April 1978 - ECUADOR
Incidents on Peru-Ecuador Border - Ecuadorean Purchase of French Mirage F-1 Aircraft
The Peruvian Government claimed in a communique on Jan.19 that Ecuador had the previous day attacked a Peruvian post near Gualaquiza (Morona Santiago province, Ecuador), in an area where the border was not clearly defined due to Ecuador's refusal to accept the 1942 protocol of Rio de Janeiro, which established the border following four wars between Peru and Ecuador over territorial disputes. The Peruvian communique' listed other alleged violations of Peruvian territory since June 1977 and claimed that a Peruvian soldier had been killed.
The Ecuadorean Government, however, claimed that Peru was responsible for the incidents, stating that an Ecuadorean helicopter sent to pick up a wounded soldier had been fired on and had returned the fire. Nevertheless, the head of the Ecuadorean military junta, Admiral Poveda Burbano, telephoned President Morales Bermudez of Peru on Jan.19 to express concern at the incidents and the desire to re-establish a cordial climate. Talks subsequently took place between the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Peruvian and Ecuadorean armed forces, respectively General Pedro Richter Prada and General Raul Cabrera Sevilla, on Jan. 19-20 in Aguas Verdes (Peru) and Santa Rosa (Ecuador), as the result of which it was announced that "positive agreements" had been reached to end the tension.
An earlier incident had taken place on Nov.28, 1977, when a Peruvian naval patrol reportedly attacked an Ecuadorean fishing boat in Ecuadorean waters; although the Peruvian Foreign Ministry had initially expressed regret at the incident and had offered to pay compensation for damages incurred, Peru had shortly afterwards asserted that the vessel had been in Peruvian waters and that the Ecuadoreans had fired on the Peruvian boarding party, an Ecuadorean being killed in a subsequent exchange of fire.
The Ecuadorean Government in November 1977 concluded a contract with France for the purchase of 18 French Mirage F-1 multi-mission aircraft, becoming the first Latin American country to equip itself with aircraft of this type, although the following five countries in the hemisphere already had Mirage IIIs or Vs (figures including recent Argentinian and Brazilian orders): Peru (36), Brazil (20), Argentina (19), Colombia (18) and Venezuela (15).
In 1977 an Israeli contract for the sale to Ecuador of 24 Kfir jets (of similar type to the Mirage) had been vetoed by the United States, which prohibited the re-export of the US-made J-79 engine which powered the Kfirs. A spokesman for the US State Department said on Feb. 7, 1977, that the decision was based on the USA's continued policy to avoid supplying Latin American countries with sophisticated modern weapons. (Ecuadorean Embassy, London - Times - Guardian - Le Monde - Latin America Political Report - BBC Summary of World Broadcasts - International Herald Tribune)