Peru and the United States

Recognition and Representation

The United States recognized Peru by appointing James Cooley as chargé d’affaires on May 2, 1826. Cooley presented credentials in Lima on May 21, 1827, establishing the resident American legation. Peru’s own Washington legation followed in December 1846 under Joaquín José de Osma. [1]

The Peru-Bolivian Confederation briefly changed the government receiving American representatives. James B. Thornton was commissioned to Peru in June 1836 but officially received by the Confederation on March 16, 1837. After he left, his successor James Chamberlayne Pickett did not present credentials until January 1840, after the Confederation’s dissolution. [5] [1]

Diplomatic Rank and Political Recognition

John Randolph Clay notified Peru that relations were suspended on October 19, 1860. In instructions to Christopher Robinson on November 12, 1861, Secretary of State William H. Seward explained the new administration’s decision to seek renewed relations. Seward wrote that President Abraham Lincoln regarded the disagreements as serious but insufficient to require war; he proposed that renewed peaceful relations would allow the two governments to settle them. Robinson presented credentials in Lima on January 11, 1862. [6] [7] [13]

Peru’s Washington legation acquired embassy rank on March 6, 1919, a year before the American mission in Lima. Accreditation could nevertheless lag behind appointment. Federico Alfonso Pezet had reached Washington by December 1919, but President Woodrow Wilson’s illness prevented a formal audience. The Peruvian chargé requested provisional recognition so Pezet could begin work, and Pezet supplied copies of his credentials while retaining the originals for presentation to the president. The American legation in Lima became an embassy when William E. Gonzales presented credentials on April 24, 1920. [2] [8] [9] [1]

Suspension, Negotiation, and Wider Agreements

The military takeover of July 18, 1962, again made recognition of a government an instrument of American policy. Washington suspended normal relations, and Ambassador James Loeb departed while the junta remained unrecognized. American officials debated how to obtain commitments to elections and civilian government without strengthening the military’s position. Under Secretary George Ball recommended retaining diplomatic pressure while exploring a route back to relations. On August 17, after the junta reaffirmed commitments to civil liberties and elections, the State Department announced their resumption. [10] [11] [12]

A further military takeover in October 1968 brought Juan Velasco Alvarado to power and the expropriation of the International Petroleum Company’s assets. Secretary of State Dean Rusk consulted other Latin American governments through American embassies while considering recognition, compensation, and aid restrictions. Practical contacts continued over American citizens and routine administrative matters. The dispute joined two difficult questions: how to respond to a government installed by force and how to defend property claims without foreclosing negotiations over Peru’s control of its resources. [14]

The United States also helped negotiate a settlement of Peru’s border conflict with Ecuador. Working with Brazil, Argentina, and Chile as guarantors, American envoy Luigi Einaudi and other officials sustained talks that culminated in the Brasilia agreement of October 1998. Clinton met both presidents earlier that month to accept their request for help reaching a final settlement. Military observers from the four guarantor states monitored the ceasefire. [15]

The Trade Promotion Agreement that entered into force on February 1, 2009, extended commitments beyond tariffs to services, investment, labor, and environmental rules. Its forest governance annex made illegal logging and the administration of forest resources part of the bilateral trade framework. [4]

Trade, Political Stability, and Public Security

By January 2024, the relationship combined trade under the 2009 agreement with cooperation against cocaine trafficking and organized crime, support for justice institutions, and assistance to Venezuelan migrants. Peru’s internal instability also affected the agenda. Pedro Castillo’s attempt to dissolve Congress in December 2022 led to his removal and Dina Boluarte’s succession; deaths during subsequent protests raised concerns in the United States about security assistance and accountability. [16]