DEEP-LYING ROOTS

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 82, 7 April 1933, Page 14

DEEP-LYING ROOTS

DISPUTE OVER LETICIA

COLOMBIA AND PERU

POSITION EXPLAINED

.■• Those who- are following (the dispute between Colombia and' Peru doubtless wonder why tliese two countries should fight over a.small territory which,is so generally described as being a feverinfested jungle: swamp of no'value, writes H. B. Grow.'in the "New York Times.'' ' -■'■ " ' - •■'■■';■ . One ■ must. know this ..region to understand why, people will fight for it. -_ To us it is as described. . To1 .them it is home'and country. '..'. It is a fascinating,, mysterious 'land. .'".'■: Even at -Letieia, some 2000 miles from the mouth, : the Amazon is /several miles wide. It winds leisurely to the 'westward■ in. vast, sweeping curves, through almost 'impenetrable jungle. This vast river falls only about 250 feet in-its 2000- ---' mile journey to',the sea. . ~ The region is . languid and, violent; healthful arid :at the same .' time ■ deathly. It is a region where the dry ' season is distinguished from the; wet season merely because.it.rains less frequently during the day, than during, the rainy season, when it rains-all- day. It is a country.from which the,white man flees, but always to return; where they laughingly say 'of a, person, when he does come back, that he has drunk the waters of Sachachoro, a mythical water which is. supposed to cause a person once having partaken of it to wish, always to. return....•'■. : '~,■■' ;.: - •.'..-■■■ :: BEAUTIFUL AND MONOTONOUS. .■' It isa region of striking beauty and 'deadly monotony; of muddy rivers, on the banks of which big alligators i sleep lazily in the hot afternoon, sun, sliding off 'into the. water, ■ when a steamer passes.; of:rivers teeming with : small ■'fish ; which oould strip . a man to the skeleton lin' a mere-question of moments if he : were unlucky enough, to .fall in.. _ 'It is -a region with warm tropical breezes;, thousands of screaming parrots and,, ■brilliantly coloured ma.caws flying overhead; chattering monkeys in the trees, and weird, mysterious ■ uriseen life ■in the jungles.— Yet it- is an active,, industrious region, a wealthy region. It exports cos.tly woods —such as cedar, mahogany, quinina.- It grows : excellent tobacco, fine cotton, sugar cane, and the finest chicla, to be exported to America for' the chewing-gum industry. ,It is the 'centre of a vast area which, produces and exports countless products.',", •':.'■•■ The- largest city : : on- the Peruvian Amazon is Iquitos.,: .This is a city of some 20,000-souls,: a city with paved streets, electric lights, a good hotel, and fine buildings.. '.Some of the ■ buildings, are constructed entirely of blue, tiles; reminders?of the' days of the: rubber boom in 1910, when nothing was-drunk in the' cafes but champagne and nothing passed over the bars but gold. , '•' ■ THE,'MODERN SPANISH CITY. : Iquitos : has its cinemas) :,churches, cafes, and shops grouped about a plaza.-, At evening a band concert is heard there; aitd the'people sit at tables on the sidewalks in the' street ;drinking ices or cold beer, or .walk around the little park laughing or talking, while the .music ."plays.1 There, are a few .motor-cars; there too, and these; driven by proud owners, "also go round and round: the plaza. •'; .■-.■'-. '.. ■■ ■ '". ' *;■■■.'' "■ Iquitos : is,. .in - -fact, a modern Spanish city in every respect. It is the terminal point of the-Amazon Air Line, with hangars, and- shops; It has shipyards, factories, docks, and. all. the usual accessories; of■ a "... thriving' ■'shipping town, u.yessels'- arrive ( Jthero 2000 '■ miles up the .Amazon' from.:. New , Y6rk and Liverpoolj-mdo.ring at a floating/dock:'because,' .the riyer rises and falls thirty-five ' feet with the: - change of the season. •' .'.■ ;:.,:':■',.- 1-.1' ,'■.-.- On the river.is. a large fleet of small steamers busily engaged' in "trading with the various settlements along the banks, steamers which burn wood — cedar and a fine wood known as capri- ' ona, which would -. bring fortunes in America. Higher up in some of the rivers gold, is found, and1 not far away black peroleum floats-on the waters. . ■ Some 200. miles below Iquitos, and right on the Brazilian frontier-, is Leticsa, now the> cause of the .. dispute between Peru-and Colombia. , Some months ago the citizens of Leticia and the surrounding plantations rose up in rebellion, captured- the town/ and'imprisoned .the Colombian authorities. At " : first the Government at/Lima'did not support ■ the- nioyementy and expressed itself kg being in favour of upholding, the. terms of the treaty by which/this' wedge of land;,, between the Amazon and the Putumayo was ceded to Colombia against the wishes of its: inhabitants. ' Later Colombian armed flyers arrived.to. recapture it. -,' ■'■ '~ . ~';' 1.1 remember/clearly the day I arrived at Iquitos in December of 1927. ■ The air. was full of revolution, and the talk against the, Lima, 'Government was openly bitter. .■ , v Th'e; treaty 'was ; referred to, as a crime and did not please any one in the region involved. It was freely, said that 'you can "give away land, .but:you cannot give away ■people,."', and even' in-those days, the determination to. resist the occupation ;by {Colombia ;was op.enly expressed. But the Government went through with it, and alls r ia Julvrl930j the' territory ,was Officially turned over to Colombia. ARMED EXPEDITION. ; Then followed two years of unrest and finally rebellion. Today we have the, peculiar, situation, of, a large tract 'of land '■; populated, entirely by .'Peruvians, belonging to* Colombia by treaty but in the'hands, of- the Peruvian 7 inhabitants by. force.' They have: acted because: this is; homo to them; because they, feel that the right bf r self : determi■aation has been violated, arid they are determined: to : stay there no matter 'whatHhe cost. '■■■'■. ,■ > ' ' ';< '■ Colombia-has sent'a strong armed expedition^ the Amazon to the mouth :of the Putumayo and thence up the Putumayo to: the .border, where it has captured the', town- of Tarapaca. The Colombian warships':stay in Brazilian :. waters just across the, border. ' Whenever they ;have ' crossed the frontier they, haveVlieen .bombed 'by Peruvian aviators. :' :■ ■ ■ ' ■ It is a difficult situation and an. interesting one.'.; There are involved two ■fundamental principles of international law, both of which seem' to have bijen violated.. ;Peru without a,doubt ceded to Colombia the territory: involved, and the treaty negotiating the exchange was ratified by. the..Peruvian . .legislative body. That treaty .has. been broken/ ■ '■'-, On the, other hand, the Peruvians' contend that their 'Congress, in ratifying this treaty,---did-not. express the will: of the people as a representative body, but, merely the will of the dictator as an individual, 'there can,bo no doubt'that this is true. ■ OVERTHROW OF LEGUIA. . The; Peruvian. Congress at the time the treaty was ratified- did npt.yote according to the dictates of its own conscience, but voted under orders. It is well known that the treaty did not meet with public approval and later, in August of 1930, when Mr. Leguia was overthrown by the revolution of Arequipa, headed by. Colonel'Luis Sanchez Cerro, the treaty was one of the major causes of his downfall. Regardless of the ethics involved in the present situation, the fact remains that while Mr. Leguia negotiated the treaty with the commendable motive of establishing peace and friendly relations among the nations of South

America by the settlement of all frontier disputes and the elimination thereby of causes for friction, he did not seem to realise that the people who inhabited the region were being deprived of'their right of self -determination, and that instead of creating . a situation tending towards peaco, he was.sowing the. seeds for future conflict. That which has taken place in Leticia was bound to happen, if not today, a year from now or two years from now. The .population of the whole Peruvian! Amazon region is against the treaty. They hold that ljy giving Leticia to Colombia.their- free navigational rights of the Amazon, as stipulated in the treaty of, 1851, have become valueless, because th^y now have a "sentinel" at the gate.. Navigation of the Amazon for;them is no longer "free. They feel that they have been bottled up; and, as a'matter, of,'fact, they have, technically speaking. , '' . : The Peruvians maintain also that Colombia' Has not*fulfilled her part of.! the treaty, which called for the_ turning over'to Peru of a small section of I land near the headwaters, of the Putumayo 'River. This is true., Colombia has not;turned it over to Peru; in fact, 'the land is in Ecuador, and, to occupyi it, the Peruvians would have to go through Ecuador. '■■'...' ■ -. ■■_ ': ■ LONG- UNDER PERU'S FLAG. It would- seem, however,, that Peru's greatest claim to favourable consideration in the present circumstances is the old right of:self-determination. The,inhabitants of the region ceded are Peruvian, and'have been Peruvian for 400 years. They are intensely patriotic and do not wish to.be Colombians. The.case presents a problem not impossible of solution.' Colombia gained by the treaty.a vast tract oi land lying between the Coquota arid Putumayo Rivers, ceded by, Peru. 8 She also gained a small wedge'between the Putumayo and Amazon, in which, is located. Leticia.',-' This small wodge alone* is disputed;': Here the adjustment lies..