| Puerto Bolívar | |
| Pushpin Map: | Ecuador |
| Mapsize: | frameless |
| Coordinates: | -3.2667°N -138°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Ecuador |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | El Oro |
| Subdivision Type2: | Canton |
| Subdivision Name2: | Machala |
| Parts Type: | Subdivisions |
| Parts Style: | para |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | December 18, 1883 (as Puerto Bolívar)[1] [2] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Elevation M: | 6 |
| Timezone1: | PET |
| Utc Offset1: | -5 |
| Website: | https://www.puertobolivar.gob.ec/ |
Puerto Bolívar is an urban parish and port city, part of the municipality of Machala, El Oro Province, Ecuador. Puerto Bolívar is one of the world's largest shipment points for bananas, most of them destined for Europe; about 80% of Ecuador's banana production is shipped through these port facilities.[3]
A port established under Spanish rule under the name Puerto Pilo (later changing its name in 1783 to Puerto Machala) served as the precursor to Puerto Bolívar.[1] [2] Initially a berth, it later established itself as a point of commerce between Machala and Guayaquil.[2]
After the cacao boom in Ecuador and the sedimentation of Puerto Pilo, Ecuadorian authorities sought to develop the Machala area, finally deciding in 1869 to establish a new port near Jambelí island called Puerto Huaylá.[4] In 1879 a dock was built in the new port.[2]
On December 18, 1883, the port was officially inaugurated as Puerto Bolívar in honor of Libertador Simón Bolívar, with new infrastructure, such as a railroad beginning to be built to connect the port to Machala on the same year. The port was elevated to a Major Port on April 13, 1897, and a main dock was built in 1902, which, along with the railroad, formed the first intermodal transport between El Oro and Guayas.[2]
After some skirmishes on early July 1941, a war between Ecuador and Peru saw a Peruvian offense being carried out on late July of the same year. The Peruvian army had established a paratrooper unit in 1939 and successfully used it to seize the port on July 27, marking the first time in the Americas that airborne troops were used in combat.[5] [6] [7]
After the war, the agricultural development of El Oro Province improved the local economy in the following years, and the port was further expanded for overseas exports from 1964 to 1968. A port authority was established in 1970, which started operations the following year.[2]
Ecuador and Peru signed a peace agreement in 1998, with resulted in the increase of commercial trade between the two countries. The cargo in transit through the docks of the port increased, especially from the north of Peru, for the North American and European markets. The Binational Group for the Promotion of Private Investment (GBPIP) was formed to encourage the creation of a complementary binational port axis of the ports of Paita in Peru and Puerto Bolívar in Ecuador to increase maritime and land trade between the two countries.
By 2008 the port was composed of three main docks, over 50,000 km2 of storage and around 53,000 km2 of parking, as well as a anti-narcotics building.[8]