721.23/878
The Colombian Minister (Lozano) to the Secretary of State42
Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to communicate to your Excellency the following:
In the early morning of September 1, 1932, a group of armed individuals, among whom were soldiers and officers of the Peruvian army, attacked the Colombian town of Leticia and took possession of it after imprisoning and deporting the Colombian authorities.
Since that time Peruvian military forces have supported the invasion of Leticia and of the surrounding Colombian region by repeated military acts carried out there for the purpose of resisting any attempt by the Colombian Government to restore the legitimate authorities and to terminate an unlawful occupation of its territory.
Under the Boundary Treaty of March 24, 1922, between Colombia and Peru, Leticia is indisputably a part of Colombia. In a note to the Colombian Government dated September 30, 1932, the Peruvian Government admitted the validity of the Boundary Treaty of 1922 and consequently the fact that Leticia belongs to Colombia.
Colombian forces are now on their way up the Amazon River for the purpose of reestablishing public order in Colombian territory, and of preserving Colombian sovereignty within that territory which has been recognized as ours by Peru.
On January 6, 1933, Victor Ramos, the Commanding General of the Fifth Division in Eastern Peru, telegraphed to General Vasquez Cobo, in command of the Colombian forces proceeding to Leticia, at Manãos, and to the Consul General of Colombia at Belém del Para, that he would take military measures to prevent the Colombian forces from entering Leticia.
The foregoing facts show that Peru, in violation of the Briand-Kellogg Pact, is employing force in support of unlawful and inexcusable acts of aggression in the territory of a friendly nation.
On January 11, 1933, the Foreign Minister of Colombia addressed a note to the Foreign Minister of Peru43 in which the matters recited above were set forth. This note requested the Government of Peru to withdraw the military forces of Peru from the territory of Colombia in order that the legitimate authorities might be reestablished there without any clash. It stated that the Colombian forces were proceeding to Leticia for the sole purpose of re-occupying Colombian territory and that they would avoid conflict with Peruvian military [Page 419] forces, unless the latter should oppose the Colombian forces in their task of restoring the rightful authority of Colombia. It declared that, when Colombian sovereignty over Leticia was restored, the Government of Colombia would be willing to discuss, in the most ample spirit of conciliation, any other matters which the Government of Peru might wish to discuss.
The Foreign Minister of Peru answered the above mentioned Colombian note by a note dated January 14, 1933,44 which denied none of the facts set forth in the Colombian note and admitted the adoption of military measures by the Peruvian military authorities in Loreto for the defense of the invaders of Leticia against re-occupation by Colombia. It re-affirmed the Peruvian Government’s recognition of the validity of the Boundary Treaty of 1922, but insisted on the modification of the frontier established by that treaty so as to correct what it asserted was the grave injustice committed in separating Leticia from Peru. This note evinces the purpose of Peru to compel the revision of the Treaty by the use of military force and thus to use such force as an instrument of national policy.
Copies of the above-mentioned notes exchanged between the two Governments accompany this communication.
The Government of Colombia begs to call to the enlightened attention of your Excellency’s Government (1) that Peru supports by military force Peruvian citizens who have seized by force of arms undisputed Colombian territory and have overthrown the sovereignty of Colombia in territory which Peru does not dispute to be Colombian; (2) Peru has refused to withdraw Peruvian troops now in this territory and to discontinue its support of the Peruvian invaders; (3) the Peruvian Government has shown that it proposes to resist by force the efforts of Colombia to restore her authority over territory which is admitted to be hers.
In supporting by force the unlawful seizure of Colombian territory, the Peruvian Government is violating the Pact of Paris and, consequently, as therein provided, should be denied the benefits furnished by that treaty.
The Colombian Government, in view of the above, requests your Excellency’s Government to call the Peruvian Government’s attention to its obligations under the General Pact for the Renunciation of War, signed at Paris, August 27, 1928,45 to renounce war as an instrument of national policy, and to urge that Government that it do not violate that Treaty.
Having thus complied with the instructions that I have received from my Government, I avail myself [etc.]
- Francis White, Assistant Secretary of State, acknowledged this note in a note of January 25 and enclosed a copy of the telegram of that date from the Secretary of State to the Peruvian Minister for Foreign Affairs, printed on p. 423.↩
- For text, see League of Nations, Official Journal, April 1933, p. 609.↩
- For text, see League of Nations, Official Journal, April 1933, p. 611.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1928, vol. i, p. 153.↩