The Paquisha War, Fake Paquisha War or Paquisha incident (Spanish: Guerra de Paquisha, Conflicto del Falso Paquisha o Incidente de Paquisha) was a military clash that took place between January and February 1981 between Ecuador and Peru over the control of three watchposts. While Peru felt that the matter was already decided in the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941, Ecuador claimed that the Rio de Janeiro Protocol was not executable because a 78km section of the border was not precisely defined.[5]
In the aftermath of the incident, both sides increased their military presence along the Cordillera del Cóndor area and Cenepa Valley, starting an escalating spiral of tension and provocation that finally resulted in another military confrontation in 1995, the Cenepa War.
While the name Paquisha War is widely used by the international community and Ecuador, in Spanish this incident is also known as the Falso Paquisha War (Conflicto del Falso Paquisha) in Peru and, occasionally, as the Paquisha Incident or the Upper Comaina Conflict (conflicto del Alto Comaina).
The conflict began on January 22, 1981, the day on which the Peruvian government denounced the attack on one of its aircraft that was carrying out a supply mission destined for border surveillance posts on the Comaina River. Peruvian President Fernando Belaúnde Terry ordered the inspection of the river until its source located on the eastern side of the Condor range (in Spanish, Cordillera del Cóndor). In this inspection, three Ecuadorian detachments were found with facilities in the territory considered to be Peru by the Peruvian Government according to the previous treaties. These detachments had captured the old observation posts Nos. 22, 3 and 4.[6]
The Ecuadorian position indicated that these detachments corresponded to the "Paquisha" base established in Ecuadorian territory. But, after measuring the coordinates, it was found that they did not correspond to the aforementioned Paquisha accepted in the Rio de Janeiro Protocol but, as Peruvian President Fernando Belaúnde described it, to a "False Paquisha", a name he gave it to be able to easily distinguish it from the first Paquisha that was legal under the Rio Protocol of 1942.[6]
The establishment of these posts was considered by the Peruvian Government as a violation of a status quo line arranged between the military leaders of both countries in the course of several meetings at the end of the 1970s. During these agreements both sides would have agreed not to establish any new military posts in the disputed areas,[7] which would have meant for Ecuador not to establish any military presence to the east of the ridgeline of the Condor Range.
The Ecuadorian possession of these posts was denounced by Peruvian representatives at the foreign ministers' meeting of the OAS, on February 2, 1981. During this meeting, the Peruvian Foreign Minister, Javier Arias Stella, called the three Ecuadorian military outposts falsos ("fakes"), despite Ecuadorian sovereignty.
The Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Alfonso Barrera Valverde, responded to this allegation stating that when Ecuador responded to the attacks on January 22, it always specified that the attacks were being made against the destacamentos (military outposts) of Paquisha, Mayaicu, and Machinaza, not against the similarly named Ecuadorian towns.[8]
The Peru prepared a contingent to recover the post, formed mainly by Mi-8TV transport helicopters of the Army Aviation and Air Group No. 3, formed by FAPA-37, Su-22 and Mirage 5 aircraft to support to the Jungle Infantry.[9]
The Fuerza Aérea del Peru (FAP) flew many sorties with A-37B, Mirage 5P and Su-22 to support these operations. The FAE flew 179 combat missions with A-37B and Mirage F1 aircraft to counter the FAP attacks. On January 28, 1981, there was a dogfight between 2 A-37Bs of the FAE and FAP.
On January 30, Peruvian troops recovered the "PV-22" (False Paquisha), the next day they recovered the "PV-3", and on February 1, they recovered the "PV-4" (New ) or "false Mayaico".
By that day, the conflict was apparently over but then Peruvians discovered that more troops from Ecuador had settled in 3 other military posts and 3 points on the northeastern border of the Cordillera del Cóndor and were the "PV El Mirador" posts, "PV-4-A" and "PV-4-B" (Old).
On February 19, Peruvians recovered the "PV Jiménez Banda 2" (False Machinaza) and the next day, February 20, the "PV-4-A" and "PV-4-B" (Old ).
The Peruvian operation was a success, the outpost of Falso Paquisha, that was occupied by the Ecuadorians, was taken on February 5 by Peruvian troops. The conflict, which occurred in a then non-demarcated area of the common border between Ecuador and Peru, ceased with the Ecuadorians being expelled from the slopes and driven back to the summit of the Cordillera del Cóndor.
The Organization of American States (OAS), had to intervene through the Sorrosa-Du Bois Act, setting the location coordinates allowed for border troops, ratifying the condition of the mentioned mountain range as a natural boundary between the two countries.
According to a Peruvian journalistic information, which shows a photo that shows the capture of a powerful machine gun system with 4 guns of .50 (12.7mm) caliber in “False Paquisha”, the installation of this type of armament represented the symbol of the gravity of the premeditated Ecuadorian invasion in Peruvian territory, through the Cordillera del Cóndor.[10] According to Peruvian sources, only a detachment of high strategic value justifies the installation of a weapon of these characteristics. Known versions after the eviction of the Ecuadorian troops, between January 28 and February 1, 1981, confirm that this frustrated occupation was planned since 1977, when the first clashes between border patrols began to occur. Another second machine gun of the same characteristics would be captured by Peruvian soldiers in the "False Machinaza" Post (named by the Peruvians "Jiménez Banda 2") which was another of the positions invaded by Ecuadorians.[11]
As a result, the Peruvian and Ecuadorian governments, with assistance of each one of the Guarantors, agreed to separate their forces. This "gentleman's agreement" remained in effect throughout the 1980s, with various measures taken to codify conduct of patrols encountering one another in the disputed area.
The meeting concluded with a resolution that announced a cease fire in the conflict zone, and noted that both countries had accepted a commission of representatives from the guarantor countries to safeguard the observance of the cease fire and establish conditions for peace between Peru and Ecuador.[12]
Context of the "gentlemen's agreement."
To avoid the disaster of 1941 in regard to loss of civilian lives and a possible invasion to the south of Ecuador, the High Command sent twenty-five thousand men under the command of General Richelieu Levoyer with the task of defending possible invasion pathways.
Until then the Ecuadorian Defense Plan envisaged a logistics operations taking about eight days to set up defensive positions. Levoyer proposed a new plan which placed all personnel, weapons, supplies, etc., in twenty-four hours in the front and ready to fulfill the mission of defense.
The Peruvian armed forces were surprised by the rapid deployment of Ecuadorian forces, so, thinking that Levoyer and his men might invade the north of Peru, they organized anti-tank defense lines, trenches, and other defenses.
Fortunately, events did not lead to general war. The widespread confrontation was avoided probably because of the direct talks between top military Commanders of the two countries, and the military Delegates of Chile, Argentina, Brazil and USA. The talks took place in the border line near the Pacific Ocean, in the towns of Huaquillas (Ecuador, Province of El Oro) and Aguas Verdes (Peru, Department of Tumbes). The result was the Sorrosa-Du Bois Act.
Aftermath
Border violence remained constant until the resolution of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute in 1998 through the Brasilia Presidential Act. Violence occurred most of the time around January, which coincides with the month that the Rio Protocol was signed. Despite several proposals to complete demarcation of the border, no agreement was possible at that time.
Several military bases were built up and down the Cordillera by both countries, and the region was militarized. The Peruvian bases were serviced by helicopter, while on the Ecuadorian side, gravel roads were constructed to several military border posts.
According to the USIP, after this war, Ecuador's Foreign Ministry conducted a national opinion survey that reportedly confirmed[citation needed] the popularity of nullification of the Rio Protocol and Ecuador's right to sovereign access to the Amazon River. Thus, in 1983, the Ecuadorian congress reaffirmed its position on the nullity of the Rio Protocol.
In the book "Paquisha, all the truth" by the Ecuadorian writer Claudio Mena, said author maintains that the Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera had planned to inaugurate on February 12 those surveillance posts that Ecuador had installed in Peruvian territory to show the world that this territory was "Ecuadorian soil"[13]
However, in 1998, Ecuador recognized the authenticity and validity of the Rio Protocol and renounced its thesis of inapplicability of the Rio de Janeiro Protocol of 1942 and its aspiration to be a riparian country of the Amazon River as well as its claim of sovereignty over it. The Marañón River through the Act of Brasilia, closing the border, as indicated in the Protocol of Rio de Janeiro, and declaring the end of all differences between the two nations[14]
The Ecuadorian Armed Forces is the national military force of Ecuador. The commander-in-chief is the President of Ecuador. The military is generally under civilian control, specifically the Ministry of National Defence. The Ecuadorian military of Ecuador has been involved in border disputes with Peru, and has provided military observers and troops to the United Nations since 1948.
The Protocol of Peace, Friendship, and Boundaries between Peru and Ecuador, or Rio Protocol for short, was an international agreement signed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 29, 1942, by the foreign ministers of Peru and Ecuador, with the participation of the United States, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina as guarantors. The Protocol was intended to finally resolve the long-running territorial dispute between the two countries, and brought about the official end of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941–1942. Nevertheless, the Protocol was incomplete, and war broke out between Peru and Ecuador twice more, in 1981 and in 1995, before the signing of the Itamaraty Peace Declaration which brought final resolution to the dispute.
The Cenepa War or Third Ecuadorian-Peruvian War, also known as the Alto Cenepa War, was a brief and localized military conflict between Ecuador and Peru, fought over control of an area in Peruvian territory near the border between the two countries. The two nations had signed a border treaty following the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941, but Ecuador later disagreed with the treaty as it applied to the Cenepa and Paquisha areas, and in 1960 it declared the treaty null and void. Most of the fighting took place around the headwaters of the Cenepa River.
Zamora Chinchipe, Province of Zamora Chinchipe is a province of the Republic of Ecuador, located at the southeastern end of the Amazon Basin, which shares borders with the Ecuadorian provinces of Azuay and Morona Santiago to the north, Loja and Azuay to the west, and with Peru to the east and south. The province comprises an area of approximately 10,559 km² and is covered with a uniquely mountainous topography which markedly distinguishes it from the surrounding Amazonian provinces. Zamora-Chinchipe is characterized and largely identified by its mining industry; indigenous ethnic groups with a rich archaeological legacy; its biodiversity; and its niche and tourist attractions, which include a number of waterfalls well-noted for their beauty. The province takes its name from the bureaucratic fusion of the Zamora and Chinchipe cantons. The provincial capital is the city of Zamora.
The Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, known locally as the War of the '41, was a South American border war fought between 5–31 July 1941. It was the first of three military conflicts between Ecuador and Peru during the 20th century.
Jaime Roldós Aguilera was an Ecuadorian politician who was the 33rd President of Ecuador from 10 August 1979 until his death on 24 May 1981. In his short tenure, he became known for his firm stance on human rights, which led to clashes with other Latin American governments and poor relations with Ronald Reagan's United States administration.
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 Ecuadorian Army is the land component of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces. Its 25,650 active soldiers are deployed in relation to its military doctrine. The contemporary Ecuadorian Army incorporates many jungle and special forces infantry units into its structure.
The Cordillera del Cóndor is a mountain range in the eastern Andes that is shared by and part of the international border between Ecuador and Peru.
Foreign relations between the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Peru, have existed for over a century. Both countries established diplomatic relations on July 10, 1822. Both nations are members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Group of 77, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, and the United Nations.
The military history of Ecuador spans hundreds of years.
The Brasilia Presidential Act, also known as the Fujimori–Mahuad Treaty, is an international treaty signed in Brasilia by the then President of Ecuador, Jamil Mahuad and then President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, which effectively put an end to the Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute.
The Sucumbíos Triangle is a territorial zone in Ecuador, located between the Putumayo river to the north and San Miguel river to the south. It belonged to Peru as a de jure international exclave between 1922 and 1942, until it was ceded to Ecuador after the Rio de Janeiro Protocol of 1942, forming today part of its border with Colombia.
The Battle of Zarumilla or Zarumilla offensive was a military confrontation between Peru and Ecuador that took place from July 23 to 31 during the 1941 Ecuadorian–Peruvian War.
The Battle of Pantoja and Rocafuerte, known also simply as the Battle of Rocafuerte, was a military confrontation between Peru and Ecuador that took place on August 11, 1941, during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War.
The Colombian–Peruvian territorial dispute was a territorial dispute between Colombia and Peru, which, until 1916, also included Ecuador. The dispute had its origins on each country's interpretation of what Real Cedulas Spain used to precisely define its possessions in the Americas. After independence, all of Spain's former 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 South American territorial disputes are the territorial disputes and litigations that have developed in South America since the aftermath of the continent's wars of independence, which have shaped the current political geography of the region. These conflicts have been resolved through both military and diplomatic means. The most recent conflict in the Americas of this nature was the Cenepa War in 1995, between Ecuador and Peru.
The Peruvian occupation of Ecuador was the military occupation by the Peruvian Army of the southern provinces of Ecuador that lasted from 1941 to 1942, during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War. After a ceasefire was declared on July 31, 1941, the civil administration became limited to the provinces of El Oro and Loja until the Rio Protocol was signed on January 29, 1942, with Peruvian troops withdrawing on February 12.
The Alto Cenepa confrontation was an armed clash that occurred in January 1978 on the de facto border between Ecuador and Peru in the Alto Cenepa area, Cordillera del Cóndor. The conflict arose from the advance of a detachment of the Ecuadorian Army into territory administered by Peru according to the Rio de Janeiro Protocol.
↑ Moncada Novoa, Ricardo (December 2005). XXV Anniversary of Military Operations in the Cordillera del Cóndor (1981-2006). Permanent Commission of History of the Army of Peru.
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