THE PERUVIAN-ECUADORAN BOUNDARY DISPUTE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 22
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2012
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: May 1, 1966
• Content Type: MISC

 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
Special Intelligence Supplements are produced by the
Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Inter--
pretation of intelligence information in these publica-
tions represents views which are subject to modifica-
tion in the light of subsequent new information. Re-
cipients who note substantive inaccuracies are requested
to advise the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency,
Attention: Intelligence Support and Indications Center
(DIAAP-2).
Certain items may1be specifically limited as to further
dissemination. Provided they are not so limited, items
may be disseminated further, but only in strict accord-
ance with the provisions of DIAR 50-10 (AR 381-1, OPNAV
INST 5500.39, AFR 205-19).
This document contains information affecting the national
defense of the United States within the meaning of the
Espionage Laws, Title.18, U.S.C. Sections 793 and 794.
The transmission or revelation of its contents in any
manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12: CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO 'FOREIGN:1DISSEM
THE PERUVIAN-ECUADORAN BOUNDARY DISPUTE
DIA Intelligence Supplement
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
,SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
OCFAN
DISPUTED AREA PRIG
AREA STILL IN DISPUT
--f? BOUNDARY ESTABLISH
SECRET-..NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
The border dispute bd'tween Peru and Ecuador,
which has touched off repeated clashes and inci-
dents, began with Ecuadoran independence in 1830 and
stemmed chiefly from vague or inexact descriptions
of the common boundary in Spanish colonial docu-
ments. Ecuadoran political motives, national pride,
and desire for access to the Amazon via a major
navigable river have been rrecent aggravating
factors. There are two areas in dispute; one is at
Peru's extreme northern boundary and the other
along the southern border of Ecuador. These are
parts of a much larger region which was disputed in
its entirety until 19+2 -- the so-called "Oriente,"
consisting of about 100,000 square miles of Amazon
lowlands east of the Andes Mountains down to and
including the Amazon River port of Iquitos.
Two major prolonged attempts have been made to
settle the boundary question. The first came in
1887 when the disputants agreed to submit the entire
problem to the King of Spain. For various reasons
the king delayed a decision until 1908. Before it
could be officially transmitted to the contenders,
however, it became public knowledge through indiscre-
tions of Spanish officials. The award established
a dividing line similar to that which was later fixed
by the Rio Protocol of. 19+2 -- the second major
arbitration attempt -- and largely favored Peru's
claims. Public opinion in Ecuador became inf lamed,
there were hostile demonstrations in Quito, and a
situation verging on war developed. Because of this
reaction, the King never officially transmitted his
decision, and he renounced the role of arbitrator.
The dispute has led to threatening situations
and even an undeclared war. A clash between Peruvian
and Ecuadoran troops in 1910 resulted in mobilization
of troops by Peru and offers by diplomatic representa-
tives of the US, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to
mediate to prevent war.
V
2 MAY 66 DIA Intelligence Supplement
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Page 1
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
In early 1941, frontier clashes occurred
which by July had reached serious proportions.
Hostilities ended on 31 July, largely through the
efforts of the same mediators as in 1910. Several
additional incidents occurred, however, before a
truce was finally agreed to in October 1941.
Peace was formally restored on 29 January 1942 when
the disputants signed the Protocol of Peace, Friend-
ship, and Boundaries in Rio de Janeiro. The Rio
Protocol was ratified by Peru on 6 February 1942-
and by Ecuador on 28 February 1942..
The quick agreement to settle the dispute at
that time stemmed largely from the cooperative
atmosphere in Rio where the American Foreign
Ministers were meeting to map the hemisphere's
fight against the Axis Powers. Ecuador later devel-
oped the attitude that it had been forced "with a
knife at its throat" to sign. The circumstances
surrounding the signing of the treaty and Ecuador's
claim that it contained a "geographic error" have
been cited since 1947 by Ecuadorans in protestir{g
variously that the protocol's provisions as written
are impossible-to carry out, that the entire document
is null and void, or that the dispute should be
reconsidered in international arbitration.
The Rio Protocol
The Rio Protocol, a short document containing
nine articles, named the US, Brazil, Argentina, and
Chile as guarantor powers. It described a mutually
agreed boundary line, but left the precise demarcation
to technical experts. Both countries agreed to the
principle of mutually acceptable concessions during
the demarcation process in order to adjust the
boundary to geographic realities. Difficulties which
arose were to be resolved with the aid of the
-guarantor powers whose jurisdiction is to continue
until the boundary is definitely demarcated.
Under the Protocol, the. disputed territory was
divided between the two countries but Peru, which
as a result of the hostilities occupied considerable
2 MAY 66 DIA Intelligence. Supplement Page 2
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
territory long governed by Ecuador, received the
greater part. Ecuador obtained large areas on the
eastern slopes of the Andes and rights of free
navigation on Amazon River tributaries. The treaty
described the boundary line for two major areas.
The Lest Sector ranged from Boca de Capones on the
Pacific coast to the convergence of the Chinchipe
and San Francisco Rivers. This section has been
ratified by both countries and is not in dispute;
however, that part of the protocol dealing with
the "Oriente" boundary was so lacking in detail that
it led to the present controversy. The dispute
technically involves inadequacies in those sections
dealing with the Lagartococha River boundary and
the boundary between the Zamora and Santiago Rivers the San Francisco-Yaupi segment. The latter is by
far the more important.
After demarcation of the boundary line had
begun, several differences arose within the demarca-
tion commissions. Some were resolved through the
intervention of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign
Relations (Itamaraty). Itamaraty proposed in May
1944 that others be submitted to the arbitration of
Brazilian Commander Dias de Aguiar, in the following
terms: "Sector of the Cordilheira do Condor: this
difference shall be settled in accordance with the
solution that may be proposed by Commander Dias de
Aguiar, after inspection 'in loco'."
The two governments accepted the proposal and
Commander Dias de Aguiar made an arbitral award on
14 July 1945 which was accepted by both. After the
US Army Air Forces completed an aerial survey in
1947, however, Ecuador alleged that the Braz de
Aguiar award referred not to the entire San Francisco-
Yaupi area, but only to the northern part of the
area, in the region near the Yaupi, and that the rest
of the area is still not defined. Peru, however,
maintained that the award referred to this whole
stretch of the border.
The 631-kilometer Western Sector demarcation was
completed by e en of 1946 and concrete markers
2 MAY 66 DIA Intelligence Supplement
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Page 3
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM-
THE LOGARTOCOCHA RIVER DISPUTE AREA
Corte an eI Rio 6ueppi Marker,
^ot ratified by Ecuador
Punta loter.edio Marker,
ratified by Ecuador-Peru
Guebrado da Norte
Nora
Nucleate Logartococba Marker,
not ratified by Ecuador
RIU ARICO
Unclassified ?
2 May 66 DIA-ISIC
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FO`REIG~ DISSEM
were placed. Most of the Eastern sector was also
marked in accordance with the Protocol as arbitrated
by Braz de Aguiar. The only portion remaining,
unmarked is a 78-kilometer gap from the Cunhizime-Sur
marker in the south to the 20 de Noviembre marker
further north. Ecuador has not ratified placement
of.all markers in the Lagartococha headwaters area
of the extreme north, and claims that demarcation in
the southern part of the Eastern Sector is invalid.
The undemarcated section is in very rough and heavily
forested mountain country., The boundary commission
has placed no markers since 1947 when a US Army Air
Force aerial survey was completed.
The Lagartococha Problem
The Rio Protocol defined the Lagartococha por-
tion of the boundary as follows: "The Lagartococha
River, upstream to its source and from there a
straight line which will meet the Gueppi River and
along this river to its mouth on the Putumayo, and
along the Putumayo upstream to the boundary of
Ecuador and Colombia."
The demarcation commission found that the
Lagartococha had two forks, either of which might be
regarded as the stream's source, and the matter was
submitted to Cdr Dias de Aguiar for arbitration.
He awarded the boundary along the "Quebrada Norte"
(north Branch) and both countries agreed. Unfortu-
nately, the Quebrada Norte was also formed by the
confluence of two smaller streams.
The award declared that the boundary should
follow the Quebrada Norte to its source, but on the
accompanying map the Arbitrator traced it along the
easternmost of the two converging streams forming the
Quebrada Norte. Subsequently, in December 1945-
January 1946, a Peruvian-Ecuadoran field party,
serving under the Boundary Demarcation Commission,
surveyed the sector and set up appropriate cement
markers -- at variance with the Arbitrator's map --
along the westernmost of the two converging streams
which they apparently regarded unequivocally as the
2 May 66
DIA Intelligencc Supplement
Page 4
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO. FOREIGN DISSEM
Nautical Miles
THE ZAMORA-SANTIAGO RIVER AREA
NOT RATIFIED BY ECUADOR
MARKERS IN THIS SECTION
RATIFIED BY. ECUADOR
79?
Unclassified
2 May 66 DIA-ISIC
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
principal course of the Quebrada Norte. The boundary
thus demarcated granted Peru the approximately 80
square kilometers of the territory in dispute.
In December 1946, the Peruvian government sub-
mitted to Dias de Aguiar a detailed account of the
field party's survey and demarcation. Based on the
new information, he issued a modified modified opinion in
January 1947 that the "principal source of the
Lagartococha River is that which was determined by the
mixed Peruvian-Ecuadoran Commission during the work
performed ifs 1945-1946."
Ecuador refused to accept (the new finding and
appealed to the guarantor nations. Guarantor nation
representatives met and decided that they should
study the documents and ask instructions from their
governments. The consensus was that Ecuador's case
was very weak and that the boundary as marked was
correct. It was felt, however, that in the interest
of inter-American friendship, and as a matter of
equity, it would be highly desirable for Peru to
Naive its claim to the small area. When the Peruvian
government was informed of this suggestion, it
rejected it emphatically and informed the guarantor
governments that their task was to guarantee "the
execution of the treaty without regard to considera-
tions that may detract from it or produce anti-
juridical effects." Dias de Aguiar, died in December
1947, and subsequent meetings of guarantor nation
representatives never solved the Lagartococha question.
The Zamora-Santiago Problem
According to the Rio Protocol, one segment of
the Eastern Sector boundary would be demarcated,
"from the Quebrada de San Francisco, the 'divertium
aquarum' between the Zamora and Santiago Rives., to
the confluence of the Santiago with the Yaupi."
Demarcation in the southern portion of the
sector was completed from the San Francisco marker
to the last one placed -- the Cunhuime-Sur marker.
Both countries ratified the demarcation through the
2 MAY 66 DIA Intelligence Supplement Page 5
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Trinidad marker in 1944. Others placed along the de
Aguiar arbitration line in the south have not been
ratified by, Ecuador.
Demarcation along the northern part of the
sector was completed as far south as the 20 de
Noviembre marker and, except for the small
Lagartococha section, all markers are regarded
valid by both countries. During the early stages
of the demarcation, Ecuador contended that there
could be no div,ertium aquarum between the Zamora
and Santiago Rivers because they were actually the
same -- beginning with the Zamora which flows north
and becomes the Santiago when it courses to the
east. The problem appeared to be solved with the
de Aguiar arbitration until the US aerial survey
became available in 1947. Photographs showed 1that
the headwaters of the Cenepa River were further
.north than Ecuador had formerly recognized and were
into the inverted "U" formed by the Zamora-Santiago
Rivers.
Ecuador maintains that the aerial survey showed
that the "divertium aquarum" referred to in the Rio
Protocol does not exist and therefore demarcation
cannot be carried out on the ground. Peru is equally
emphatic in claiming that the de Aguiar award
resolved the matter.
A number of suggestions for overcoming the
impasse have been considered by both the guarantor
powers and the disputants. Those made by neutrals
aim for some early "reasonable" complete settlement,
but have been rejected by one or both disputants.
Suggestions by Peru -- usually that the demarcation
process be completed -- have been unacceptable to
Ecuador. Ecuador has asked for renegotiation of the
treaty, but this is apparently unalterably opposed
by Peru.
There is no provision in the treaty for nullifi-
cation but Ecuadoran officials have frequently raised
tensions by publicly stating that the pact is void.
One instance occurred at the inaugural address of
2 MAY 66 DIA Intelligence Supplement Page 6
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
SECRET-N-O FOREIGN DISSEM
President Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra in Quito in
September 1960 when he announced before an
audience that included 42 foreign missions that
Ecuador no longer recognized the 19+2 treaty
establishing the border with Peru. The most
recent statement to this effect came from the
Minister of Foreign Relations of the.present
interim government early this month. Despite the
numerous public utterances, however, Ecuador has
not addressed any diplomatic note renouncing
the treaty.
Peru also occasionally raises tensions but
not as frequently.. One instance occurred in
August 1963 when the Chamber of Deputies voted to
request that the Foreign Ministry complete the
placing of.border markers along the 78 undemarcated
kilometers of the Ecuadoran-Peruvian frontier.
From time to time, rumors emerge in Ecuador that
Peru. is unilaterally placing boundary markers, but
the :reports have not been proven true. Whenever
an Ecuadoran official denounces the Protocol, a
Peruvian official issues a statement upholding its
validity. The most recent example was on 7 April
when Peruvian Foreign Minister Jorge Vasquez Salas
declared: "In the face of these statements (by
the Ecuadoran foreign minister), I must declare in
the most categoric manner, as I did before the
meeting of the American Foreign Ministers in Rio de
Janeiro, that Peru does not and will never accept
an attempt to revive this dead issue, either directly
or indirectly, nor will Peru accept any variation
in the status fixed by a valid international commitment
in full force."
Prospects for Settlement of the Dispute
In 1959 a knowledgeable US official issued a
pragmatic summary of the dispute, efforts made for
its settlement, and suggestions for ending it. The
report, by Ellis 0. Briggs, stated in part: "Looking
back on the four years I have participated in futile
efforts to settle this dispute -- one year as
Ambassador in Lima and three in Brazil -- I have been
2 MAY 66 DIA Intelligence Supplement Page 7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08C01297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
struck at the timidity of the four Guarantors, who
seem to have operated on the theory that wishful
thinking, plus polite attention to the interminable
conflicting statements of the two disputants, would
eventually produce a settlement. Both Peru and
Ecuador have shown intransigence and have behaved
truculently in their public postures. Peru, favored
by the Protocol, has incessantly demanded her
pound of flesh when a conciliatory gesture would
have been in order; Ecuador has foolishly harped on
the Maranon, which is many miles away from any
boundary envisaged in the Protocol. . What is now
needed is for the Guarantors to restate their
responsibilities under the Protocol and their
determination to discharge them. . . should the
Guarantors continue along the indecisive line followed
for the past decade, I should anticipate that a
decade hence we would. probably be dancing around the
same maypole." -
More than half of the decade mentioned by Mr.
Briggs has passed without an essential change in the
situation. Ecuador is still-determined that it
must have.direct access to the navigable Maranon
River before the issue is settled and Peru is
adamant concerning the Protocol's validity. Under
these circumstances, Mr. Briggs' prediction of the
situation that will prevail in 1969 is probably
accurate. (SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM)
2 MAY 66 DIA Intelligence Supplement Page 8
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7
SECRET-NO FOREIGN DISSEM
SECRET--NO FOREIGN DISSEM
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/12/12 : CIA-RDP08CO1297R000700120016-7