Gran Colombia–Peru War

War between Colombia and Peru

The Gran Colombia–Peru War (lang es) of 1828 and 1829 was the first international conflict fought by the Republic of Peru, which had gained its independence from Spain in 1821, and Gran Colombia, that existed between 1819 and 1830.

The issues that led to war were Gran Colombian claims, dating from colonial times, concerning control of the territories of Jaén and Maynas. The Royal Audience of Quito (lang es) was established in 1563 by a royal decree of the King of Spain. Its territories included, to the north, Pasto, Popayán, Cali, Buenaventura, and Buga in what is now Colombia. The Royal Audience of Quito was initially part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1717, when it became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. Borders at the time were imprecise, especially in the eastern unsettled areas, beyond the Andean cordillera, because of a lack of geographical knowledge and the low importance accorded to these unpopulated and largely inaccessible territories. Without reinforcement by land, the Peruvian occupation of Guayaquil was destined to fail, but the Gran Colombia's assertion of rights to the territories of Jaén and Maynas was similarly frustrated. On the 28 February 1829, La Mar and Sucre signed a conditioning document that became known as the La Mar Sucre Convention.

The Girón Agreement between Peru and Gran Colombia recognized as borders the "same ones as the corresponding Viceroyalties before independence." Since this status quo ante solution was based on borders that had never been adequately defined, future territorial disputes between Peru and Ecuador and Colombia were virtually inevitable. On 10 July 1829, the Armistice of Piura recognised the annexation of Guayaquil to Gran Colombia, and the Gran Colombia recognized Tumbes, Jaén and Maynas as Peruvian territories. On September 22 of that year, the war between Peru and Gran Colombia officially came to an end when the armistice was ratified. A formal peace treaty, known as the Larrea Gual Treaty or the Gual Larrea Treaty, was signed on the very same day, September 22, 1829. The uti possidetis principle was affirmed, but the text also acknowledged that small concessions by each side may become desirable in order to define a "more natural and precise border", which was the basis for avoiding further conflict. The parties agreed to form a binational commission to establish a permanent border. However, Gran Colombia is, in a sense, an artificial term, as the country was always referred to simply as Colombia. This is clear to anyone who examines the many treaties signed between Colombia and Peru before 1830. In Peru, however, the dissolution of Gran Colombia is seen as a country ceasing to exist, giving way to the formation of new nation states. The significance of this view is that the treaties Peru had signed with Gran Colombia became void when the countersignatory ceased to exist. The three new states, the Republic of New Granada (which later changed its name to Republic of Colombia), the Republic of Venezuela, and the Republic of Ecuador, in the Peruvian view, started with a clean diplomatic slate. An alternative view is that Ecuador and Venezuela separated from the Gran Colombia Federation and inherited all of the treaty obligations that Gran Colombia had assumed, at least to the extent that they apply to their respective territories. There are indications that Colombia itself maintained this position, because clearly, Gran Colombia and its successor state, the Republic of Colombia, shared a capital city, a subset of the same territory, and much the same citizenry. It would be unnatural to disavow their common histories. The question of the status of treaties and accords dating to the revolutionary period (1809–1819) and Gran Colombia period (1819–1830) has a profound effect on international relations to the present day.

To illustrate the current relevance of the Gran Colombia–Peru War, Ecuador asserts that there was an agreement signed in Lima between the foreign ministers of Peru and Gran Colombia on 11 August 1830. Known as the Pedemonte Mosquera protocol, the agreement, based on the military result at the Battle of Portete de Tarqui and the Gual Learra Treaty then in effect, settled the placement of the border between the two nations definitively and for all time. Ecuador has used the Pedemonte Mosquera Protocol as its primary legal support for land claims against Peru. However, Peru disputes its credibility and its very existence. Peru notes that the original document has never been produced by Colombia or by Ecuador. Peru also claims that there is evidence that Pedemonte and Mosquera were not even in the same place on the day in question, so they could not possibly have concluded any agreement at all. It also states that in the supposed date of signing of the protocol (11 August 1830), Pedemonte was no longer chancellor (August 9) and Mosquera had embarked on the schooner Guayaquileña on the 10th. Further, according to Peru, the protocol, if it did exist, was never ratified by either country's congress. Besides, to the Peruvian way of thinking, even if the protocol was signed, the Gran Colombia Federation had been effectively dissolved well before 11 August 1830, so any agreement concluded on that day was undertaken by a man without portfolio, that is, a diplomat representing no nation at all. (Ecuador was born as a country on 13 May 1830 and began its separate existence with the adoption of a Constitution on 23 September 1830.) Even though it is unlikely that Ecuador might have concocted a historical treaty of this nature, the Peruvian arguments cannot be dismissed out of hand. However, considering the uti possidetis juris principle Ecuador would maintain the borders ratified right before Gran Colombia's dissolution. Ecuador has produced a copy of the Pedemonte Mosquera protocol, made in 1870, that the Colombian embassy in Lima sent to Bogotá. The copy in question was obtained from a diplomat's personal collection. However, it has not been satisfactorily authenticated, and it remains in dispute. The Mosquera Pedemonte protocol is mentioned in a Colombian document titled Legislative Act No. 3, published 31 October 1910. This document explains how the borders between Colombia and its neighbors had been established. With respect to its border with Peru, it indicates that the borders are "those adopted by Mosquera Pedemonte, in development of the treaty of 22 September 1829."