Peru

After winning its independence from Spain, the Republic of Peru quickly distinguished itself in terms of the professionalism of its diplomacy and statecraft. It was the first Latin America state to pass a diplomatic law worthy of the name and also the first to conclude a treaty with Japan. In the interim, Peru created a consultative commission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, consisting of experts in the field, on foreign-policy issues, and decades later it established the Peruvian Diplomatic Academy, one of the first of its kind in Latin America. In early August 1821, General José de San Martín, soon after declaring Peru independent from Spain, established the Ministry of State and Foreign Relations and appointed Juan García del Río as the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru. Less than five months later, García del Río was sent abroad in the attempt by the nascent republic to establish formal diplomatic relations with other states, and Bernardo Monteagudo replaced him as Foreign Minister.¹ Over the next two decades, the conduct of foreign affairs was largely the purview of a small coterie of often highly competent aristocrats, some of whom had previous experience in the Spanish administration.