Colombia-Peru War
| Colombia-Peru War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Colombian Army making maneuvers to counter a Peruvian attack. |
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| Combatants | |||||||||
PeruArmy Navy Air Force |
ColombiaArmy Navy Air Force National Police |
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| Commanders | |||||||||
| Alfredo Vázquez Cobo | Enrique Olaya Herrera | ||||||||
The Colombia-Peru War (September 1st, 1932 - May 24, 1933) was an armed conflict between the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of Peru.
Civilian Takeover
The war, started by a result of unrest over the Lozado-Solomon Treaty and the leverages of heavy import taxes on sugar, was started by a civilian takeover. Peruvian citizens from Iquitos began a commercial and private take over of the city. On September 1st, 1932 Sanchez Cerro Sent two regiments of the Peruvian Army to Leticia, Colombia and Tarapacá, Colombia. These actions were mostly ignored by the Colombian Government at the time.
Colombian Patriotism
It was not until September 17th of that same year that the Colombian Government took notice. The Peruvian Military Forces which were encroached upon the banks of the Putumayo River stopped several large trade ships from traveling to Leticia. The result of this was an explosion of Colombian patriotism. Laureano Gomez head of the Senate minority proclaimed, "Peace, peace, peace in the interior. War, war, war on the border against our despicable enemy."
On September 19th, El Tiempo reported that they had
received over 10,000 letters calling for war and control of Leticia. That same day
thousands of Colombian students marched through the streets of
The War
Sanchez Cerro believed Colombia had no chance of defending itself: lacking roads and a proper Navy, the Amazon region had no Colombian military presence. It was not until December of 1932 that Vasquez Cobo reached the mouth of the Amazon River with a fleet of old ships he acquired in Europe. Within 90 days Colombia organized a respectable military response to the Peruvian invasion. Herbert Boy and the other German Aviators of SCADTA (later to become Avianca) fitted their commercial planes for war as a temporary Colombian Air Force. The first attack by the Colombian Navy was upon Tarapaca. The city had been chosen because Leticia was on the border with Brazil and the Colombian Forces did not want to create further international conflict by giving the Peruvians a chance to flee into Brazil.[citation needed] The recuperation of Tarapaca was a bloodless event. The day before, February 14th, 1933, the Peruvian Air Force had attempted to bomb the Colombian Fleet but most of the bombs had hit off target.[citation needed] The remainder of the Peruvian forces in the zone fled as Vasquez Cobo's Amazonian Navy landed the following day.
Rio De Janeiro Protocol
On the same day, the Colombian president Enrique Olaya Herrera broke off all relations with the Peruvian government due to aerial attack. Not wanting to involve Brazil in the war, the President did not order an attack on Leticia.
On April 30th, 1933, after giving a speech at the Lima Senatal Dome, General Sanchez Cerro, of the Peruvian Army, was shot to death on the steps of the dome by a young cook. 15 days later, his successor, Oscar Benavides, met with the head of the Colombian Liberal Party, Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo, to secure an agreement to turn Leticia over to a League of Nations commission.
Colombia and Peru met in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to sign a peace treaty. In the Rio De Janeiro Protocol; as it was called, Peru stated that, "We sincerely deplore the events that occurred starting September, 1932. Specifically those that damaged our relationship with Colombia." The Lozano-Solomon Treaty was also reaffirmed by the Peace Treaty. The military humiliation of the Peruvian invasionary forces at the hands of the victorious Colombian defensive forces was concluded.
External links
- Luis Angel Arango Library; Colombia-Peru War (Spanish)
- ColombiaLink history (Spanish)
- Colombia: The Leticia Conflict
- Colombian Nacional Museum Special on Peace Treaties (Spanish)
- Peruvian Navy History Page on Colombian-Peru War (Spanish)
- A long thread with supposed pictures of the naval vessels scanned from peruvian history books (Spanish)
- Another thread with pictures and new clippings about the war (Spanish)
- Portafolio magazine on the Colombia-Peru war
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