Causes of War in Latin America Explained: Definitions, History, and Future
By Marcus Vance
Latin America’s post-colonial era generated some of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries' most destructive wars. When Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule collapsed, successor republics inherited the ambiguous borders of the uti possidetis juris principle, which dictated that new borders should match old colonial administrative divisions. These administrative lines were frequently poorly surveyed, ill-defined, and drawn through hostile geography, leaving behind an array of dormant territorial disputes.
When valuable commodities were discovered in these remote zones, guano, sodium nitrate, rubber, or crude oil, governments quickly discovered actionable pretexts to settle lingering border disagreements by force.
| Conflict | Date Range | Stated Pretext (Casus Belli) | Underlying Structural Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| War of the Triple Alliance | 1864, 1870 | Paraguay's seizure of the Brazilian ship Marquês de Olinda | Balance of power across the Río de la Plata basin and navigation rights |
| War of the Pacific | 1879, 1884 | Bolivia imposing a 10-cent nitrate export tax on Chilean companies | Control over mineral-rich Atacama Desert deposits and coastal access |
| Chaco War | 1932, 1935 | Border fort clashes at Lake Pitiantuta | Suspected oil reserves in the Gran Chaco and access to the Paraguay River |
| The Football War | 1969 | Violence during the 1970 World Cup qualifiers | Agrarian reform, land scarcity, and mass expulsion of Salvadoran migrants |
| Cenepa War | 1995 | Military outposts overlapping in the Cordillera del Cóndor | Incomplete demarcation of the 1942 Rio Protocol border |
The 1879 War of the Pacific illustrates this process vividly. Under the 1874 boundary treaty between Chile and Bolivia, Bolivia agreed not to raise taxes on Chilean mining enterprises operating within Bolivian territory for 25 years. Four years later, in 1878, Bolivian President Hilarión Daza pushed through a tax of 10 cents per 100 kilograms of nitrate exported by the Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company.
When the company refused to pay, Bolivian authorities attempted to auction off its assets on February 14, 1879. That very morning, Chilean naval forces occupied the port city of Antofagasta. The tax dispute provided the legal premise, but the military mobilization had already been prepared to secure exclusive access to global fertilizer and explosives markets.
Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.
