Ecuador

Private oil companies invested $800 million in Peru in 2009 alone, and another $1 billion is planned for investments in natural gas developments between 2010-2013, as Peru is rapidly on its way to becoming Latin America’s first exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). New oil and gas revenues have contributed to Peru’s steady economic growth. But growing opposition from indigenous groups to these new hydrocarbons projects is polarizing Peru’s already highly unequal society and creating dangerously conflictive situations.

After nearly six decades of sporadic warfare over a relatively small stretch of disputed border, Ecuador and Peru signed an accord on October 26, 1998, that provides a definitive settlement of the remaining issues in their ongoing border conflict. The accord may not spell the end to future territorial disputes in the region, but it is historic in that it involves many actors working over many decades to achieve a settlement to a long-standing dispute.