The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petroaccused Peru of occupying Colombian territory, through a publication via X. In response, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry rejected the statements and invoked international law and current bilateral treaties. The Earth in the middle of the Amazon river And in the center of the dispute, called Santa Rosa Islanddoes not appear explicitly in border delimitation agreements. But, Elmer Schialler He has declared that it is a tip of Chinería Island, assigned to Peru through the Solomon-Lozano Treaty signed by both countries in 1922.
From Colombiait is considered that the territory is in debate. The discussion was already at the table of his Foreign Ministry, but he had not been made public, he says Sandra BordaColombian internationalist. “The expectation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was that it could be discussed through diplomatic channels with the Government of Peru. But, unfortunately, it has not been the case,” he explains to the Republic. While both countries are going through internal conflicts, the expert denies that it is a possible ‘smoke curtain’. However, analysts warn of the potential of the problem as a distracting element while both countries face conflicts within their borders.
Under the carpet
The Peruvian Chancellor explained on Channel N that the Santa Rosa Island It is actually a portion of the Chinería Island which was “cut by an arm of the Amazon river.” Schialer says that, years later, when that water course dried up, the land portions were joined again. “However, Colombia has argued, throughout repeated opportunities, this position. The last time he did was formally through two notes, after the president promulgated the Supreme Decree creating the Santa Rosa de Loreto District”He said.
The Colombian Foreign Ministry has stood out through an official statement the requirement of a pending conversation with the Peruvian government. “For years, Colombia has maintained the need for the binational work for the allocation of islands, and has reiterated the position that the ‘Island of Santa Rosa’ has not been assigned to Peru,” says the statement.
“It is a situation that if it is not resolved could end that Leticia can be without a riverbank on the Amazon river. So, what is at stake for Colombia is not little. This is not ‘political smoke curtain’, it is a theme of negotiation that hopefully can be resolved between the two governments as soon as possible,” says Borda.
“President Gustavo Petro has decided to carry out in Leticic José Carlos Lozadaapproached after an event at the Congress of Peru on the Amazon. “Of course, it seems to me that President Gustavo Petro should have used diplomatic channels before trills. It seems to me that this is a wrong way,” he added.
You can see: Santa Rosa belongs to Peru: specialists agree that Gustavo Petro uses conflict to divert attention
Solution routes
Oscar VidartePeruvian political scientist, agrees that the Colombian president did not use the appropriate medium. “There are channels to request the activation of certain organisms that are contemplated in the border agreement and sit down to talk about the common border. That is valid. But, doing so through a social network and with the terms it used against a neighboring country, it seems diplomatically unfortunate,” he says.
However, he states that the solution is possible and requires dialogue. “One thing is what we see in the communications and another is what the Foreign Ministry dialogue. It is expected that, through dialogue, the mechanisms to boost a space in which the problems can be solved can be specified. This not only happens in Santa Rosa, there are different points of common border where similar cases pass. You have to see what happens in the entire border,” he says.
“Colombia and Peru have a commission in charge of border issues that exists to solve these problems. Then, the first and most obvious mechanism, is that, at the base of that commission, the representatives initiate a conversation to see what particular principles of international law will be applied to define how the jurisdiction of the island will be assigned,” says Borda about a possible binational path that achieves an end to the conflict. The second instance would be the International Court of Justice.
You can see: Congress approved in June the creation of the Santa Rosa district in Loreto: established its limits and borders
Electoral context
Both Peru and Colombia have National elections in 2026 and both countries face internal conflicts. “In the case of Gustavo Petro’s government, the conflict with ‘Uribismo’ is very clear. Álvaro Uribe for corruption”, Observes Ricardo Falla, a researcher in international issues and teacher of the UARM philosophy. Recently, uribist sectors have accused the government of influencing Colombian justice in their favor. The situation in Peru is not better.
“If Colombia has tensions between two groups, in Peru there are many tensions. It is a government, practically, faced with societyparliamentary blocks faced with each other, regions in conflict with the central government. There are strong corruption problems as we know everything. So, this situation also distracts, isn’t it? ”Analyzes fails.
The researcher argues that, at least in the case of Peru, it can be expected how much this situation can mobilize the Peruvian society. Recent surveys of the Institute of Peruvian Studies show that only 14% have “much” interest in politics and 25% “something.” “Hopefully this conflict stays in the diplomatic field and does not climb more,” he says. Failure warns that it could only climb more “if the despair for creating an external enemy assaults diplomatic management.” For now, what is certain is that tension can be resolved, but probably not in the short term.
