Wars
in Latin America

Major International Wars

Compared to other major regions of the world, Latin America has suffered very few large-scale international conflicts. (Civil wars and guerrilla insurgencies are another matter.) There is a considerable body of social science literature suggesting that warfare has a "make or break" effect on the political cohesion of nation-states. That is, as Charles Tilly (1975, p. 42) put it, "War made the state and the state made war." Thus, one might infer that the low occurrence of warfare in Latin American history might explain the relative weakness of state authority in most of those countries.

Below are listed the major international armed conflicts that took place in Latin America after independence from Spain, which in nearly all cases was between 1816 and 1826. Minor border conflicts are not listed. The first country listed under the "combatants" column is the aggressor or instigator of the conflict.

War	Years	Combatants	Outcome
Texas War	1835-1836	Texas vs. Mexico	Texas became an independent republic.
Chilean War	1838	Chile vs. Peru-Bolivia Confederation	Peru and Bolivia were forced to split apart.
Mexican-American War	1846-1848	United States vs. Mexico	U.S. annexed Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, etc.
War of the Triple Alliance	1864-1870	Paraguay vs. Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil	Paraguay lost land to Argentina and Brazil.
War of the Pacific	1879-1883	Chile vs. Peru & Bolivia	Chile annexed Bolivia's sea coast and much Peruvian land.
Chaco War	1932-1935	Bolivia vs. Paraguay	Bolivia was forced to cede much land to Paraguay.
Peru-Ecuador War	1941	Peru vs. Ecuador	Ecuador was forced to recognize Peru's territorial claims.
Soccer War	1969	El Salvador vs. Honduras	OAS mediation; no major gains for either country.
Falklands/Malvinas War	1982	Argentina vs. Great Britain	Argentine occupation forces were forced to withdrew.

Civil Wars and major insurgencies

(under construction)

Country	Years	Issues	Outcome
Peru	1894	Civil war	"Aristocratic republic"
Mexico	1910-1920	Peasant rights; nationalism	Land reform, statist PRI regime
Nicaragua	1925-1933?	Sandino's rebellion against U.S.	.
Costa Rica	1944	Civil war	Pluralistic (social) democracy
Colombia	1965-date	.	.
Bolivia	1965-1967	.	.
Nicaragua	1977-1990	Peasant & worker rights; nationalism	.
El Salvador	1979-1993	.	.
Argentina	1971-1983	Terrorism, "Dirty War" against leftists	economic collapse
Uruguay	1972-1984	Terrorism, "Dirty War" against Tupamarus	economic collapse
Chile	1973-1987	"Dirty War" against leftists	.
Peru	1980-1992	Terrorism, "Dirty War" against leftists	.
etc.	.	.	.