Peru–Bolivian Confederation - Conflicts and The International Situation

Conflicts and The International Situation

However, the Confederation generated resistance among several groups in both countries, which resented the dilution of national identities, and also among neighbouring countries. An important number of Peruvian politicians opposed to the idea of the Confederation fled to Chile, where they received support, and this led to the War of the Confederation.

The creation of the Peru–Bolivian Confederation by Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz caused great alarm in the neighbouring countries. The potential power of this confederation aroused the opposition of Argentina and, above all, Chile, due not only to its great territorial expanse but also to the perceived threat that such a rich state signified for the area. Diego Portales, arguably the most important Chilean statesman of the 19th century, who at the time was the power behind president José Joaquín Prieto, was very concerned that the new Confederation would break the regional balance of power and even be a threat to Chilean independence, and so became immediately its enemy.

But that was just one of the reasons behind the war. On a deeper level, both countries were in a heated competition for the control of the commercial routes on the Pacific; and for the Chileans specially, whose relations with independent Peru had already been strained by economic problems centering on rivalry between their ports of Callao and Valparaíso. For the north-Peruvians also, the Confederation was viewed as the most serious threat to their economic interests.

The direct conflict between the Confederation and Chile started with a tariff disagreement, and continued when former Chilean president General Ramón Freire managed to obtain a small subsidy from the Confederation government to equip a frigate and try to wrestle power from the Prieto administration. After the failure of the expedition, the Chilean government became openly hostile towards the Confederation.