Ecuadorian – Peruvian territorial dispute of 1857 – 60 A territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru took place between 1857 and 1860 . The dispute began when Ecuador attempted to sell Amazonia n 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 . Events . Ecuadorian debt situation . During its war of independence from Spain , the government of Gran Colombia 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 section s 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 . Peruvian protest against land deal . Among the lands transferred by the Icaza – Pritchett treaty were several territories whose ownership was disputed with neighboring Peru . 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 . 1858 : Peru retaliates . 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 . 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 Robles , 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 . 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 Popayán . 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 . October 1859 . Castilla and his forces arrived in Guayaquil on October 4 ; the next day , he met with Franco aboard the Peruvian steamer " " . 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 Mapasingue , 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 . 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 Flores , 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 .