted the 1934 Rio Protocol which upheld the Salomón–Lozano Treaty and finally put an end to the border disputes between Colombia and Peru. The Salomón–Lozano Treaty was unpopular in Ecuador as well, which found itself surrounded on the east by Peru, which claimed the territory as an integral part of its republic. Further adding to Ecuador's problems, the Colombian government now also recognized Peru's territorial aspirations as legitimate, and had nominally granted to Peru an area in Sucumbíos which had been claimed by Ecuador. in 1936 An agreement was signed in 1936 which recognized territories in de facto possession by each country. The resulting border was known as the 1936 status quo border line. That same year, the entire Ecuadorian Cabinet, which was composed of high-ranking army officers who served as advisors for General Alberto Enríquez Gallo (who had taken charge of government after a military ''coup d'état''), resigned from government in order to take command of the Ecuadorian Army. Meanwhile, in Quito, there were public demonstrations of people chanting "Down With Peru! Long Live Ecuador!". Peru's response to the events taking place in Ecuador was provided by foreign minister Carlos Concha Cárdenas, who stated, "In Peru we have not yet lost our heads. Our country is in a process of prosperous development and the Government heads would have to be completely mad to think of war." Peru at that time was undergoing major changes, with the social reforms begun by president Augusto B. Leguia (which he claimed were aimed at improving roads, sanitation, and industrial development, and promoting the general welfare of Peru's indigenous population) being continued by President General Oscar Benavides. Peru's government claimed to be attempting to run on a balanced budget, but Peru still held a large debt in spite of its positive foreign trade. However, despite this, Peru began to mobilize its troops to the Ecuador border in response to deployment of Ecuadorian troops in the disputed zone. On 11 January 1941, alleging that Ecuador had been carrying out incursions into, and even occupations of, the Peruvian territory of Zarumilla, the Peruvian president, Manuel Prado, ordered the formation of the Northern Army Detachment (), a military unit in charge of the Northern Operational Theatre. ==Forces involved==

Ecuador According to the testimony of Col. Luis Rodríguez, the Ecuadorian forces at the disposal of the Army Border Command in El Oro (Lieutenant Colonel Octavio A. Ochoa) after the incidents of 5 and 6 July were as follows: • Forces deployed along the Zarumilla river: 3 superior officers, 33 officers, and 743 men, organized as follows: • "Cayambe" Battalion: 2 superior officers, 22 Officers, 490 soldiers. • "Montecristi" Battalion: 1 superior officer, 11 Officers, 253 soldiers. • Forces deployed in the immediate rear: 4 superior officers, 40 officers, 28 soldiers, 93 volunteers, 500 carabineros (a paramilitary Government force), organized as follows: • At Arenillas: 2 superior officers, 3 Officers, 14 soldiers. • At Santa Rosa: 2 superior officers, 1 Officer, 18 soldiers, plus the 93 volunteers, and the 500 carabineros. Peru As a result of the rising tensions on the border during 1939 and 1940, the Peruvian President Manuel Prado authorised in December 1940 the creation of the Agrupamiento del Norte (Northern Army Detachment). By July 1941, this unit was ready to begin active military operations. ;Peruvian order of battle Order of Battle, Agrupamiento del Norte, July 1941 • Group Headquarters (Commander in Chief: Gen. Eloy G. Ureta; Chief of Staff: Lieut. Col. Miguel Monteza) • 5th and 7th Cavalry Regiments • 6th Artillery Group (8 105 mm guns) • Army Tank Detachment (12 Czechoslovak LTP tanks) • 1st Light Infantry Division (Col. Luis Vinatea) • 1st, 5th, 19th Infantry Battalions • 1st Artillery Group (8 guns) • 1st Engineer Company • 1st Antiaircraft Section • 8th Light infantry Division (Col. César Salazar) • 20th Infantry Battalion • 8th Artillery Group (8 guns) • 8th Engineer Company • Army Detachment "Chinchipe" (Lieut. Col. Victor Rodríguez) • 33rd Infantry Battalion (2 Light Infantry companies) • Army Jungle Division (Northeast) (Gen. Antonio Silva) Figures for total strength of the Agrupamiento del Norte at the beginning of offensive operations have been put at 11,500 to 13,000 men. ==War==

July 5 incident The first shots of the conflict were fired on July 5, 1941; the parties disagree about who fired the first shot. According to Ecuadorian Colonel Luis A. Rodríguez (the commander of the Ecuadorian forces defending the province of El Oro during the war), a group of Peruvian civilians, including policemen, crossed the Zarumilla River onto Ecuadorian soil. Rodríguez claimed that the Peruvian policemen opened fire on an Ecuadorian border patrol they spotted, killing one soldier. This was followed by the widespread exchange of fire between troops on the opposing banks of the Zarumilla, while two Ecuadorian officers sent to Aguas Verdes to speak with the Peruvian local commanding officer were rebuffed by the Peruvian authorities. According to Peruvian accounts, Ecuadorian Army soldiers from the garrison of Huaquillas (a town on the bank of the Zarumilla River, which then served as the status quo line at the western end of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border), crossed into the Peruvian border post at Aguas Verdes, a town directly in front of Huaquillas, and opened fire on a Peruvian Civil Guard patrol. These troops were then followed by some 200 Ecuadorian armed men, which attacked the police station at Aguas Verdes for 30 minutes, to which the Peruvians reacted by sending an infantry company to Aguas Verdes and driving the Ecuadorians back across the Zarumilla. In any event, fighting then spread to the entire border area along the Zarumilla River. By 6 July, Peru was conducting airstrikes against the Ecuadorian border posts along the river. After the 5th, hostilities along the border continued. As a result, on the night of July 6, the senior commander of the Ecuadorian Army ordered the formation of the 5th Infantry Brigade in El Oro, under the command of Colonel Luis Rodríguez. Zarumilla Offensive The Peruvian offensive against Ecuador began on July 23, being carried out by the newly formed Northern Army Detachment, headed by General Eloy G. Ureta with the purpose of pushing north into El Oro Province with the stated purpose of preventing more skirmishes along the disputed border. On that day, the 41st Peruvian Squadron took off from Tumbes to fulfill a mission, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Antonio Alberti and made up of Lieutenants Fernando Paraud, José A. Quiñones and Manuel Rivera, aboard their North American NA-50 or Toritos fighter planes. The mission consisted of bombing the Ecuadorian post of Quebrada Seca, where they had concentrated the bulk of their anti-aircraft artillery and placed machine guns. On July 24, a battle between Peruvian and Ecuadorian troops took place in Chacras, where the latter set up a resistance against the Peruvians. Due to constant Peruvian attacks, the defensive position eventually gave way and the post was overrun. Battle of Macará According to Peruvian accounts, Macará had a large number of Peruvians, who saw themselves targeted by the Ecuadorian population. On July 25, news reached Peru that the Peruvian Consulate had been stoned and the Peruvian coat of arms dragged away. The Peruvian military authorities of La Tina protested and asked for an explanation, sending a sergeant and two soldiers to receive an answer after a two-hour ultimatum. They were greeted with a burst of machine-gun fire which killed the sergeant and wounded the other two soldiers. According to Ecuador, the coat of arms fell off on its own and was moved by the consul himself. Following the event, news did reach Peru on the alleged events, but Ecuadorian authorities managed to communicate with the Peruvian consul, who offered to explain the events to the Peruvian side. However, hours later the consul instead abandoned the city along with his family. The Ecuadorians also disputed the reasoning behind the provocations by the Ecuadorian side, as it was well known that Peruvian troops had organized themselves near the city, and news had reached the area of the events taking place in El Oro province. Yaupi–Santiago offensive Despite the agreed ceasefire, there were armed clashes in the Amazon area, with the Peruvian troops of the Jungle Division launching, between August 1 and 2, 1941, an offensive against the Ecuadorian garrisons located on the Yaupi and Santiago rivers. Battle of Yaupi River According to Second Lieutenant , who would be killed the next day, the Ecuadorian Yaupi outpost and its Gazipum garrison was attacked from July 31 to August 1, 1941, by no less than 100 soldiers from the Peruvian Army, armed with eight machine guns. Air Campaign The Peruvian Air Force was more numerous and technologically more advanced than its Ecuadorian counterpart. The core of Peruvian aviation was made up of a squadron of five NA-50 fighters, known as Toritos, which were a version of the North American P-64 and had been delivered by the United States in May 1939. As in the case of armored vehicles, Ecuador practically lacked combat aircraft; at the beginning of hostilities, the Ecuadorian Air Force had only six Curtiss-Wright CW-19R Sparrow aircraft, and three IMAM Ro.37 reconnaissance and attack biplanes that were in poor condition. The paratroopers were dropped from Italian Caproni Ca.111 bomber-transports. Blockade of Guayaquil On August 31, 1941, and facing a delicate political and national security situation, President of Ecuador Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río decided to retain a considerable part of the Ecuadorian Army to protect the capital, Quito. This military order was given due to intelligence reports coming from the intelligence services of Brazil, Chile, and the United States, informing President Arroyo del Río and the Ecuadorian military high command that Peru was less than 48 hours from Guayaquil, leaving from Machala and Puerto Bolívar, the second port of Ecuador. The Peruvian troops were less than 170 km from the Guayaquil metropolitan area. If Ecuador did not accept Peru's rights over the disputed territories, the Peruvian military intended to assault and capture the first port of Ecuador. Once Guayaquil was occupied, the Peruvian forces in the occupied part of the Ecuadorian highlands would leave from Loja, which is less than 600 km from the capital, and would occupy Quito, an operation that would take a maximum of 10 days, since the Ecuadorian armed forces had practically ceased to exist in September. By the end of August 1941, Peru occupied the coast: the provinces and cantons of El Oro, Puerto Bolívar and began the blockade of Guayaquil, the main commercial port and naval base of Ecuador. In the mountains, the provinces and cantons of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe were occupied. Faced with the threat to the Ecuadorian state, with Ecuadorian President Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río keeping a sizable part of the Army in Quito, Ecuador promptly requested a ceasefire, which went into effect on 31 July 1941. ==Occupation==

The Peruvian occupation of Ecuador was formally established after the ceasefire of July 31, 1941, having existed since the Peruvian occupation began with the Zarumilla offensive on July 23. After the ceasefire, a civilian administration was established in the occupied province of El Oro by Peru. Other countries involved in the mediation included the Vatican, which had acted both directly between both countries and in conjunction with the other mediators, and to a lesser extent, Chile and Mexico. A fire began in Santa Rosa on 1 August 1941, which destroyed over 120 houses. Both sides blamed each other for the fire, with the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio blaming the retreating Ecuadorian troops with a report that claimed that locals had heard an Ecuadorian commander ordering that the area was burned to a crisp. The town was referred to as the "Lidice of America" by Italian writer Leonelly Castelly due to the scale of the destruction of the area being similar to that of the Czech town. The Peruvian administration immediately started efforts in order to exploit the newly acquired territories in southern Ecuador. A civil administration was established in order to provide a sense of normalcy to the Ecuadorian citizens that lived under occupation, which relieved the military from certain efforts. A large effort from the Northern Army Detachment during this period also went into repairing and maintaining infrastructure, such as highways and railroads, which would in turn be used to the advantage of the Peruvian Army. This effort was so intense that less than half a year later, the province had been transformed from its war-torn state. With a large number of people leaving, the city of Machala, which would serve as the headquarters for the Peruvian administration, was reportedly left virtually empty, as the majority of its inhabitants had left for the north. During this time, the orense government-in-exile had made the prior preparations in order to reestablish its administration of the province as soon as possible, such as the immediate reestablishment of a police force in order to establish a security body in the area, as well as the return of the refugees that had abandoned the province for the north of the country. The exiled Cantonal Council held its first plenary Session on January 18, six days after the withdrawal of Peruvian troops from Ecuador. ==Aftermath==

After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor Peru cut off diplomatic relations with the Axis powers, and aligned with the Allies. The placement of the border markers along the definitive border line indicated by the Rio Protocol had not been completed when the Ecuadorians withdrew from the demarcation commissions in 1948; they argued that inconsistencies between the geographical realities and the instructions of the Protocol made it impossible to implement the Protocol until Peru agreed to negotiate a proper line in the affected area. Thus, some 78 km of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border were left unmarked for the next fifty years, continuing to cause diplomatic conflict and military confrontations between the two countries. Alerta en la frontera, a Peruvian propaganda film filmed during the war, went unreleased until 2014 due to the Rio de Janeiro Protocol. In 1960, Ecuadorian President José María Velasco declared that the Rio Protocol was void. According to the Velasco Administration, the treaty, having been signed under Peruvian military occupation of Ecuadorian soil, was illegal and contrary to Panamerican treaties that outlawed any treaty signed under the threat of force. However, this proclamation made little international impact, and was not followed by meaningful action; Peru and four other countries continued to consider the treaty valid. Peruvian analysts have speculated that President Velasco used the nullity thesis to gather political support with nationalist and populist rhetoric. In 1981, the countries again clashed briefly in the Paquisha War. Only in the aftermath of the Cenepa War of 1995 was the dispute finally settled. On 26 October 1998, representatives of Peru and Ecuador signed a definitive peace agreement: the Brasilia Presidential Act. == See also ==