Chile-Peru relations
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| Chile | Peru |
Chile-Peru relations refers to interstate relations between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Peru. Chile and Peru have a long shared history since times of the Inca Empire in the 15th and 16th century and followed by the Viceroyalty of Peru. In the 19th century both countries becamed independent and fought 2 wars with each other that lead to the anexation of Peruvian Tarapacá by Chile and created a strong an anti-Chile resentment in Peru.
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[edit] Historical relations
[edit] Rule under Inca Empire and Spain
In the 1470s the Inca Empire conquered all of Chile north of Maule River. After the conquest of Peru by Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Valdivia lead an expedition from Peru to Chile that ended with the creation of Kingdom of Chile, which was placed under the judisdiction of the Viceroyalty of Peru. During the colonial era Chile was a poor and problematic province of the Viceroyalty of Peru; it was sparsely populated, there was no large large mines and the Arauco War with the Mapuches slowed down economic development. The Viceroyalty of Peru had to finance the defence of Chile, for example the construction of the Valdivian fort system.[1] Many young officers made career as governors of Chile and were later appointed as viceroys of Peru, such as Ambrosio O'Higgins and Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa.
[edit] Independent nations
Chile and Peru had excellent relations at the time of independence, and a recent independent Chile and it's liberation hero Bernardo O'Higgins actively participated in the liberation of Peru with the Liberation Expedition launched in Valparaiso towards Lima. Chile was a staunch ally of Peru aganst Spain the 1864–1866 war over the Chincha Islands, and the Chilean port of Valparaíso was even bombed by Spain during the conflict. Nevertheless, in 1873 Peru signed a secret defensive pact with Bolivia in which it agreed to help that nation in case of foreign attack. The moment came in 1879, when the War of the Pacific began. Peru tried to peacefully mediate strained relations between Chile and Bolivia, due to a dispute in Bolivia's Atacama desert region, but was drawn into the conflict in honoring their pact with Bolivia. Chile declared war on both Peru and Bolivia, won a decisive victory, and even reached the capital of Lima, occupying Peru for a few years.
In 1883, Chile and Peru signed the Treaty of Ancón in which Peru handed over the Province of Tarapacá. Peru also had to hand over the departments of Arica and Tacna. These would remain under Chilean control until a later date, when there would be a plebiscite to decide which nation would maintain control over Arica and Tacna. Chile and Peru, however, were unable to agree on how or when to hold the plebiscite, and in 1929, both countries signed the Treaty of Lima, in which Peru gained Tacna and Chile maintained control of Arica.
Relations have remained sour because of the war. In 1975, both countries were in the brink of war, only a few years before the centennial of the War of the Pacific. The conflict was fueled by ideological disputes: Peruvian General Juan Velasco was a left-winger while Chilean General Augusto Pinochet was a right-winger. Velasco, backed by Cuba, set the date for invasion on August 6,[citation needed] the 150th independence anniversary of Bolivia, and the proposed date when Chile intended to grant this country with a sovereign corridor north of Arica, in former Peruvian territory, an action not approved by Peru. However, he was successfully dissuaded from starting the invasion on that date by his advisor, General Francisco Morales Bermúdez, whose original family was from the former Peruvian (currently Chilean) region of Tarapaca. Velasco later fell ill and was deposed by a group of generals who proclaimed Morales Bermúdez president on August 28.
Morales Bermúdez assured the Chilean government that Peru had no plans for an invasion despite its tremendous military superiority.[citation needed] Tensions mounted again when a Chilean spy mission in Peru was discovered. Morales Bermúdez was again able to avert war, despite pressure from Velasco's ultranationalist followers.
[edit] Recent years (1990-2008)
Relations between the two nations have since mostly recovered. In 2005, the Peruvian Congress unilaterally approved a law, which increased the stated sea limit with Chile. This law superseded the Peruvian supreme decree 781 for same purpose from 1947, which had autolimited it's maritime border to geographical parallels only. Peru's position was that the border has never been fully demarcated, but Chile disagreed reminding on treaties in 1952 and 1954 between the countries, which supposedly defined seaborder. The border problem has still not been solved. However, Chile's Michelle Bachelet and Peru's Alan García have established a positive diplomatic relationship, and it is very unlikely any hostilities will break out because of the dispute.
Nevertheless, in early April 2007, Peruvian nationalistic sectors, mainly represented by left wing ex-presidential candidate Ollanta Humala decided to congregate at 'hito uno' right at the border with Chile, in a symbolic attempt to claim sovereignty over a maritime area known in Peru as Mar de Grau (Grau's Sea) just west of the Chilean city of Arica. Peruvian police stopped a group of nearly 2,000 people just 10 klms from the border, preventing them from reaching their intended destination. Despite these incidents, the presidents of both Chile and Peru have confirmed their intentions to improve the relationships between the two countries, mainly fueled by the huge amount of commercial exchange between both countries private sectors.
On January 16, 2008, Peru formally presented the case to the International Court of Justice, in which the Peruvian state demanded Chile. Now the court will continue on process and it's spected for the Court to give it's veredict in what experts expect to be in no less than 7 years.
[edit] List of controversies
[edit] Sovereignty
- Chilean-Peruvian Maritime Dispute of 2006 that involves the sea border line between the two nations[1]
[edit] Other
- Lucchetti's industrial complex in a protected swamp
[edit] See also
- Argentina-Chile relations
- War of the Confederation
- Case Concerning Maritime Delimitation between the Republic of Peru and the Republic of Chile (Peru v. Chile)
[edit] References
- ^ Breve Historia de Valdivia. Editorial Francisco de Aguirre. Retrieved on 1971.
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