Republic of Ecuador

Brazil and Ecuador established diplomatic relations in 1844. In 1873, Brazil opened its resident legation in Quito. Although it is one of the few countries in South America with which Brazil does not have a common border, bilateral relations between the two countries have been historically close.

In 2018, bilateral trade totaled $1.02 billion, with a surplus in favor of Brazil: exports amounted to $904.85 million and imports $112.31 million. The main Brazilian exports to Ecuador included iron/steel flat-rolled products; copper wire; polymers; buses; and footwear. Brazilian imports were mainly composed of refined lead; preserved fish; chocolates and other food preparations containing cocoa; caramels; fish fillets; wood; among others.

Among the initiatives of the technical cooperation program between Brazil and Ecuador are a project in water resources management and a project to support the creation of a human milk bank in an Ecuadorian hospital, which is aimed at reducing neonatal mortality in the country, thus bringing health benefits for both infants and mothers.

In April 2016, Brazil provided humanitarian assistance to Ecuador in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit the northern part of the country and that was described as the strongest since 1979. A C-105 military aircraft was sent to Ecuador with supplies to support about 500 people for three months. The aircraft remained in the country for ten days and carried out cargo and passenger transport as well as medical evacuations.

Chronology of bilateral relations

2019 – The Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreement between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of Ecuador is signed (September 25)

2019 – Ecuador opens its market of live bovine animals for Brazil (September 11)

2018 – The 20th Anniversary commemoration ceremony of the signing of the Global and Definitive Peace Agreement between Ecuador and Peru is held in Brasília (October 16)

2018 – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador José Valencia visits Brazil (Brasília, August 17)

2016 – President Dilma Rousseff travels to Quito, where she holds a bilateral meeting with President Rafael Correa and participates in the Fourth CELAC Community Summit  (January 26-27)

2015 – Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru hold a meeting to promote safe migration in South America (July 13-14)

2015 – Minister Mauro Vieira travels to Quito on the occasion of the CELAC Meeting of Foreign Ministers. The Foreign Ministers of Brazil and Ecuador meet on the sidelines of the event (May 5-6)

2015 – Minister Mauro Vieira travels to Quito on the occasion of the extraordinary meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Council of Foreign Ministers on the situation in Venezuela (March 14)

2015 – Visit of Vice-President of Ecuador Jorge Glas to Brasília on the occasion of the inauguration of President Dilma Rousseff. The Ecuadorian Vice-President also meets with Vice-President Michel Temer (January)

2014 – President of the Republic Dilma Rousseff visits Ecuador on the occasion of the UNASUR Extraordinary Summit (Quito, December 5).

2014 – Visit of President Rafael Correa to Brazil on the occasion of the BRICS-South American Countries and the CELAC-China summits. He also visits the cities of São José dos Campos, São Paulo and Brasília (July)

2014 – Visit of President Rafael Correa to Brazil to attend the World Cup opening ceremony (June)

2014 –  Visit of Foreign Minister Patiño to Brasília in order to meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Alberto Figueiredo (January 15)

2013 – President Dilma Rousseff holds a bilateral meeting with President Rafael Correa on the sidelines of the UNASUR Summit (Paramaribo, August 30)

2013 – Vice-President Michel Temer takes part in the inauguration ceremony of President Correa (May)

2013 – Visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Ecuador to participate in the  meeting of the Bilateral Consultations Mechanism with Foreign Minister Patiño and in the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), in Coca (May 2)

2013 – Foreign Minister Patiño takes part in a working dinner with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Antonio Patriota, in Brasília, to address the reform of the Inter-American Human Rights System. The visit takes place in the context of Minister Patiño’s South American tour (March) 

2012 – Visit of President Rafael Correa to Brazil to take part in the MERCOSUR Summit in Brasília (December)

2012 – Brazil and Ecuador sign a Cooperation Agreement (October 1st)

2012 – President Rafael Correa visits Brazil to take part in the Rio+20 Summit (July)

2012 – Minister of Foreign Affair Patiño visits Brasília to hold a meeting of the Bilateral Consultations Mechanism with his Brazilian counterpart, Ambassador Antonio Patriota (April 30)

2011 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Patiño holds a bilateral meeting with his Brazilian counterpart, Ambassador Antonio Patriota, in Manaus, on the sidelines of the 11th ACTO Meeting of Foreign Ministers (November 22)

2011 – Visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Antonio Patriota, to Quito (July 15)

2009 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Fander Falconí visits Brasília, where he meets with his Brazilian counterpart, Ambassador Celso Amorim (August 24)

2008 – Ecuador’s Minister of Defense Javier Ponce visits Brazil (September)

2008 – Ecuador’s state-owned airline TAME begins its Guayaquil-Manaus-Quito regular service in August. The route was discontinued in December because it was no longer economically viable.

2008 – President Rafael Correa visits Brazil to seek support in the crisis between his country and Colombia (March 4-5)

2007 – On his visits to Quito, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Celso Amorim, is received by President Rafael Correa and the Minister of Defense of Ecuador, María Fernanda Espinosa (October 4-5)

2007 – Presidents Lula and Correa hold a meeting in Manaus (September 30)

2007 – President Rafael Correa pays a State visit to Brazil (April 4)

2007 – The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, María Fernanda Espinosa, visits Brazil (March 26)

2007 – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visits Ecuador to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Rafael Correa (January 15)

2006 – Ecuador’s President-elect Rafael Correa visits Brasília (December 8)

2006 – The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Celso Amorim, visits Ecuador (January 18)

2005 – The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Celso Amorim, visits Quito (August 16-17)

2005 – Brazil grants asylum to former President Lúcio Gutiérrez after he took refuge in the Embassy of Brazil in Quito. In October, he renounces the asylum and returns to his country.

2004 – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visits Quito (August 24-25)

2003 – The President of Ecuador, Lúcio Gutiérrez, visits Brazil (May 27)

2003 – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visits Ecuador (January)

1998 – Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad sign in Brasília the Peru-Ecuador Peace Agreement, which settles the dispute over the undemarcated border in the Condor mountain range region. The agreement establishes a demilitarized zone and two ecological parks in the area (October 26)

1988 – President José Sarney pays the first visit of a Brazilian Head of State to Ecuador

1982 – President Osvaldo Hurtado pays the first official visit of an Ecuadorian Head of State to Brazil

1942 – The Peace Protocol between Peru and Ecuador is signed in Rio de Janeiro. Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States are guarantors of the instrument.

1922 – Agreement on the boundaries between Colombia and Peru leaves Ecuador without a border with Brazil

1904 – The Boundary Treaty signed between Brazil and Ecuador fixes the Apaporis line as the boundary line, in an area still under dispute with Peru (May 6)

1873 – The resident legation of Brazil in Quito is opened (January)

1844 – Brazil and Ecuador established diplomatic relations in November, when Emperor D. Pedro II appointed Manuel Cerqueira Lima as Chargé d’Affaires in Nova Granada (present-day Colombia) and in Ecuador, with residence in Bogota.