The Tacna–Arica compromise or Treaty of Lima[a] was a series of documents that settled the
territorial dispute of both
Tacna and
Arica provinces of
Peru and
Chile respectively. According to the Treaty, the Tacna-Arica Territory was divided between both countries; Tacna being awarded to Peru and with Chile retaining sovereignty over Arica. Chile also agreed to pay up to
US$6 million (about
£1.23 million; equivalent to $106 million in 2023) in compensation to Peru. The Treaty was signed on 3 June 1929 in
Lima by then-Peruvian Representative
Pedro José Rada y Gamio and Chilean Representative
Emiliano Figueroa Larrain.[1]
Background
The controversy was a direct aftermath of the
War of the Pacific, a confrontation that involved
Chile against
Peru and
Bolivia. Chile won the war and conquered the Peruvian territories of
Tarapacá, Tacna and Arica. The defeated Peruvian government was forced to sign the
Treaty of Ancón in 1883.
According to this treaty, Tarapacá was annexed to Chile, and a plebiscite was meant to take place in 1893, 10 years after the signing of the treaty. The plebiscite, however, never took place, as both countries had conflicting points of view and did not reach an agreement.[2] Chile began a campaign known as
Chilenization in 1909. Peru followed in 1911 with the recalling of its
ambassador and a break of diplomatic relations.[citation needed]
In 1922, Chile and Peru agreed to arbitrate the dispute with the President of the United States. U.S. President
Calvin Coolidge appointed, in 1925, the first U.S. arbitrator, General
John J. Pershing; General
William Lassiter followed in 1926. Neither negotiator was able to break the deadlock. US Secretary of State
Frank B. Kellogg suggested direct negotiations in Washington, D.C. in 1928. It was these negotiations that led to the Treaty of Lima.[citation needed]
Treaty
The deal that was finally reached allowed Peru to reacquire Tacna while Chile kept Arica. Chile had also to make some concessions such as building a Peruvian-administered wharf in Arica and pay a six million-
dollar indemnification, among other provisions. In 1999, Chile and Peru at last agreed to fully implement the Treaty of Lima, providing Peru with access to port facilities in
Arica.[3]
^
abTamayo Herrera, José (1985). Nuevo Compendio de Historia del Perú. Editorial Lumen. p. 331.
^Egaña, Rafael (1900). The Tacna and Arica question. Historical antecedents.--Diplomatic action. Present state of the affair (translated from the Spanish edition by Edwin C. Reed) Barcelona Printing Office, Santiago, Chile,
OCLC19301902
^Dominguez, Jorge et al. (2003) Boundary Disputes in Latin America United States Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.,
page 33,
OCLC53067610
Coolidge, Calvin (1925) In the matter of the arbitration between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Peru, with respect to the unfulfilled provisions of the treaty of peace of October 20, 1883, under the Protocol and Supplementary act signed at Washington July 20, 1922. Opinion and award of the arbitrator Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.,
OCLC1611324
Dennis, William Jefferson (1931) Tacna and Arica: an account of the Chile-Peru boundary dispute and of the arbitrations by the United States Yale University Press, New Haven,
OCLC1613270; reprinted in 1967 by Archon Books, Hamden, Connecticut,
OCLC485974
Egaña, Rafael (1900) The Tacna and Arica question. Historical antecedents.--Diplomatic action. Present state of the affair (translated from the Spanish edition by Edwin C. Reed) Barcelona Printing Office, Santiago, Chile,
OCLC19301902
González Miranda, Sergio (2006) Arica y la triple frontera: integración y conflicto entre Bolivia, Perú y Chile Aríbalo, Iquique, Chile,
ISBN978-956-8563-00-4, in Spanish
Jane, Lionel Cecil (1930) "The question of Tacna-Arica ..." Transactions of the Grotius Society 15: pp. 93–119
Krieg, William L. (1974) Legacy of the War of the Pacific External Research Program, United States Department of State, Washington, D.C.,
OCLC2533493
Skuban, William E. (2007) Lines in the sand: nationalism and identity on the Peruvian-Chilean frontier University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico,
ISBN978-0-8263-4223-2
Wilson, Joe F. (1979) The United States, Chile and Peru in the Tacna and Arica plebiscite University Press of America, Washington, D.C.,
ISBN978-0-8191-0685-8
Yepes, Ernesto (1999) Un plebiscito imposible: Tacna y Arica, 1925-1926 Ediciones Análisis, Lima, Peru,
OCLC43089352, in Spanish