Eduardo Ferrero Costa

Eduardo Ferrero Costa was born in Lima in 1946 and trained as a lawyer and doctor of law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. The law of the sea became a continuing concern: his research included an interdisciplinary project at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the book El Nuevo Derecho del Mar: El Perú y las 200 Millas. He taught international law, advised the foreign ministry, and established the Centro Peruano de Estudios Internacionales, which he directed for much of the 1980s and 1990s. ^{1, 2}

As foreign minister in 1997–98, he negotiated with Ecuador over the disputed frontier and the wider relationship between the two countries. Former vice-minister Hugo Palma’s account describes his work on the Washington negotiating package of June 1998, covering demarcation, commerce and navigation, and adjacent ecological parks. Ferrero resigned on 2 October 1998 after opposing the proposed transfer to Ecuador of private ownership of a square kilometre at Tiwinza. That arrangement concerned property within Peruvian territory, rather than a transfer of sovereignty; his resignation preceded the final peace agreement. ²

He represented Peru at the Organization of American States in 2002–04, chairing the working group on the proposed declaration concerning Indigenous peoples. He then served as ambassador to the United States in 2004–06, participating in the trade agreement negotiations and attending its signature. Earlier appointments included the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and advice to electoral observation missions. ^{1, 2}

After Washington, Ferrero returned to legal practice and became the first dean of Universidad del Pacífico’s law faculty. Ferrero represented Peru in investment disputes and proceedings against Yale University seeking the return of objects from Machu Picchu. He also worked on Peru’s legal team in the maritime delimitation case against Chile before the International Court of Justice, from the start of the case in 2008 through the 2014 judgment. ^{1, 2}