The Ilha de Guajará-Mirim (

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) or Isla Suárez (

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

) is one of the world's many

disputed territories A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...

. The island lies in the Rio Mamoré in Amazon, which defines part of the boundary between the Bolivian department of

Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

and the Brazilian state of

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...

in the Amazon. The island's sovereignty is the object of passive contention between the governments of Brazil and Bolivia, which administer it

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

History

The area was demarcated by the

Treaty of Ayacucho The Treaty of Ayacucho was an agreement between the Empire of Brazil and Bolivia signed in 1867. It assigned the land of Acre (now a state in Brazil) to Bolivia in exchange for 102,400 square kilometers of territory further north then annexed t ...

, on March 27, 1867, which, in its article 2, declares: (...) he border between Brazil and Boliviawill go down hrough the Verde Riverto its confluence with the Guaporé and through this and the Mamoré until Beni, where the Madeira River begins.(...) The border in this area was demarcated in 1877, and the Bolivian company Irmãos Suarez was established there in 1896. The

Treaty of Petrópolis The Treaty of Petrópolis, signed on November 11, 1903, in the Brazilian city of Petrópolis, ended the Acre War between Bolivia and Brazil over the then-Bolivian territory of Acre (today the Acre state), a desirable territory in the Bolivia-Braz ...

, on November 17, 1903, confirmed the same limit established in 1867. On April 1, 1930, the legation Brazilian woman in La Paz complained about what she considered to be an inadequate occupation of the island. In 1937, the government of Bolivia issued a report showing the island's greater proximity to the Bolivian side, which was rejected by Brazil. In 1955, Brazil intended to establish a police post on the island, but did not carry out the project. On March 29, 1958, an agreement was signed between the two countries called the Roboré Agreement, in which, in addition to resolving other disputed issues, it was agreed, in the future, to resolve the dispute over the sovereignty of Suárez Island. This convention was ratified by the

Brazilian Congress The National Congress of Brazil ( pt, Congresso Nacional do Brasil) is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike the state legislative assemblies and municipal chambers, the Congress is bicameral Bicameralism is a type of ...

on November 30, 1968. In its article 4, it establishes that: The Government of Brazil agreed with the Government of Bolivia to re-examine the issue of the legal status of the island of Guajará Mirim (Isla Suárez). In 2009, the island continues without a definitive solution regarding its territorial possession, and it remains supposedly under Bolivian administration, despite the fact that the island is a place of economic activity for the Brazilian inhabitants of Guajará-Mirim, who hold most of the island's territory. More than 80 islands in the Guaporé and Mamoré rivers have yet to be assigned to one country or another.

References

Territorial disputes of Brazil Territorial disputes of Bolivia Bolivia–Brazil border Disputed islands of South America {{Rondônia-geo-stub