In the case of the pursuit and massacre of the large tuna boat, Ecuador claims that the United States is violating its 200-mile territorial sea. From its creation, Ecuador had accepted the usual limit of three miles as the demarcation of its territorial waters. However, after 130 years, Juan Valdez came to power in 1952. Under his regime, he proclaimed that the three-mile limit was never intended to be considered a fixed, unalterable boundary and that historical practices as well as natural features of the area justified a territorial sea of ​​200 miles. Every Ecuadorian president since Valdez has also said this. According to the 1982 UN treaty, a state's territorial sea extends twelve nautical miles from the national coast (Slomanson 305). In this area, Ecuador exercises sovereignty over these waters as if they were a land mass (Slomanson 305). All aspects of the sea are under its control, including the seabed and airspace. Additionally, Ecuador is authorized to impose laws that regulate the territory and consume the resources located within this defined area. Within this territorial sea, Ecuador “shall exercise its sovereign power over this adjacent strip of water” (Slomanson 305). Additionally, Ecuador should map these waters and warn of navigational dangers (Slomanson 305). However, Ecuador did not follow up on this measure and was “lax in its application”. In 1951, the International Court of Justice issued this statement in response to a ruling: "To every State whose land territory is in any place washed by the sea, international law allocates a corresponding part of maritime territory consisting of that which the right calls territorial waters. … No maritime state can refuse them. International law imposes laws on a medium of paper governing the activities of foreign states within its EEZ. Ecuador's blatant violation demonstrates its lack of respect for UN law. Donald Thomas was simply conducting his business to preserve his quality of life and his rights were violated. Letting this case go unanswered puts the livelihoods of even more fishermen at risk. Ruling in favor of Ecuador would create a precedent with considerable consequences: exclusive economic zones are territorial waters. As a result, rights would be granted to States in their territorial waters, which was not provided for by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The violence displayed by the Ecuadorian navy demonstrates a parallel lack of restraint to the actions of rogue nations. The United States continues to insist that Ecuador failed to meet usual international standards in handling this situation..