Exhibition inaugurated that reviews the 25 years of peace agreement between Ecuador and Peru

This Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador inaugurated an exhibition at its headquarters that reviews the 25 years since the signing of the peace agreements between Ecuador and Peru, which put an end to one of the longest border conflicts in South America.

Through a timeline, fourteen panels and two screens collect the most important milestones that have cemented and developed bilateral relations between Ecuador and Peru since the signing of the Brasilia Act on October 26, 1998, with Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States as guarantor countries.

Among the highlighted issues is the completion of the land demarcation of the border, binational connectivity, shared demining tasks, the creation of the Neighborhood Commission and the declaration of the Gulf of Guayaquil as a historic bay.

Likewise, the series of presidential meetings and binational cabinets held to date and the launch of the Binational Border Attention Centers (Cebaf) are recalled, operational at two crossings of the common border to facilitate migratory transit between both countries.

Other notable moments in the exhibition are the cooperation between both countries in terms of vaccination against covid-19 and human mobility.

The exhibition will be in the Najas Palace, headquarters of the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry, until November 23, and then it is expected to tour other public spaces.

An example of peace

During the inauguration ceremony, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, Gustavo Manrique, explained that the Brasilia Act “marked a before and after, and demonstrated to the world that differences can and should be resolved through frontal dialogue and full trust.”

Manrique highlighted that the peace agreements between Ecuador and Peru and their subsequent application are “a conflict resolution model studied and valued nationally and internationally.”

“We have achieved peaceful and cooperative coexistence on our borders and we have consolidated trust through dialogue and negotiations,” Manrique said.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Minister especially valued cooperation in demining, which is expected to be completed in 2025, and also during the pandemic.

Common challenges

For his part, Peru’s ambassador to Ecuador, Eduardo Zeballos, pointed out that the two nations knew how to put an end to their controversies to focus on a greater, common and shared understanding, which was “peace, friendship and cooperation.”

“We have common interests and we want greater integration that promotes the development of border populations and greater trade,” said Zevallos.

The Peruvian ambassador also mentioned the important common challenges that the two countries face, such as taking coordinated actions in the face of the effects of the El Niño climate phenomenon, which is expected to affect the coast of Ecuador and the north of Ecuador in the coming months. Peru with torrential rains.

At the same time, he spoke about other shared threats such as organized crime and other related crimes such as drug trafficking, illegal mining, arms trafficking and human trafficking.

Centennial conflict

For his part, the United States ambassador to Ecuador, Michael Fitzpatrick, recalled that the border conflict dated back to the Spanish colonial era and to the differences in the demarcation of the limits of the royal audiences of Lima (1542) and Quito (1563). .

Fitzpatrick also pointed out that the four guarantor countries already interceded to achieve peace in the 1941 war conflict and that they did so again when the Cenepa War broke out in 1995, the last and definitive episode of this conflict.