An overwhelming majority in the Amazonian region of Peru has voted against the peace treaty recently signed with Ecuador to resolve a long-running border dispute.

According to the organisers of the unofficial referendum, ninety-seven per cent of the one-hundred-and-sixty-thousand inhabitants of Loreto department who took part, voted against the agreement.

Loreto is the department of Peru closest to the disputed border area; protests at the signing of the agreement with Ecuador at the end of October left six dead in the region.