Ecuador and Peru in fierce dispute over border wall

In South America, a border wall between Ecuador and Peru has caused a serious dispute between both countries.

The wall runs along one side of the busiest crossing points on the nations' fifteen-hundred-kilometers border, which extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Putumayo river in the Amazon.

It's just over two kilometers long and ranges in height from one to four meters. But according to CGTN’s Dan Collyns reported, this wall which Ecuador is building on its frontier with Peru has prompted a fierce diplomatic row.

Peru said Ecuador breached an internationally-backed 1998 accord between the neighboring countries that prohibits construction within 10 meters of the frontier.

Ecuador and Peru were the last two Latin American countries to go to war in a border dispute known as the Cenepa conflict in 1995. Bilateral relations had improved greatly until construction of the wall began in March.

On the ground, they have already had an impact on the fish trade.

Traders on both sides said what they did is informal but it was not smuggling. The wall obviously hindered their trade. The construction could have far-reaching diplomatic implications for the neighboring countries.

(CGTN)