The Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute was a territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru, which, until 1928, also included Colombia. The dispute had its origins on each country's interpretation of what Real Cedulas Spain used to precisely define its colonial territories in the Americas. After independence, all of Spain's colonial territories signed and agreed to proclaim their limits in the basis of the principle of uti possidetis juris, which regarded the Spanish borders of 1810 as the borders of the new republics. However, conflicting claims and disagreements between the newly formed countries eventually escalated to the point of armed conflicts on several occasions.
The dispute de jure had come to an end in the aftermath of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War with the signing of the Rio de Janeiro Protocol on January 29, 1942. However, this treaty was also questioned, and the two countries went to war on two more occasions: the Paquisha War in 1981, and the Cenepa War in 1995. Tensions subsided but persisted over the next three years. On October 26, 1998, Ecuador and Peru signed a comprehensive peace accord that established a framework for ending a border dispute. Formal demarcation of border regions started on May 13, 1999. The agreement was ratified without opposition by the congresses of both nations, finally bringing a definitive end to the dispute.
Spanish era
Spanish conquest and establishment of the Viceroyalty of Peru
Beginning with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish conquistadores expanded the range of the Spanish Crown's reach from early small settlements in the Caribbean to various continental territories, eventually including Central America and most of South America.
The Spaniards arrived at the borders of the Inca Empire in 1528, and on November 16, 1532, taking advantage of the Inca Civil War, the tiny army of Francisco Pizarro began the Spanish conquest of Peru. In the following decades, Spain consolidated its power over the entire Andean region, repressing successive indigenous rebellions.
To govern the new territories of Spain, in 1542 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain) created two Viceroyalties, the Viceroyalty of New Spain (in modern-day Mexico) and the Viceroyalty of Peru (a.k.a. the Viceroyalty of New Castile). In 1542, King Charles named Blasco Núñez Vela Peru's first viceroy, but the viceroyalty was not organized until the arrival of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo in 1572. Toledo promptly declared war on Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Inca; soon afterwards, Tupac Amaru, the last Inca emperor, was captured and executed in Cuzco.
Territorial division of the Viceroyalty of Peru
Because the territory of the Viceroyalty of Peru was so large, and far away from centers of government in Lima and Santo Domingo, Peru (as well as New Spain) was divided into a number of real audiencias (royal audiences), a type of superior judicial tribunal that combined executive and judicial authority, and can be considered "major provinces". The audiences controlled the gobernaciones, alcaldias mayores, corregimientos, and alcaldias ordinarias. The territory was also divided ecclesiastically, into archbishoprics, religious provinces, suffragan bishopries, parishes and curateships. The archbishoprics and religious provinces corresponded with the audiences, the bishoprics with the gobernaciones and alcaldias mayores, and the parishes and curateships with the corregimientos and alcaldias ordinarias.
These civil divisions were not uniform, with numerous exceptions being made based on the specific circumstances. The Viceroys were presidents of the audiences at the capitals of their Viceroyalties, with other audiences being presided over by captain-generals, or by persons known as gowned presidents. Power was devolved to the captain-general of an audience by the Viceroy, and the audience's territory was administered by the audience's president and the political, military, and religious officials underneath him.
Between 1542 and 1717, the Viceroyalty controlled most of the territory of South America (save for a few non-Spanish colonies and the Commandancy General of Caracas, which was a dependency of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo). The territory was divided among (noting dates of creation):
- Royal Audience of Tierra Firme (1564)
- Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá (1548)
- Royal Audience of San Francisco of Quito (1563)
- Royal Audience of the City of Kings Lima (1543)
- Royal Audience of La Plata de los Charcas (1559)
- Royal Audience of Chile (1563–1573; 1606)
The district of an audience was established in the royal decree by which it was created; the laws laid out in the myriad of Cédulas Reales issued by the Spanish Crown were compiled several times throughout the centuries-long history of Spanish presence in the region. These compilations were referred to as the Laws of the Indies; the 1680 compilation, organized under Charles II, known as the Recopilación de las Leyes de los Reynos de Indias (Compilation of the Laws of the Kingdoms of the Indies), set a template by which the laws were organized.
Under Title XV of Book II of the Recopilación, the limits of the audiences of Lima and Quito were defined as follows:
- The district of the Royal Audience of San Francisco of Quito was described in Law X, Title XV of Book II: "In the City of San Francisco of Quito, in Peru, shall reside another Royal Audience and Chancellery of ours, with a president; four judges of civil cases [oidores], who will also be judges of criminal cases [alcaldes del crimen]; a crown attorney [fiscal]; a bailiff [alguacil mayor]; a lieutenant of the Gran Chancellor; and the other necessary ministers and officials; and which shall have for district the Province of Quito, and along the coast towards the Ciudad de los Reyes [Lima] to the Port of Paita, exclusive; and inland towards Piura, Cajamarca, Chachapoyas, Moyobamba and Motilones, exclusive, including towards the aforesaid part the towns of Jaén, Valladolid, Loja, Zamora, Cuenca, La Zarza and Guayaquil, with the rest of the towns, which are in their districts or will be founded [in them]; and towards the towns of La Canela and Quijos, it should include said towns and the rest that shall be discovered; and along the coast towards Panama, until the Port of Buenaventura, inclusive; and inland to Pasto, Popayán, Cali, Buga, Chapanchinca and Guarchicona; because the rest of the places of the Government (Gobernación) of Popayán are of the Audience of the New Kingdom of Granada, with which, and with the one of Tierrafirme [Panama], it shall share a border on the north; and with the one of Los Reyes in the south; having for its western border the South Sea [Pacific Ocean] and eastern the provinces still not yet pacified nor discovered."
- The district of the Royal Audience and Chancellery of Lima was described in Law V, Title XV of Book II: "In the City of Kings Lima, the capital of the provinces of Peru, shall reside another Royal Audience and Chancellery of ours, with a viceroy, governor and captain general, and a lieutenant, who will be president; eight judges of civil cases [oidores]; four judges of criminal cases [alcaldes del crimen]; two crown attorneys [fiscal], one for civil, and the other for criminal cases; a bailiff [alguacil mayor]; a lieutenant of the Grand Chancellor; and the other necessary ministers and officials; and which shall have for district the coast from that city down to the Captaincy General of Chile exclusive, and up to the port of Paita inclusive, and, for inland, to San Miguel de Piura, Cajamarca, Cachapoyas, Moyabamba and the Motilones, inclusive, and as far as Collao, exclusive, along the boundaries outlining the Royal Audiencia of La Plata, and the city of Cuzco, with its boundaries, inclusive, sharing the boundaries on the north with the Royal Audiencia of Quito, on the south with the Audiencia of La Plata, on the west with the Southern sea, and on the east with the provinces yet undiscovered, accordingly as they may be established."
Creation of New Granada
The two original Spanish viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru had existed intact up until 1717, when King Philip V of Spain issued the Real Cédula of May 27, 1717. The order split off the northwestern corner of Peru and created the Viceroyalty of New Granada. New Granada shared its capital with the Royal Audience of Santa Fé de Bogotá, and additionally had jurisdiction over the New Kingdom of Granada, as well as the audiences of Tierra Firme (now called Panama), Quito, and the Captaincy General of Venezuela. The territories of the Viceroyalty comprised the territories of, respectively, the modern Republics of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela, as well as the northern regions of Peru, the Brazilian northwest, and the western part of Guyana.
The Royal Audience of Quito had been established by a royal decree in 1563, its territory including Pasto, Popayán, Cali, Buenaventura and Buga in what is currently Colombia, and extended as far south as Piura in what is now Peru. The eastern limit was ill-defined at the time, due to a lack of geographical knowledge and the low importance given to unpopulated, hard-to-reach territories. As the Jesuit Missionaries from Quito and other missionaries entered the Amazon Basin, the Amazon region with its tributaries were more clearly defined and by 1740, the Real Cedula of 1740 precisely defined the borders between the Viceroyalties of New Granada and Peru.
Having temporarily suppressed the Viceroyalty of New Granada, on November 5, 1723, Philip V emitted another Cédula, which returned control of the Royal Audience of Quito to the Viceroyalty of Peru. The Cédula of August 20, 1739 (also called the Cédula de Reerección Definitiva del Virreinato de Nueva Granada, "Definitive Decree of Re-erection of the Viceroyalty of New Granada") reinstated the viceroyalty with its 1717 territories, including the Royal Audience of Quito. The border between Quito and the Viceroyalty of Peru was defined in 1740 by another Cédula:
Starting from the Tumbes on the Pacific Coast, the line follows by the ridges and other cordilleras of the Andes through the jurisdiction of Paita, and Piura to the Marañón, at 6 degrees, 30 minutes South Latitude, and on the interior, leaving to Peru the jurisdiction of Piura, Cajamarca, Moyobamba and Motilones; and by the cordillera of Jeveros, crossing the river Ucayali, at 6 degrees of South Latitude, up to the Javary River or Jauri River at its confluence with the Carpi; and on the waters of the latter to Solimões or the Amazonas and from thence down to the most westerly mouth of the Caquetá or Yapurá, where the boundaries with Brazil begin."
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. This document was the first mention of the Tumbes as the boundary between the two viceroyalties.
Real Cédula of 1802
Don Francisco de Requena requested that control of the Government and Commandancy General of Maynas pass from the Viceroyalty of Santa Fe (New Granada) to the Viceroyalty of Peru. In response, on July 15, 1802, the Spanish crown under the rule of Charles IV of Spain issued the Real Cédula of 1802. The decree split the Government and Commandancy General of Maynas and the Governorate of Quijos from the Audience of Quito, and added them to the Viceroyalty of Peru. 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 have also resolved to erect a diocese in said missions... I THE KING
In a footnote, Dr. Antonio José Uribe, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia from 1901 to 1902, wrote,