Every June 12, the Chaco Peace Day is commemorated and celebrated in Paraguay ; an anniversary that recalls the armistice and the signing of peace between Paraguay and Bolivia in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Do you want to know what happened and why this date is celebrated ? Read on and find out.
How was the Chaco Peace Day born?
The Chaco Peace Day was born after the signing of the "Peace Protocol" between the representatives of Paraguay and Bolivia in the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina. This happened on June 12, 1935 and with this armistice, more than three years of war between these two Ibero-American nations, which were the poorest of the time, ended.
The war was produced by the control of the Boreal Cacho. Bolivia wanted this region because it had lost its access to the sea after the War of the Pacific and therefore needed to have dominion over the Chaco to have a connection with the Atlantic Ocean.
On the other hand, Paraguay was ruined after the War of the Triple Alliance and had to give up a large part of its territory. After a brief conflict with Argentina, it was established that the territories of the Chaco belonged to Asunción.
Although the armistice was signed on June 12, 1935 , the negotiations for the Chaco would take three more years to finalize. The president of Argentina, Carlos Saavedra Lamas, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936 for being the great mediator in this conflict.
After the negotiations, it was agreed that three-quarters would go to Paraguay and an area around the banks of the river went to Bolivia . In 2009, 74 years after the end of the war, Presidents Fernando Lugo and Evo Morales signed the definitive treaty on the borders. And for this reason the Chaco Peace Day is celebrated.