During the Fulbright presentation week, when we introduced ourselves as Peruvians, there were several pointed reminders that Ecuador and Peru were fighting each other not so long ago. Not knowing much about the conflict, I decided to do a little research and this is what I found out: The most recent conflict between the countries occurred in February 1995 and was known as the Cenepa War. The history of the conflict is long and complicated, but it’s a border dispute that goes back to the original Spanish empire, Jesuit missionaries from Quito and political alliances against Simon Bolivar. Ecuador has claimed as far south as the Marañon River (which would include Iquitos-see map) and until 1999, Ecuador's official motto was: “El Ecuador ha sido, es y será País Amazónico” (Ecuador has been, is, and will always be an Amazonian country). However, Peru’s military has been bigger and better organized in each conflict, and Ecuadorians are still a bit annoyed about it. As far as I can tell, the countries both have equally amazing human and natural resources. However, I’m not sure that Iquitos or the region of Loreto have much to do with either of them and if they had their own choice about it, would probably choose to be aligned with Brazil. Or independent….
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