Campaign of the Manuripi region
{{Short description|1910 armed confrontation between Bolivia and Peru}}
{{refimprove|date=June 2020}}
{{expand Spanish|topic=mil|date=June 2020}}
{{infobox military conflict
|partof = Bolivian-Peruvian territorial dispute and Acre dispute
|image = Negociaciones entre Perú-Bolivia y Brasil-Bolivia por la amazonia.jpg
|image_size = 355px
|caption = Negotiations between Peru-Bolivia in the Amazon
|date = June–September 1910
|place = Near the Manuripi River
|result = {{ublist|Peruvian Forces victory}}
- Withdrawal of the Bolivian Army.
- Mandatory recognition by Bolivia of the Polo-Bustamente treaty given in 1909.
|territory = Peruvian Republic obtains 250,000 km² recognises by Bolivia in the treaty and cedes 400km² to Peru
|combatant1 = {{flag|Bolivia|state}}
|combatant2 = {{flag|Peru|1884}}
|commander1 = {{flagicon|Bolivia|state}} Eliodoro Villazón{{surrender}}
{{flagicon|Bolivia|state}} Lino Echeverría{{KIA}}
|commander2 = {{flagicon|Peru|1884}} Augusto B. Leguía
|strength1 = 1 detachment:
16 men
|strength2 = 5th Infantry Regiment:
150 men
|casualties1 = 11 killed & wounded
War material captured
Destruction of the fort
|casualties2 = None
}}
The Manuripi campaign was an armed confrontation between Bolivians and Peruvians troops and a group of indigenous people in 1910. The Bolivian press has treated this conflict as "forgotten" due to the little importance with which it is taken in the country's history,{{cite web|url=https://urgente.bo/noticia/las-ffaa-protagonizaron-14-incursiones-desde-su-creaci%C3%B3n|title=Las FFAA protagonizarn 14 incursiones desde su creación|publisher=Urgentebo|date=9 August 2016|language=es|access-date=30 June 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701035748/https://urgente.bo/noticia/las-ffaa-protagonizaron-14-incursiones-desde-su-creaci%C3%B3n |archive-date=2020-07-01 }} perhaps due to the singularity of the confrontation, since a treaty had already been signed several months ago that awarded those territories to Peru.
At that time, the borders between Peru and Bolivia were not well defined, and the Argentine arbitration of July 9, 1909, caused tensions to rise. During this period, Bolivian Captain Lino Echeverría and 16 men remained in the small fortress of Avaroa on the Manuripí River. The Bolivians' arrest of a Peruvian smuggler heightened tensions, and on June 21, 1910, Echeverría repelled an attack by 25 Peruvians, with losses on both sides. This was followed by the Peruvian 5th Infantry Regiment, consisting of 180 men, 2 machine guns, and 20 canoes, landing at the confluence of the Manuripi and Mejahuirra rivers on July 22.{{Cite book|last=Scheina, Robert L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/15696006|title=Latin America : a naval history, 1810-1987|date=1987|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-87021-295-8|location=Annapolis, Md.|oclc=15696006}} Two months later, a force of 150 Peruvian and indigenous soldiers presented an ultimatum to the fort held by Echeverria. During the ensuing attack, Echeverria and three other Bolivian soldiers were killed while defending the fort, and several prisoners were taken.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=THE ARMED SHOCK BETWEEN PERU AND BOLIVIA OF 1909|url=http://historias-bolivia.blogspot.com/2018/02/el-choque-armado-entre-el-peru-y.html?m=1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630202307/http://historias-bolivia.blogspot.com/2018/02/el-choque-armado-entre-el-peru-y.html?m=1 |archive-date=2020-06-30 |access-date=|website=Bolivian History}}
Legacy
In honor of Captain Echeverría, the "29th Infantry Regiment Cap. Lino Echeverría" was named in his honor in 1982.{{cite web|url= https://www.mindef.gob.bo/mindef/sites/default/files/Sintesis_Historica_Comandos_Unidades_Militares.pdf|title=Síntesis Histórica de los Comandos y Unidades Militares de las Fuerzas Armadas de Bolivia|publisher=Ministerio de Defensa – Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia|language=es|access-date=30 June 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009185755/http://www.mindef.gob.bo/mindef/sites/default/files/Sintesis_Historica_Comandos_Unidades_Militares.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-09 }}
There is a controversy over Captain Echeverría's presence in the region. Apparently, it had been several months since that territory (about 250,000 km²),{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=30 September 2018|title=Bolivia has lost more than 1 million km2 and with whom it has lost the most is with Brazil and Argentina|url=https://www.infogate.cl/2018/09/30/bolivia-ha-perdido-mas-de-1-millon-de-km2-y-con-quien-mas-ha-perdido-es-con-brasil-y-argentina/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711211852/https://www.infogate.cl/2018/09/30/bolivia-ha-perdido-mas-de-1-millon-de-km2-y-con-quien-mas-ha-perdido-es-con-brasil-y-argentina/ |archive-date=2020-07-11 |website=Infogate, Chile}} had been recognized as Peruvian by the Bolivian government, according to the Border Rectification Treaty, in exchange for Peru recognizing Bolivian rights in {{cvt|91,726|km2}} in the Acre region.{{cite book|last=Zapata Santín|first=Carlos Edwin|title=Seguridad y Defensa Nacional|publisher=Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega|page=262|url=https://issuu.com/programaadistancia/docs/seguridad_y_defensa_nacional_-_zapa|language=es}}
According to the Bolivian point of view, this treaty —established on September 17, 1909— constituted a territorial victory for Lima since most of the disputed territory became part of Peru.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=September 30, 2018|title=Bolivia has lost more than 1 million km2|url=https://www.infogate.cl/2018/09/30/bolivia-ha-perdido-mas-de-1-millon-de-km2-y-con-quien-mas-ha-perdido-es-con-brasil-y-argentina/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711211852/https://www.infogate.cl/2018/09/30/bolivia-ha-perdido-mas-de-1-millon-de-km2-y-con-quien-mas-ha-perdido-es-con-brasil-y-argentina/ |archive-date=2020-07-11 |access-date=|website=Infogate}} A general agreement between Peru and Bolivia was obtained in 1909 and was parallel to the revision of the Titicaca line. A landmark of this discussion was the Argentine arbitration process between Bolivia and Peru.{{cite journal |last1=Garay Vera |first1=Cristián |title=El atributo amazónico del Perú. La construcción de una soberanía 1903-1942 |journal=Historia Crítica |date=September 2009 |issue=39 |pages=108–129 |doi=10.7440/histcrit39.2009.07 |doi-access=free }} The Argentine mediation on the Peruvian and Bolivian titles in the Acre, was settled against Bolivia in the Treaty of 1909, the same year in which Brazil and Peru would also have their verdict about the distribution, among others, of spoils of the Acre by Brazil and Peru: in this case the arbitration trial agreed with Peru.{{cite journal |last1=Garay Vera |first1=Cristián |title=La competencia por el control del espacio amazónico en el contexto de la diplomacia sudamericana, 1830-1998 |trans-title=The competition to control the Amazon Territory within the Framework of South American Diplomacy, 1830-1998 |language=Spanish |journal=Procesos. Revista ecuatoriana de historia |date=30 December 2016 |issue=44 |doi=10.29078/rp.v0i44.618 |doi-access=free }} All these events went unnoticed by Captain Echeverría Therefore, it is speculated that the captain was not informed of these diplomatic events between the two countries, which would explain his presence in the Manuripi.{{cite web|url=https://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica-7/ConflictosRiberenios-3-Bolivia-Peru.htm|title=Conflictos Ribereños en Sudamérica en el Siglo XX|publisher=Historia y Arqueología Marítima|language=es|access-date=30 June 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030172536/http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica-7/ConflictosRiberenios-3-Bolivia-Peru.htm |archive-date=2013-10-30 }}