FOR RELEASE WITH FEATURE PERU ECUADOR BORDER, 1997-11-24 (photo)

FOR RELEASE WITH FEATURE BC-PERU-ECUADOR-BORDER - A Peruvian laborer humps sacks of contraband lemons November 20 across the northern border with Ecuador at Aguas Verdes in the Pacific department of Tumbes. While a bitter boundary dispute between the two poor Andean countries has prompted generals to mass troops around the frontier and politicians to hurl rhetorical salvos between Lima and Quito, Peruvians living on the volatile border happily work alongside their Ecuadoran neighbors, friends and family. In Brasilia this week, the governments will hold a crucial meeeting to debate their often bitter differences in a bid to settle the hemisphere's oldest outstanding border dispute. PERU FEATURE