Western Hemisphere 135
110 Guyana/140 Brazil
MID#1189
Dispute Number: 1189
Date(s): November 1975 to July 1976
Participants: 140 Brazil/110 Guyana
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Guyana accused Brazil of several border violations and of concentrating
troops on the border. Brazil appeared to be using reports of Communist training camps
in Guyana as an excuse. The two countries agreed to inspect border markers.
Coding changes: Settlement changed from None.
130 Ecuador/135 Peru
MID#1593
Dispute Number: 1593
Date(s): October 1858 to January 25, 1860
Participants: 135 Peru/130 Ecuador
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side A (Imposed)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This is a territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru that stretches from
1857 to 1860 and stems from Ecuador’s severe debt problem. Formerly part of Gran
Colombia, Ecuador assumed a share of the debt for the conflict for independence
from Spain. Ecuador, struggling to pay off its debt, arranged a deal with its British
creditors on September 21, 1857, to lease use of its territory in order to meet the
demands for debt payment. However, some of the territory in question was disputed
between Ecuador and Peru (encompassing the Loreto area in northeast Peru). Peru
discovered the treaty and protested in November of that same year. Correspondence
between the two continued into 1858. The tone of the discussion became much
more severe in April 1858, just as Peru got assurances that the United States would
not intervene and that Britain considered the concessions to British creditors to be
a private matter. After a particularly hostile exchange of notes detailing insults to
national honor, Ecuador and Peru officially severed relations on July 30, 1858. Peru
responded by initiating a blockade at the end of October 1858, declaring the block-
ade active early in the next month. Ecuador descended into near anarchy, resulting
in several provisional governments formed through 1859. Peru took an additional
step with its blockade and captured and occupied Guayaquil on November 21, 1859.
Peru’s forces met no resistance from Ecuador. Ecuador began the process of total
capitulation, eventually resulting in a January 25, 1860, treaty known as the Treaty
of Mapasingue (so named for the island in the Gulf of Guayaquil, where the discus-
sions concluded). This treaty voided the September 21, 1857, agreement that Ecua-
dor signed with its creditors and acknowledged Peruvian ownership of the disputed
territories.