LEAGUE OF NATIONS. tCominunicated to the Council d Members of the League,- ' Geneva, January 24 th, 1933'

COMMUNICATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF PERU.

Note by the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General has the honour to circulate to the

Council and Members of the League the following communication,

dated January 20th, which he has received from the Government

•f Peru,

Sir,

You have brought to the notice of my Government, and to the

Members of the Council of the League of Nations, the letter sent you by the Colombian Government on January 2nd concerning

the situation at LETICIA. In conformity with instructions just

received, I have the honour to transmit to you the requisite

details concerning the events which occurred in this town and

the present divergencies between Peru and Colombia.

The occupation of LETICIA by a group of Peruvians on

September 1st, 1932» and the expulsion of the Colombian

authorities is the origin of the present dispute. LETICIA,

a port on the river Amazon, was founded by Peruvians more than

a century ago. It has always been inhabited by Peruvians, but

was ceded to Colombia under the Salamon-Lozano Treaty which,

in I9 2 8 , fixed the frontier between the two countries. The

accusations brought by the Colombian Government against the

assailants are absolutely unfounded. The object of these

(1} See Document C.2O.M.5 .I9 3 3 .VII. - 2 - || c. ecus' tiv>ns is to obscure the disinterested char a ct or of t no

movement.

Faced with a situation which ;vas bound to trouble the friendly

and neighbourly relations between P. u and Colombia, my Govern­

ment informed the Colombian Government in certain statements

which it has had occasion to confirm, that it had nothin--, what­

ever to do with thvse events which had originated and developed

without its knov aedge. On September 30th, 1 9 3 2 , M* Savala-

Loayza, the peruvi: n Minister for Foreign Affairs, actuated by

motives ci sincerity, sent the Colombian Minister at Lima a

note requesting him to be good enough to draw his Government’s

attention to the invincible movement of sympathy that these events

had aroused in the Department of Loreto, which forms a geographical

and moral unit known as the Peruvian Orient. He asked him to

consider the dispute calmly and broad-mindedly. It would not be

sufficient, the Peruvian Chancellor wrote, to reduce the

insurgents of LETICIA by force and thus create an impermanent

situation maintained by constraint and violence: it was necessary

to create a new and more stable order, which would take into

account ’’the relations of geographical continuity, the commercial

interests and the ties of' nationality and blood uniting the population whose territory was ceded to Colombia by the Treaty

and the rest of the population of the Peruvian Orient." Such a policy would obviate fresh troubles in the future and the

rousing of feelings of animosity and distrust.

In its note of September 3 0 th, the Peruvian Government

announced that it had laid the dispute before the Permanent Inter­

national Conciliation Commission at Washington, in conformity with

the Convention signed in that city on January 5 th, 1929, and had

requested it to set up a Conciliation Commission. - 3 -

It did not then appeal to the League of Nations

under Article ig of the Covenant because it desired to show

that it had entire confidence in the "comprehending spirit-'

of the Colombian Government.

In approaching the Permanent Commission at Washing-

tion, Peru was respecting her contractual obligations and

remained true to her diplomatic tradition. Both in the

most brilliant and in the more sombre periods of her history

she has always condemned imperialism and war, defended conci­

liation and advocated understanding and friendship.

*

* *

The nations of Latin America are, within the frame-

v orh of the League of Nations, bound by special agreements a.

understandings which may be termed regional, though they draw

their inspiration from the Covenant, and which have been pre­

pared, enlarged and ratified by successive Pan-American con­

ferences. Among these may be mentioned the 19^3 Convention

of Santiago-de-Chile and the 1929 Washington Convention which

institute international commissions of conciliation. At the

time of the creation of this procedure, the Colombian delegate

stated on behalf of his Government that he would sign the

Washington Convention without reservations of any kind.

* * *

The Colombian Government has shown itself averse

from the above-mentioned procedure in the present instance.

It claims that the Leticia incident is a purely internal

affair and that it is for Colombia herself without any in­

tervention in the interests of peace, to re-establish her authority in the disturbed area. And yet, for this purpose - 4 *

it applies to jurists of other nations for assistance, engages foieign crews, seeks to recruit mercenaries and utilises a waterway, the Amazon, to which Brazil, who is deeply attached to the ca.se of American peace, could deny

Colombia access. Though shrinking from the intervention of the Washington Conciliation Commission which has an inter-

American regional range of action, it emphasises the inter­ national importance of the conflict "by addressing a note concerning Leticia to the League of Nations, an institution whose range of action is universal.

Moreover, this aspect of an incident, which exceeds the interests of any on country, has just been officially recognised by the representative of the Colombian Government in Europe, who in a letter to the League - an act which itself invalidates the argument he upholds - notes the special character of the troubles at Leticia which affect a frontier region. The special character of these events is, of course, that they are a matter of international inter-: st.

Thus, Colombia cannot escape an inconsistency im­ posed upon her by the very nature of events. Police opera­ tions of a purely domestic nature have to 'be carried out with the assistance of foreign elements and aim, in the light of

"the Colombian Government’s own actions, assuming more - no core an international character. - 5 -

The Salomon-Lozano Treaty, which was not prompted by a spirit of caution and moderation, instead of removing the existing difficulties, crcated a state of war. As soon as it was ratified, it caused Ecuador, a neighbouring and friendly country which had been carefully kept aloof from the negotia­ tions, to break off diplomatic relations with Colombia. This

Treaty was intended by the negotiators to settle "finally and irrevocably,T, as stated in Article 1, disputes between the two countries regarding frontier questions, but it aroused the strongest opposition and the deepest misgivings in Peru.

The circumstances which led to its preparation and which it is desirable to recall are sufficient to explain these sentiments. They relate to the character of the

Peruvian Government in power at the time, to the excessive

concessions contained in the Treaty, to the non-execution of

one of its claus.s and to the transfer of populated territory

without previous consultation of the inhabitants. The dictatorial re'gime set up in 1919 suppressed the

fundamental liberties. It was established with no makeweight

to and with no control over its authority, in defiance of

democratic principles and the independence of the other powers

in the State. Once the Treaty was signed in 1922 the Peruvian

Government observed the strictest possible secrecy on the

matter and did not submit it to Congress until the end of

1924, although the latter was notoriously the henchman ox the

dictatorial regime. The Chairman of the Diplomatic p e r ­

missions, being aware that the Treaty was detrimental to Peru,

postponed the drafting of their reports sine ctie^ In 1927

two of the Chairman of those Commissions resigned* Every

possible means was employed to prevent the discussion of the Treaty and efforts wera made no stifle the opinion of

Loreto oy vident meveur c. The important pamphlet published by :i, Julio C. i.r.v:a.-., oenator of Loreto, was seised. h. Arana hims If vus prosecuted for his opposition to the anti-patriotic clauses in the. Tr aty. All the towns of the region signed strong protests against those clauses.

In tii" protest of the town 01 Caballococha, the capital of the district which, with LUTICIA, formed the "trapeze” between the Putumayo and the Amazon transferred to Colombia, this arrangement was described as iniquitous. In this atmos­ phere of silence- and terror the Treaty was approved by

Congress. On i.ugust 17th, 15,50, vhe northern territories of the former district of Lor.to, which had always belonged to it, were handed over to Colombia.

The latter came into possession of an area comparable in extent with Belgium or Greece ; the establishments of

Caraparana and Igaraparana, with tn-ir huts, ports and wire­ less stations. In addition to these unjustifiable transfers of territory the Treaty caused very grave economic and military prejudice to Loreto.

In exchange for these concessions Colombia was to transfer to P--.ru the zone of San lïi *u 1 or Sucunbios, of which she. alleged herself to be in possession, as a matter of feet she. wan unable to effect this transfer and merely asserted that in future P ru could exercise sovereignty over a region to which the latter had no access. On the one side, therefore, there was a r al transfer and on the other a theoretical assignment. The non—execution of a clause laying down the principl- oi t rritorial compensation should, in strict law, involve tlr nullity oi the legal bond - 7 - Moreover, 17,000 inhabitants of the Loreto region oame under foreign rule without having been consulted, as required by the law of nations, and despite their protests of fidelity to Peru. o

o o

By exceeding her former claims, by abandoning the natural frontier of the River Putumayo, which is her normal trade route with Peru and Brazil, by establishing an enclave in Peruvian terri­ tory, Colombia destroyed the geographical, economic and moral unity of the Department of Loretc , created an artificial situation and awakened irredentisn. The Colombian negotiators of the Treaty, who were aware of the weakness of the legal instrument which they were forging, instead of stipulating as in similar treaties that the frontiers fixed could be adapted to geographical conditions by the exchange of territories, stated that the line laid down could not be modified in any way in future as the result of any dispute. They thus unexpectedly betrayed their uneasiness,

o o o

The Colombian Government states, without furnishing any proof of this assertion, that the Peruvian authorities of the Department of Loreto have assisted the insurgents of LETI'CIA, for the purpose of preventing the restoration of legal order there, It makes no dis­ tinction - which is, however, necessary - between the official neutrality which has been proclaimed and maintained in this dispute by the Peruvian Government and by its authorities, and the moral neutrality of the population of the Department, which has been pro­ foundly disturbed since 1Q28 by the appeals of a region unjustly I

- 8-

L a r a t o d from the national territory. Ho Government could impose

kind of neutrality upon its nationals. Similarly, in appealing to the Caracas Agreement of 1911 > 'T^1C-

nuiras every signatory State, includlne Colombia and Peru, to oi­ ler™ the strictest neutality in the internal disturbances of the other countries, the Colombian Government seens to overlook the fact

I the occupants ef LETICIA do not propose in any way to subvert

!jlie political life of the neifheeur country ani merely ask that the town and its hinterland should be reincorporated in Peru.

I Moreover, the Peruvian Government haa given many proofs of its leutrality. It has endeavoured to avoid even the appearance of warlike

Intentions. It has not Increased its navy by a single unit. It has sent

E o warship to the disturbed area. It has asked Colomoia not to o^car

Loilisation. It has accepted the mediation proposed by Brazil. It has llways Shown itself disposed to continue or resume negotiations and to

■contemplate territorial concessions within ta- f tame ..ork s. t“v

Treaty. Colombia, on the other hand, has organised a river flotilla,

I has increased her effectives and armaments and, as the result of her

■efforts, the object of which does not appear to be c o n f in e d to t„«

I re conquest of LETICIA, is becoming a military power.

o o

In the interests of tho two parties and in order to consolidate

peace, the Peruvian Government is anxious to supplement the Salomon-

Lozano Treaty, to make- it more clastic and to infuse new life into it

It only asks of Colombia what it has itself accorded to other coun­

tries and what Colombia herself accepted in 1890, that is to say,

a ro-examination of the question in dispute for the purpose of

dealing with a do factc situation which reveals the inpoffections

of a Treaty or an arbitral award that have become inapplicable. When it w as found necessary to modify, in a conciliatory spirit

the award oi the argentine arbitrator to whom, her frontier

dispute with Bolivia was submitted, Peru agreed to alter the

line laid down in order to meet Bolivian interests. At the

same time the two countries recognised the legal force of the award and war was avoided

After the arbitral award had. been rendered by the King

of Spain in the frontier question between Colombia and

Venezuela, Colombia agreed to alter the boundary line in

accordance with Venezuelan aspirations. The President of

Colombia, M. Caro, whose wisdom and foresight have always been

praised, expressed himself on this occasion in favour of a

rectification of the frontier. On December 23th, 1396, he

addressed to the Senate a message, the essential points of

which can be applied as a precedent and a rule to the present

dispute b tween Peru and Colombia. '’The two nations, Venezuela

and Colombia, have loyally accepted”, ne wrote, ''the award

fixing their frontiers, but in carrying out that award it will be necessary not only to define rights but to obtain

the sincere acquiescence of the peoples. Consequently, while

the award is recognised to be just and witnout appeal, it can

be revised by the free consent of the parties. ■' The rectifica­

tion of frontiers seeded to hi n legitimate means of which

Colombia could avail herself in order to reacn an acceptable

arrangement, through territorial compensations.

The same spirit has prevailed in recent ^uropaan uioputt,

Boundaries have bean altered ;ith a view to establishing a

uUraelc order. Flume, the possession of which was granted to - 10 -

Yugoslavia by the Praaty of Trianon, pmcl-dmed its independence

declarod aloud thu ties that bound it to Italy, aad .as shortly

afterwards incorporated in that country by the sa,no lowers that

we.re parties to the frvaty oh Trianon. Vilna, a Polish city

assigned to Lithuania with tee acquiescence- of Poland, was re­

united to the latter in accordance with the principle- of the

self-determination of peoples. At Vilna as at LSTIGI^, an

irresistible popular movement put an end to an unjust and

dangerous situation.

Colombian Government ;er:. pr,par_.d to r . 1 in qui en its present attitude tranquillity would soon be restorea in the LEi'ICIA zone.

It considers that that Government's intransigence is hampering the action of conciliatory measures, is discouraging trie efforts of countries a ad institutions icsi ro'is of maintaining peace, and is contrary to the r e n t diplomatic agreements condemning war is an instrument of national policy. In a contint;nt where

■‘eocraphy end history, the er at strneal; s of the past ana the hop .s and dangers of the f utur-. el 1 point to tu: ne ce s:? it/ for union, a revised and improved treaty in :v :ich perilous ae signs of territorial expansion no Ion r found a place an., the seif- determination of peoples was no longer impeded, would prove an instrument of lasting co-operation and a re - u.i‘r i rma ti on o, nobis agreem at and harmony,

vSigned) Francisco u-arcia OAL JidhON.

Peruvian minister in trance, D e l e eate to the League of Nations.