Ecuador stops construction of Peruvian border wall

The government of Lenin Moreno is extending its policy of “dialog” across the Peruvian border.

Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa announced that Ecuador was stopping construction of a controversial border wall between the Ecuadorian town of Huaquillas and the Peruvian town of Aguas Verdes. Espinosa, who is in Lima for a meeting of the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, met late in the afternoon with her Peruvian counterpart, Ricardo Luna, and Ecuador’s ambassador to Peru, Hugo Otero.

Peru recalled its ambassador to Ecuador on Monday to protest the wall but decided to return him to Quito following the meeting between Espinosa and Luna.

“We have requested the meeting understanding that it is important to reach a definitive agreement on this matter,” Espinosa said. “We think it is a technical issue that can be solved in the interest of both countries. A linear park or a wall will not end twenty years of peace that has benefited the citizens of our two countries.”

The wall is part of a linear park in Huaquillas and is located next to a canal that serves as the border with Peru. Ecuadorian officials have argued that the wall is part of a project to protect Huaquillas from seasonal flooding but that it also serves as an architectural element of the park. Peru says the wall will divert flood waters into Aguas Verdes and that it interferes with the passage of people across the border.