Rio Protocol

The Rio Protocol of 1942 temporarily settled a border war between Peru and Ecuador. The source of the conflict was disputed territory along the Pacific and in the Amazon region. The conflict began with minor skirmishes and erupted into a full-scale war by July of 1941. The Peruvian military, outnumbering the Ecuadorian forces by three to one and led by General Eloy G. Ureta, dominated the fighting. With the recent American involvement in World War II, the United States was eager to have unity in South America. It encouraged a settlement at a meeting of North and South American foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in January of 1942. In this Rio Protocol, Ecuador ceded a major amount of Amazon land to Peru.