The creation of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation causes…

The creation of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation causes great alarm in the neighboring countries.

The potential power of this confederation arouses 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 y Palazuelos, arguably the most important Chilean statesman of the nineteenth century, who at this time is the power behind president José Joaquín Prieto Vial, is very concerned that the new Confederacy will break the regional balance of power and even be a threat to Chilean independence, and so becomes immediately its enemy.

An important number of Peruvian politicians opposed to the idea of the Confederation fled to Chile, where they receive support.

The direct conflict between the two countries had begun with a simple tariff disagreement.

In January of 1835, General Felipe Salaverry, then president of Peru, had signed a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation with Chile.

When General Luis Orbegoso replaced President Salaverry in Peru, the treaty had been declared null and void on February 14, 1836.

In the meanwhile, the Confederacy was already taking form.

In order to force Chile to renegotiate, Peru had raised its tariff on Chilean wheat from twelve cents to three pesos—an increase of over two hundred and fifty percent.

Chile had responded by raising the tariffs on Peruvian sugar by the same amount.

The hostilities begin to escalate until the Mexican ambassador to Chile offers to mediate in the conflict.

Open conflict is averted for the time being.

Both countries are 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 the rivalry between their ports of Callao and Valparaíso.

For the Nor-Peruvians also, the Confederacy is viewed as a most serious threat to their economic interests.

After the victory of the conservative party, former Chilean president General Ramón Freire y Serrano had been exiled to Lima.

He had managed to obtain a small subsidy from the Confederate government to equip a frigate and try to wrestle power from the Prieto administration.

The adventure was a quick failure.

The sloop Orbegoso had been captured by the frigate Monteagudo on July 28, 1836 and became part of the Chilean fleet.

In the meantime, Freire who had managed to capture the city of Ancud, had himself been defeated and captured, being sent this time to the prison-island of Juan Fernández.

The Freire Expedition had had a secondary result.

Portales had decided to take the offensive and staged a surprise raid to prevent further interference by the Confederate government in Chilean internal affairs.

He had given command of the small Chilean fleet to the Spanish sailor Victorino Garrido and ordered him to raid the Confederate fleet that was stationed in the port of Callao.

Garrido, who had arrived with the Aquiles on a good will visit, had staged a silent attack on the night of August 21, 1836, managing to capture 3 confederate ships: the Santa Cruz, Arequipeño and Peruviana.

Instead of immediately going to war, Santa Cruz tries to negotiate with Chile.

The Chilean Congress sends Mariano Egaña as plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty based on several points: the payments of the outstanding international debts owed by Peru to Chile, the limitation of the outstanding armies, commercial agreements, indemnification to Chile for the Freire Expedition, and the dissolution of the Confederation.

Santa Cruz agrees to everything but the dissolution.

Chile responds by declaring war on December 28, 1836.