Ecuadorian-Peruvian war of 1858
Encyclopedia
A territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru took place between 1857 and 1860. The dispute began when Ecuador
attempted to sell Amazonian land claimed by Peru
in order to settle a debt with British creditors. When diplomatic relations between the two countries broke down, prior to the fragmentation of the Ecuadorian government into several competing factions, the Peruvian government ordered a blockade of Ecuador's ports in order to force the cancellation of the sale, and the official acknowledgement of Peruvian ownership of the disputed territories. By late 1859, control of Ecuador was consolidated between General Guillermo Franco, in the city of Guayaquil
, and a provisional government in Quito headed by Gabriel García Moreno
. Peruvian President Ramón Castilla
sailed to Guayaquil with several thousand soldiers in October 1859, and negotiated the Treaty of Mapasingue with General Franco in January 1860. The signing of the treaty indicated Ecuadorian compliance with all of Peru's demands, and temporarily marked the end of the territorial dispute between the two countries. However, in September 1860, the forces of the provisional government, commanded by García Moreno and General Juan José Flores
defeated Franco's government at the Battle of Guayaquil
, ending the civil war in Ecuador. The new government disavowed the Treaty of Mapasingue, followed shortly afterwards by its Peruvian counterpart; this re-opened the territorial dispute.
The dispute is sometimes referred to as the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1859, due to the temporary occupation of Ecuadorian territory by Castilla's forces upon arriving in Guayaquil. No fighting took place between the troops of the two countries within the duration of the dispute, although a detachment of Peruvian forces pledged by Castilla in the Treaty of Mapasingue was involved in the later Battle of Guayaquil.
had incurred a number of debts to private European creditors. Its three daughter states: Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, split the debts amongst themselves. In 1837, Ecuador assumed responsibility for 21.5 percent of the debt. In the 1850s, a committee of holders of Latin American bonds organized itself and sent several representatives to Ecuador to arrange settlement of the debt. On September 21, 1957, George S. Pritchett, representing the Ecuadorian Land Company, Ltd. signed a treaty with Ecuadorian Minister of Finance Don Francisco de Paula Icaza, that gave the creditors rights to several territories in Esmeraldas
; several more on the shores of the Zamora river
; one million quarter sections in the canton of Canelos
; as well as 410,200 quarter sections near the Cañar river
: a total of 2,610,200 quarter sections, at a value of £
566,900. Ecuadorian sovereignty over the lands would be preserved, but all activities carried out there would be tax-exempt for a period of 15 years. This was not the first time that the Ecuadorian government had previously attempted to settle debts by transferring title over part of its territory.
. Because of the poor geographical knowledge of the area at the time, colonial-era administrations were separated by borders defined with little accuracy via a multitude of Real Cédulas (royal decrees issued by the Spanish Crown). These haphazard territorial definitions led to a number of border disputes among new South American nations. The ownership of the northern half of what is now the Loreto Region
in Peru was a major point of contention between the two countries; up to that point, relations between the neighbors had alternated between friendly and nonexistent. On November 11, 1857, Peruvian Resident Minister to Ecuador Juan Celestino Cavero protested the signing of the Icaza–Pritchett treaty in a letter to Antonio Mata, the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Relations. Cavero had been appointed only three months before; he had arrived in Quito tasked among other things with seeking to resolve the territorial dispute. Now, he called for the treaty to be declared void: the territories in Canelos being sold off belonged to Peru, based on the boundary laid out by the Real Cédula of 1802 (a decree ordering the transfer of territories from the Real Audiencia de Quito to the Viceroyalty of Peru
). He also noted the posture of uti possidetis
adopted by Peru in 1810, as well as the general acts of jurisdiction and possession that Peru had long carried out in the disputed territories.
Mata replied to Cavero on November 30, arguing that Ecuador had full rights to the territories, reaffirming Ecuador's view that the Real Cédula of 1802 did not transfer territorial rights to the Viceroyalty of Peru, rendering the claim of uti possidetis de jure void. According to one source, Mata argued that the Real Cédula of 1802 did not constitute a real Spanish law, because it was never authorized by the Viceroy of Santa Fe, meaning that ownership of territories according to Spanish law remained as it was prior to 1802. Peru continued to stand by its position of uti possidetis of 1810, and brought its case before the governments of the United States
and Great Britain, which distanced themselves from the dispute.
A "paper war" of diplomatic correspondence between the two countries went on between April and August 1858. On July 29, Mata requested that Cavero be expelled based on the behavior exhibited in the execution of his functions as minister. On July 30, Cavero wrote to the Chancery of Lima, detailing what he considered multiple transgressions carried out by the Ecuadorian government and press against Peru's honor. That same day, the Chancery
of Quito notified Cavero that relations between Peru and Ecuador were once again severed; he was then expelled from the country. While the Peruvian view is that Cavero was justified in any means necessary to achieve the repatriation of the territories, his tactics have been called tactless and belligerent by later scholars, and were contrary to his instructions from Lima and detrimental to his goals.
In a law enacted on October 26, 1858, the Peruvian Congress authorized President Ramón Castilla
to command an army against Ecuador if necessary to secure the national territory against its sale to the British creditors. A blockade
of Ecuador's ports was ordered. On November 1, 1858, the first Peruvian ship, the naval frigate
BAP Amazonas, arrived in Ecuadorian waters; the blockade began in earnest on November 4, and was presided over by Rear Admiral Ignacio Mariátegui.
, faced with the threat of the Peruvian blockade, moved the national capital to Guayaquil
, and charged General José María Urbina with defending it. In the wake of this unpopular move, a series of opposition movements, championed by regional caudillos, were formed. On May 1, a conservative
triumvirate, integrated by Dr. Gabriel García Moreno
, Pacífico Chiriboga and Jerónimo Carrión
(Robles' vice president) formed the Provisional Government of Quito. On May 6, Carrión separated himself from the triumvirate, and formed a short-lived government in the city of Cuenca
; he was deposed the next day by forces loyal to Robles.
General Urvina promptly set out for Quito to subdue García Moreno and his movement. The Provisional Government was no match for Urvina, and fell in June. García Moreno fled to Peru, where he requested the support of President Castilla; the Peruvian leader supplied him with weapons and ammunition to subvert the Robles regime. Believing that he had the support of the Peruvians, in July García Moreno addressed a manifesto
—published in a July edition of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio—to his countrymen, instructing them to accept Peru as their ally against Robles, despite the territorial dispute and blockading actions. Shortly afterwards, García Moreno traveled to Guayaquil, where he met with General Guillermo Franco
, General Commander of the District of Guayas and third in the Urvinista caudillo hierarchy, after Urvina and Robles. García Moreno proposed that they disavow Robles' government and declare free elections. Franco agreed to help García Moreno, though he himself also aspired to the presidency of the republic.
.
When he received word of Franco's allegiance with Castilla, Robles disavowed their treaty, and moved the capital once again, this time to Riobamba
, where he handed over leadership of the government to Jerónimo Carrión. He and Urvina would leave the country for good within a fortnight
. Meanwhile, Rafael Carvajal, a member of the defeated Provisional Government, invaded Ecuador from the border to the north; within the month, Carvajal had reestablished the Provisional Government in Quito. Finally, on September 17, Guillermo Franco declared himself Supreme Chief of Guayas; however, Babahoyo
, Vinces
and Daule sided with the Provisional Government. On September 18, an assembly in Loja
named Manuel Carrión Pinzano military and civil chief of the province; the following day, Carrión Pinzano called a new assembly that established a Federal Government presiding over Loja
, El Oro
and Zamora
. On September 26, Cuenca affirmed its allegiance to the Provisional Government.
With the domestic situation at its most tumultuous, and the Peruvian blockade of the rest of the Ecuadorian coast nearing the end of its first year in place, Castilla sought to take advantage of the circumstances to impose a favorable border settlement. On September 20, Castilla wrote to Quito to declare his support for the Provisional Government; ten days later, he sailed from Callao, leading an invasion force. While stopped over in the port of Paita
, in Peru, Castilla proposed to the Ecuadorians that they form a sole government with which they could negotiate an agreement to end the blockade and the territorial dispute.
Castilla and his forces arrived in Guayaquil on October 4; the next day, he met with Franco aboard the Peruvian steamer Tumbes. Castilla simultaneously sent word to García Moreno that he wished to meet with him as well. García Moreno set out for Guayaquil days later; on October 14, he arrived in Paita aboard the Peruvian ship Sachaca. When García Moreno became aware that an agent of Franco's was also traveling aboard the ship, he became furious, and broke off the possibility of discussions with Castilla.
, near Guayaquil. Castilla did this to guarantee that Ecuador would fulfill its promises.
In Loja, Manuel Carrión Pinzano proposed that the four governments vying for control of Ecuador select a representative to negotiate a settlement with Castilla. On November 13, Cuenca was forced to recognize Guillermo Franco's government in Guayaquil; Franco thus became Supreme Chief of Guayaquil and Cuenca. The next day, Franco and Castilla met once again aboard the Peruvian ship Amazonas, and made arrangements for a definitive peace treaty. Carrión Pinzano's suggestion was not agreed upon until November 19, when dealings began between the governments of Quito, Guayas-Azuay and Loja, who agreed to delegate to Franco the task of negotiating with Peru, except on the matter of territorial sovereignty. According to the agreement signed between the governments, "the government of Guayaquil and Cuenca may not pledge to annex, cede or assign to any government any part of the Ecuadorian territory under any pretext or name." Franco, however, had been negotiation exactly such matters with Castilla; a preliminary convention regarding the territorial situation was signed between Franco and Castilla on December 4, for the purpose of releasing Guayaquil from occupation and re-establishing peace.
García Moreno soon became aware of the treasonous pact agreed upon by Franco and Castilla. In an unsuccessful attempt to seek a powerful ally, García Moreno sent a series of secret letters to the chargé d'affaires
of France
, Emile Trinité, on December 7, 15 and 21; in them, he proposed that Ecuador become a protectorate
of the European country. Fortunately for his cause, the agreement between Franco and Castilla had the effect of uniting the disparate governments of Ecuador against their new common enemy; El Traidor, the traitor Franco, who had betrayed them by dealing with the Peruvians on their terms.
, at the Battle of Guayaquil
, paving the way for the reunification of the country under the Provisional Government. The Treaty of Mapasingue was nullified by the Ecuadorian Congress in 1861, and later by the Peruvian Congress in 1863 during the government of Miguel de San Román
, on the grounds that Ecuador did not possess a centralized government when it entered into the treaty, and that General Franco was merely the head of a party or faction, as well as the fact that the new Ecuadorian government had disapproved the treaty. The Congress determined that the two countries should return to the status of casus belli
of 1858. The long dispute thus produced no favorable result for Peru, and the ongoing territorial dispute between the two countries remained unresolved.
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
attempted to sell Amazonian land claimed by Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in order to settle a debt with British creditors. When diplomatic relations between the two countries broke down, prior to the fragmentation of the Ecuadorian government into several competing factions, the Peruvian government ordered a blockade of Ecuador's ports in order to force the cancellation of the sale, and the official acknowledgement of Peruvian ownership of the disputed territories. By late 1859, control of Ecuador was consolidated between General Guillermo Franco, in the city of Guayaquil
Guayaquil
Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...
, and a provisional government in Quito headed by Gabriel García Moreno
Gabriel García Moreno
Gabriel Gregorio Fernando José María García y Moreno y Morán de Buitrón was an Ecuadorian statesman who twice served as President of Ecuador and was assassinated during his second term, after being elected to a third term...
. Peruvian President Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla y Marquesado was a Peruvian caudillo and President of Peru four times. His earliest prominent appearance in Peruvian history began with his participation in a commanding role of the army of the Libertadores that helped Peru become an independent nation...
sailed to Guayaquil with several thousand soldiers in October 1859, and negotiated the Treaty of Mapasingue with General Franco in January 1860. The signing of the treaty indicated Ecuadorian compliance with all of Peru's demands, and temporarily marked the end of the territorial dispute between the two countries. However, in September 1860, the forces of the provisional government, commanded by García Moreno and General Juan José Flores
Juan José Flores
Juan José Flores y Aramburu was a Venezuelan military general who became Supreme Chief, and later the first President of the new Republic of Ecuador. He later served two more terms from 1839 to 1843 and from 1843 to 1845, and is often referred to as "The founder of the Republic".-Biography:Flores...
defeated Franco's government at the Battle of Guayaquil
Battle of Guayaquil
The Battle of Guayaquil was the final and pivotal armed confrontation of the Ecuadorian Civil War. The battle was fought on the outskirts of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador on September 22 – 24, 1860 among several factions claiming control of the country's territory in the wake of the abdication of...
, ending the civil war in Ecuador. The new government disavowed the Treaty of Mapasingue, followed shortly afterwards by its Peruvian counterpart; this re-opened the territorial dispute.
The dispute is sometimes referred to as the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1859, due to the temporary occupation of Ecuadorian territory by Castilla's forces upon arriving in Guayaquil. No fighting took place between the troops of the two countries within the duration of the dispute, although a detachment of Peruvian forces pledged by Castilla in the Treaty of Mapasingue was involved in the later Battle of Guayaquil.
Ecuadorian debt situation
During its war of independence from Spain, the government of Gran ColombiaGran Colombia
Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...
had incurred a number of debts to private European creditors. Its three daughter states: Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, split the debts amongst themselves. In 1837, Ecuador assumed responsibility for 21.5 percent of the debt. In the 1850s, a committee of holders of Latin American bonds organized itself and sent several representatives to Ecuador to arrange settlement of the debt. On September 21, 1957, George S. Pritchett, representing the Ecuadorian Land Company, Ltd. signed a treaty with Ecuadorian Minister of Finance Don Francisco de Paula Icaza, that gave the creditors rights to several territories in Esmeraldas
Esmeraldas Province
Esmeraldas is a province in northwestern Ecuador. The capital is Esmeraldas.The province is home to the Afro-Ecuadorian culture.- Cantons :The province is divided into 8 cantons...
; several more on the shores of the Zamora river
Zamora River
The Zamora River is a tributary of the Santiago River located in the south-east of Ecuador. Historically, it was known to the Spanish as Yaya Mayu , from the river's name among a group of Shuar encountered nearby.The sources of the Zamora River are in the Podocarpus National Park, specifically at...
; one million quarter sections in the canton of Canelos
Canelos
Canelos is a rural parish of the canton of Pastaza, in the province of Pastaza. It is located to the southeast of the city of Puyo.In the 1860s, Canelos was a canton itself, comprising the villages of Canelos, Sarayaku, Lliquino, Andoas and the Sapara and Jíbara tribes. In 1897, the "Oriental...
; as well as 410,200 quarter sections near the Cañar river
Cañar River
-References:* Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.* *...
: a total of 2,610,200 quarter sections, at a value of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
566,900. Ecuadorian sovereignty over the lands would be preserved, but all activities carried out there would be tax-exempt for a period of 15 years. This was not the first time that the Ecuadorian government had previously attempted to settle debts by transferring title over part of its territory.
Peruvian protest against land deal
Among the lands transferred by the Icaza–Pritchett treaty were several territories whose ownership was disputed with neighboring PeruPeru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. Because of the poor geographical knowledge of the area at the time, colonial-era administrations were separated by borders defined with little accuracy via a multitude of Real Cédulas (royal decrees issued by the Spanish Crown). These haphazard territorial definitions led to a number of border disputes among new South American nations. The ownership of the northern half of what is now the Loreto Region
Loreto Region
Loreto is Peru's northernmost region. Covering almost one-third of Peru's territory, Loreto is by far the nation's largest region and also one of the most sparsely populated ones, due to its remote location in the Amazon Rainforest...
in Peru was a major point of contention between the two countries; up to that point, relations between the neighbors had alternated between friendly and nonexistent. On November 11, 1857, Peruvian Resident Minister to Ecuador Juan Celestino Cavero protested the signing of the Icaza–Pritchett treaty in a letter to Antonio Mata, the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Relations. Cavero had been appointed only three months before; he had arrived in Quito tasked among other things with seeking to resolve the territorial dispute. Now, he called for the treaty to be declared void: the territories in Canelos being sold off belonged to Peru, based on the boundary laid out by the Real Cédula of 1802 (a decree ordering the transfer of territories from the Real Audiencia de Quito to the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
). He also noted the posture of uti possidetis
Uti possidetis
Uti possidetis is a principle in international law that territory and other property remains with its possessor at the end of a conflict, unless otherwise provided for by treaty; if such a treaty doesn't include conditions regarding the possession of property and territory taken during the war,...
adopted by Peru in 1810, as well as the general acts of jurisdiction and possession that Peru had long carried out in the disputed territories.
Mata replied to Cavero on November 30, arguing that Ecuador had full rights to the territories, reaffirming Ecuador's view that the Real Cédula of 1802 did not transfer territorial rights to the Viceroyalty of Peru, rendering the claim of uti possidetis de jure void. According to one source, Mata argued that the Real Cédula of 1802 did not constitute a real Spanish law, because it was never authorized by the Viceroy of Santa Fe, meaning that ownership of territories according to Spanish law remained as it was prior to 1802. Peru continued to stand by its position of uti possidetis of 1810, and brought its case before the governments of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Great Britain, which distanced themselves from the dispute.
1858: Peru retaliates
Chancery (diplomacy)
A 'Chancery' is the type of building that houses a diplomatic mission or embassy. The building can house one or several different nations' missions....
of Quito notified Cavero that relations between Peru and Ecuador were once again severed; he was then expelled from the country. While the Peruvian view is that Cavero was justified in any means necessary to achieve the repatriation of the territories, his tactics have been called tactless and belligerent by later scholars, and were contrary to his instructions from Lima and detrimental to his goals.
In a law enacted on October 26, 1858, the Peruvian Congress authorized President Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla y Marquesado was a Peruvian caudillo and President of Peru four times. His earliest prominent appearance in Peruvian history began with his participation in a commanding role of the army of the Libertadores that helped Peru become an independent nation...
to command an army against Ecuador if necessary to secure the national territory against its sale to the British creditors. A blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
of Ecuador's ports was ordered. On November 1, 1858, the first Peruvian ship, the naval frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
BAP Amazonas, arrived in Ecuadorian waters; the blockade began in earnest on November 4, and was presided over by Rear Admiral Ignacio Mariátegui.
Early 1859: Leadership struggles in Ecuador
By 1859, known in Ecuadorian history books as the "Terrible Year", the country was poised on the brink of a leadership crisis. President Francisco RoblesFrancisco Robles
Francisco Robles García was President of Ecuador from October 16, 1856 to September 17, 1859.-External links:*...
, faced with the threat of the Peruvian blockade, moved the national capital to Guayaquil
Guayaquil
Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...
, and charged General José María Urbina with defending it. In the wake of this unpopular move, a series of opposition movements, championed by regional caudillos, were formed. On May 1, a conservative
Conservative Party (Ecuador)
The Conservative Party was an Ecuadorian conservative party formed in 1869. Initially associated with the military of Ecuador the PC became one of the two great parties of state in the country, alternating in power with the Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party.-Development:The PC was formed by Gabriel...
triumvirate, integrated by Dr. Gabriel García Moreno
Gabriel García Moreno
Gabriel Gregorio Fernando José María García y Moreno y Morán de Buitrón was an Ecuadorian statesman who twice served as President of Ecuador and was assassinated during his second term, after being elected to a third term...
, Pacífico Chiriboga and Jerónimo Carrión
Jerónimo Carrión
Jerónimo Carrión y Palacio was President of Ecuador between September 7, 1865 and November 6, 1867. He also served as Vice President of Ecuador and led a brief rebellion in 1859.He was a member of the Ecuadorian Conservative Party....
(Robles' vice president) formed the Provisional Government of Quito. On May 6, Carrión separated himself from the triumvirate, and formed a short-lived government in the city of Cuenca
Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay Province. It is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2500 m above sea level...
; he was deposed the next day by forces loyal to Robles.
General Urvina promptly set out for Quito to subdue García Moreno and his movement. The Provisional Government was no match for Urvina, and fell in June. García Moreno fled to Peru, where he requested the support of President Castilla; the Peruvian leader supplied him with weapons and ammunition to subvert the Robles regime. Believing that he had the support of the Peruvians, in July García Moreno addressed a manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
—published in a July edition of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio—to his countrymen, instructing them to accept Peru as their ally against Robles, despite the territorial dispute and blockading actions. Shortly afterwards, García Moreno traveled to Guayaquil, where he met with General Guillermo Franco
Guillermo Franco (Ecuadorian general)
Guillermo Franco was an Ecuadorian general.From a young age, Franco was interested in becoming a military man. He could not participate in the Revolution of October 9, 1820 due to his young age, but soon thereafter enrolled at the Nautical School founded by Admiral Illingworth...
, General Commander of the District of Guayas and third in the Urvinista caudillo hierarchy, after Urvina and Robles. García Moreno proposed that they disavow Robles' government and declare free elections. Franco agreed to help García Moreno, though he himself also aspired to the presidency of the republic.
August–September 1859: Ecuadorian situation worsens
On August 31, 1859, Castilla betrayed his commitment to García Moreno, and came to an agreement with Franco that resulted in the end of the blockade against the port of Guayaquil. Several weeks later, the Mosquera-Zelaya Protocol, the result of the secret agreement between Peru and Cauca to take control of Ecuador, was signed in PopayánPopayán
Popayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range...
.
When he received word of Franco's allegiance with Castilla, Robles disavowed their treaty, and moved the capital once again, this time to Riobamba
Riobamba
Riobamba is the capital of the Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, which is located at the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at 2754 m on the Avenue of the Volcanoes...
, where he handed over leadership of the government to Jerónimo Carrión. He and Urvina would leave the country for good within a fortnight
Fortnight
The fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights"....
. Meanwhile, Rafael Carvajal, a member of the defeated Provisional Government, invaded Ecuador from the border to the north; within the month, Carvajal had reestablished the Provisional Government in Quito. Finally, on September 17, Guillermo Franco declared himself Supreme Chief of Guayas; however, Babahoyo
Babahoyo
Babahoyo, founded September 30, 1948, by legislative decree, is the capital of the Los Ríos province of Ecuador. Its population is cited around 158,000. It is bordered by two rivers, the San Pablo and the Caracol, which join to form the Babahoyo River...
, Vinces
Vinces
Vinces is a city in the Los Ríos Province, Ecuador. It is the seat of the Vinces Canton. There is also a Vinces River.Vinces, known as "Little Paris", is characterized by its ancient buildings, constructed in wood, that belonged to the rich cacao plantation owners.Vinces is known also as the...
and Daule sided with the Provisional Government. On September 18, an assembly in Loja
Loja Province
Loja Province is one of 24 provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west by El Oro Province, on the north by El Azuay, and on the east by Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on its present site in 1548 by Captain Alonso de Mercadillo the site had been previously moved and rebuilt from La...
named Manuel Carrión Pinzano military and civil chief of the province; the following day, Carrión Pinzano called a new assembly that established a Federal Government presiding over Loja
Loja Province
Loja Province is one of 24 provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west by El Oro Province, on the north by El Azuay, and on the east by Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on its present site in 1548 by Captain Alonso de Mercadillo the site had been previously moved and rebuilt from La...
, El Oro
El Oro Province
El Oro province is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala.-Geography:To the north and east the province has borders with the provinces Guayas,...
and Zamora
Zamora-Chinchipe Province
Zamora Chinchipe is a Province of the Republicof 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...
. On September 26, Cuenca affirmed its allegiance to the Provisional Government.
With the domestic situation at its most tumultuous, and the Peruvian blockade of the rest of the Ecuadorian coast nearing the end of its first year in place, Castilla sought to take advantage of the circumstances to impose a favorable border settlement. On September 20, Castilla wrote to Quito to declare his support for the Provisional Government; ten days later, he sailed from Callao, leading an invasion force. While stopped over in the port of Paita
Paita
Paita is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in that region...
, in Peru, Castilla proposed to the Ecuadorians that they form a sole government with which they could negotiate an agreement to end the blockade and the territorial dispute.
October 1859
Castilla and his forces arrived in Guayaquil on October 4; the next day, he met with Franco aboard the Peruvian steamer Tumbes. Castilla simultaneously sent word to García Moreno that he wished to meet with him as well. García Moreno set out for Guayaquil days later; on October 14, he arrived in Paita aboard the Peruvian ship Sachaca. When García Moreno became aware that an agent of Franco's was also traveling aboard the ship, he became furious, and broke off the possibility of discussions with Castilla.
November–December 1859
Castilla reverted to negotiations solely with Franco's regime in Guayaquil; after several meetings, an initial deal was struck on November 8, 1859. Castilla ordered his troops, 5,000 strong, to disembark on Ecuadorian territory; the Peruvians set up camp at the hacienda of MapasingueMapasingue
Mapasingue is a barrio of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Mapasingue was an hacienda in the 19th century; in November 1859, a Peruvian army contingent occupied its lands as a result of an agreement between Peruvian President Ramon Castilla and Supreme Chief of Guayas Guillermo Franco, in the...
, near Guayaquil. Castilla did this to guarantee that Ecuador would fulfill its promises.
In Loja, Manuel Carrión Pinzano proposed that the four governments vying for control of Ecuador select a representative to negotiate a settlement with Castilla. On November 13, Cuenca was forced to recognize Guillermo Franco's government in Guayaquil; Franco thus became Supreme Chief of Guayaquil and Cuenca. The next day, Franco and Castilla met once again aboard the Peruvian ship Amazonas, and made arrangements for a definitive peace treaty. Carrión Pinzano's suggestion was not agreed upon until November 19, when dealings began between the governments of Quito, Guayas-Azuay and Loja, who agreed to delegate to Franco the task of negotiating with Peru, except on the matter of territorial sovereignty. According to the agreement signed between the governments, "the government of Guayaquil and Cuenca may not pledge to annex, cede or assign to any government any part of the Ecuadorian territory under any pretext or name." Franco, however, had been negotiation exactly such matters with Castilla; a preliminary convention regarding the territorial situation was signed between Franco and Castilla on December 4, for the purpose of releasing Guayaquil from occupation and re-establishing peace.
García Moreno soon became aware of the treasonous pact agreed upon by Franco and Castilla. In an unsuccessful attempt to seek a powerful ally, García Moreno sent a series of secret letters to the chargé d'affaires
Chargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Emile Trinité, on December 7, 15 and 21; in them, he proposed that Ecuador become a protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
of the European country. Fortunately for his cause, the agreement between Franco and Castilla had the effect of uniting the disparate governments of Ecuador against their new common enemy; El Traidor, the traitor Franco, who had betrayed them by dealing with the Peruvians on their terms.
1860: Treaty of Mapasingue
On January 7, 1860, the Peruvian army made preparations to return home; eighteen days later, on January 25, Castilla and Franco signed the Treaty of 1860, better known as the Treaty of Mapasingue, after the hacienda where the Peruvian troops were quartered. The treaty had as its object the resolution of the pending territorial debate. In its first article, it affirmed that relations would be re-established between the two countries. The matter of the borders was established in articles 5, 6 and 7, where the Icaza-Pritchett treaty was declared null, accepted Peru's position of uti possidetis, and allowed Ecuador two years to substantiate its ownership of Quijos and Canelos, after which time Peru's rights over the territories would become absolute if no evidence was presented. This constituted acknowledgement of the Real Cédula of 1802, which Ecuador had previously rejected.Aftermath
At the time, a domestic upheaval against Castilla's government was brewing in Peru. Castilla promised Franco that he would back him as head of the "general government" of Ecuador, and supplied his forces with boots, uniforms, and 3,000 rifles. Castilla sailed for Peru on February 10, arriving in Lima bearing the Treaty of Mapasingue as a victory prize. His efforts to take Ecuador's territory for Peru would prove fruitless; in September 1860, Guillermo Franco's government fell to the Provisional Government of Quito's forces, led by García Moreno and General Juan José FloresJuan José Flores
Juan José Flores y Aramburu was a Venezuelan military general who became Supreme Chief, and later the first President of the new Republic of Ecuador. He later served two more terms from 1839 to 1843 and from 1843 to 1845, and is often referred to as "The founder of the Republic".-Biography:Flores...
, at the Battle of Guayaquil
Battle of Guayaquil
The Battle of Guayaquil was the final and pivotal armed confrontation of the Ecuadorian Civil War. The battle was fought on the outskirts of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador on September 22 – 24, 1860 among several factions claiming control of the country's territory in the wake of the abdication of...
, paving the way for the reunification of the country under the Provisional Government. The Treaty of Mapasingue was nullified by the Ecuadorian Congress in 1861, and later by the Peruvian Congress in 1863 during the government of Miguel de San Román
Miguel de San Román
Miguel de San Román Meza was President of Peru for a brief period between 1862 and 1863....
, on the grounds that Ecuador did not possess a centralized government when it entered into the treaty, and that General Franco was merely the head of a party or faction, as well as the fact that the new Ecuadorian government had disapproved the treaty. The Congress determined that the two countries should return to the status of casus belli
Casus belli
is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while means bellic...
of 1858. The long dispute thus produced no favorable result for Peru, and the ongoing territorial dispute between the two countries remained unresolved.
Further reading
- Ecuadorian Land Company, Ltd. listing
- Analysis and text of the Icaza-Pritchett treaty (in Spanish)
- Territorial Disputes and Their Resolution - The Case of Ecuador and Peru. United States Institute of Peace.
- Interview with Peruvian President Fernando Belaunder Terry, Falso Paquisha Incident Caretas
- Detailed information about the military actions in the Paquisha Incident
- The 1995 Peruvian-Ecuadorian border conflict