721.2315/198
The Colombian Legation to the Department of State
Supplementing the confidential memorandum of November 26, 1924,81 the Minister of Colombia permits himself to emphasize the importance of the friendly solution reached by the Governments of Colombia and Peru with the signing of the Treaty of March, 1922.
The boundary question has been the cause of bitter disputes between the two Republics for nearly a century, occasioning sharp diplomatic correspondence and creating constantly a dangerous situation which in 1829 turned into war. Subsequently, this dispute has kept the two countries in a state of prolonged anxiety. In 1907 and 1908 certain conflicts between Colombian and Peruvian officials [Page 301] caused armed encounters. In 1911 this state of things was repeated, armed forces of both governments compromising themselves in the Caquetá region in a struggle of such an alarming character that the diplomatic representatives of Brazil and Venezuela in Colombia found it opportune, with the previous authorization of their Governments, to offer their good offices. The continuous clashes between Colombian and Peruvian colonists have been a cause of unrest and anxiety on the part of the two Governments. In later years the negotiations which culminated in the Boundary Treaty produced a favorable and well marked change in the situation, but if the Treaty fails, that situation will again assume its former deplorable character.
The said prolonged state of dispute created—as it could not fail to do—a state of insecurity in that territory, particularly for the indian tribes, which in consequence have been reduced to a state of actual slavery due to the fact that the protection of the two governments does not fully reach them, in zones of disputed sovereignty, thus making it easy for those guilty of such slavery to elude and evade the action of justice. These are facts known by the name of Atrocities and Crimes of the Putumayo, which have attracted the attention of the world and concerning which there exists an extensive correspondence from United States Consular officials to the Department of State, published in Foreign Relations for 1913.
Aside from the international and humanitarian aspects involved, there are also considerations of an economical character. Any foreign capital destined to the exploitation of the Caquetá and Putumayo regions naturally meets with protests from Peru, if the concession is granted by Colombia, and from the latter if the concession is granted by Peru. Foreign capital already invested, or that is about to be invested, in the exploitation of that territory can only find safe and stable conditions through a Treaty exactly fixing the boundary limit of each country and recognizing the properties there established, or to be established, in good faith. This is provided by the Treaty of Colombia and Peru in Article IX which reads as follows:
“Artículo 9°—Las Altas Partes Contratantes se obligan a mantener y respetar todas las concesiones de terrenos de que estuvieren en posesión antes de la fecha del presente Tratado los nacionales de a otra y, en general, todos los derechos adquiridos por nacionales y extranjeros, conforme a las legislaciones respectivas, sobre las tierras que por efecto de la determinación de fronteras constante en el Artículo Primero del presente Tratado, quedan reconocidas como pertenecientes, respectivamente, a Colombia y al Perú”.
All these considerations serve to set forth the great and exceptional value, in benefit of the entire Continent, which would result [Page 302] from the friendly cooperation of the Government of the United States on behalf of a treaty which would not only definitely fix the limits of this line between Colombia and Peru, but would also open the way for a prompt fixation of the boundary line between Colombia and Brazil in the section left undetermined in the Boundary Treaty of 1907. The Government of Colombia, in a spirit of conciliation and of sincere good will, is ready to collaborate to this end.
- Not printed.↩