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The land of Santa Rosa sits successful the Amazon River betwixt Colombia and Peru, with the authorities successful Lima precocious naming it a national district.
Published On 5 Aug 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the neighbouring state of Peru of annexing a disputed land connected the Amazon River, resuscitating a longstanding disagreement betwixt the 2 nations.
In a societal media station connected Tuesday, Petro said that Peru had acted to “unilaterally” asseverate power implicit the tiny land of Santa Rosa successful a caller legislature vote.
“The Peruvian authorities has conscionable appropriated it by law,” Petro wrote connected the societal media level X.
He added that Peru’s actions could artifact the Colombian metropolis of Leticia from accessing the Amazon River. “Our authorities volition edifice to diplomacy to support our nationalist sovereignty.”
Petro’s comments appeared to beryllium a effect to a ballot successful June, whereby Peru’s Congress designated the land of Santa Rosa a territory successful its Loreto province.
Who controls the land has been a taxable of statement betwixt Peru and Colombia for astir a century.
Peru has claimed ownership based connected treaties from 1922 and 1929, and it has administered Santa Rosa for decades.
But Colombia maintains that the land of Santa Rosa had not emerged from the Amazon River astatine the clip of the treaties and truthful is not taxable to them.
It has besides argued that the treaties acceptable the bound betwixt the 2 countries astatine the deepest constituent of the Amazon River, and that islands similar Santa Rosa person emerged connected the Colombian broadside of that dividing line.
“Islands person appeared northbound of the existent deepest line, and the Peruvian authorities has conscionable appropriated them by instrumentality and placed the superior of a municipality connected onshore that, by treaty, should beryllium to Colombia,” Petro wrote.
He warned that Peru’s claims to Santa Rosa could inhibit question and commercialized to adjacent Leticia, which boasts a colonisation of astir 60,000.
“This unilateral action”, Petro wrote connected Tuesday, “could marque Leticia vanish arsenic an Amazonian port, taking distant its commercialized life”.
Petro said helium would clasp celebrations commemorating Colombian independency from Spain successful Leticia connected Thursday, framing the island’s presumption arsenic a awesome of nationalist sovereignty.
The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs besides said successful a societal media station that it would propulsion for further diplomacy successful determining the nationality of recently emerged islands.
“For years, Colombia has maintained the request to transportation retired bilateral enactment for the allocation of islands,” the ministry wrote. Colombia, it added, “has reiterated the presumption that ‘Santa Rosa Island’ has not been allocated to Peru”.
The Amazon River is 1 of the longest waterways successful the world, with the astir h2o discharged of immoderate river.
But those almighty currents deposit and rearrange sediment passim the stream basin, forming – and sometimes erasing – islands.
Santa Rosa is 1 of those newer islands. The onshore present contains wood and farmland, arsenic good arsenic the colony of Santa Rosa de Yavari.
That municipality is location to a colonisation of less than 1,000 people, according to Peru’s latest census, and is mostly reliant connected tourism, based connected its proximity to the Amazon.
The Peruvian authorities has argued that making Santa Rosa a territory was indispensable to guarantee it received national funds and could cod taxes.
“Peru is complying firmly with its obligations nether planetary instrumentality and with valid bilateral treaties,” the Peruvian authorities said successful a statement.
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies
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