Cenepa War

Third Ecuadorian-Peruvian War
Part of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian Conflicts

Ecuadorian and Peruvian military outposts in the Cenepa valley, January 1995
Date26 January – 28 February 1995
(1 month and 2 days)
Location
Upper Cenepa River valley: in the eastern side of the Cordillera del Cóndor, Province of Condorcanqui, Región Amazonas, Republic of Ecuador, near to the border between the two countries [notes 1]
Result Inconclusive; Brasilia Presidential Act ended hostilities
Territorial
changes

The territories in conflict are recognized as Peruvian.

  • Tiwinza (elevation 1061) was recognized by the guarantors as Peruvian territory.
  • Ecuador loses the dispute over Alto Cenepa to Peru.
Belligerents
 Peru

 Ecuador
Armament support by:

Argentina Argentina
Chile Chile
Commanders and leaders
Alberto Fujimori
(President)
Peru Nicolás Hermoza Ríos
(Army Commander in Chief)
Peru Vladimiro López Trigoso
(Commander, 5th Jungle Infantry Division)
Sixto Durán Ballén
(President)
Ecuador Gen. Paco Moncayo
(Commander, Theatre of Land Operations)
Casualties and losses
60 killed (official)[1]
50 killed (others)[2]
400+ wounded (others)[2]
3 helicopters destroyed
(2 Mi-8T, 1 Mi-25)
4 aircraft destroyed[3][4]
(2 Su-22, 1 A-37B, 1 Canberra)

34 killed (official)[5]

350 killed (others)[1]
70 wounded (official)[5]
2 aircraft destroyed[6]
(1 A-37B, 1 AT-33A)

The Cenepa War or Third Ecuadorian-Peruvian War (26 January – 28 February 1995), also known as the Alto Cenepa War, was a brief and localized military conflict between Ecuador and Peru, fought over control of an area in Peruvian territory (i.e. in the eastern side of the Cordillera del Cóndor, Province of Condorcanqui, Región Amazonas, Republic of Perú) near the border between the two countries.[notes 2] The two nations had signed a border treaty following the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941, but Ecuador later disagreed with the treaty as it applied to the Cenepa and Paquisha areas, and in 1960 it declared the treaty null and void. Most of the fighting took place around the headwaters of the Cenepa River.

Mediation efforts of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States paved the way for the opening of diplomatic conversations that ultimately led to the signing of a definitive peace agreement (the Brasilia Presidential Act) on 26 October 1998.[7] The peace agreement saw some of the territory being leased to Ecuador for a time. It was followed by the formal demarcation of the border on 13 May 1999 and the end of the multinational MOMEP (Military Observer Mission for Ecuador and Peru) troop deployment on 17 June 1999, which effectively put an end to one of the longest territorial disputes in the Western Hemisphere.[7]

Official estimates give a death toll of 94. Demining is expected to be completed in 2024. As of 2024, it is the most recent military conflict in the Americas between countries contesting sovereignty over territory.


Cite error: There are <ref group=notes> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=notes}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ a b "Así fue la última guerra". BBC News (in Spanish). 3 March 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b Vassilis K. Fouskas (2010). Politics of Conflict: A Survey. Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 978-1136833571.
  3. ^ "Welcome to the Air Combat Information Group". 1map.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005.
  4. ^ "PERDIDAS DE AERONAVES EN EL CONFLICTO DEL ALTO CENEPA". galeon.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
  5. ^ a b "En el Cenepa quedan huellas de la guerra - ENE. 26, 2005 - El País - Historicos - EL UNIVERSO". eluniverso.com. 26 January 2005.
  6. ^ www.uc.cl https://web.archive.org/web/20051024075411/http://www.uc.cl/icp/webcp/papers/def8.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 24, 2005. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ a b "Database - Uppsala Conflict Data Program". UCDP.uu.se. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2015-05-03.