Peru on Tuesday expressed its strongest and most emphatic protest regarding the statements made by the Government of Colombia concerning the sovereign rights and acts of jurisdiction that our country has legitimately and legally exercised "publicly and continuously for over a century over the integrity of its national territory."
In an
official statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled that the Plenary of the Congress of the Republic of Peru unanimously approved, on June 12, the creation of the new district of Santa Rosa de Loreto, in the exercise of the powers and prerogatives granted to it by the Political Constitution.
Similarly, it noted that on July 3, Law No. 32403 was published in the Official Gazette El Peruano, whose Article 2 provides for the "creation of the district of Santa Rosa de Loreto in Mariscal Ramon Castilla province, Loreto region, with its capital in the town of Santa Rosa."
"This territorial jurisdiction is under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of our country, in accordance with the international political boundaries established in the Treaty of Limits and Free River Navigation between Peru and Colombia, dated March 24, 1922, and the demarcation work carried out by the Joint Boundary Demarcation Commission," it added.
The communiqué further stated that Peru, through Note RE (VMR) No. 6/116, dated July 4, categorically rejected the terms contained in the Colombian Government's notes S-GFTC-25-21238 of June 20 and S-DVRE-25-010505 of July 3, "at which time it reaffirmed the legitimate sovereign rights over the integrity of our national territory."
"In this regard, it is important to clarify that the town of Santa Rosa is an integral part of the Peruvian island of Chineria, which was assigned to Peru in 1929 by the aforementioned Joint Boundary Demarcation Commission and is under its national sovereignty and jurisdiction, as it is also located west of the Peru-Colombia international boundary, established along the thalweg of the Amazon River up to the latitude determined as the boundary between Colombia and Brazil (indicated by Landmark 1995-1), which has been permanently reaffirmed to the Government of Colombia on various occasions," the release stated.
Likewise, the statement noted that the Protocol of Friendship and Cooperation between Peru and Colombia, along with its additional act, signed in Rio de Janeiro (on May 24, 1934), reaffirmed the boundaries established in the 1922 treaty; while its additional act established, among other aspects, "freedom of navigation and transit" between the river territories of both countries in the Amazon and Putumayo basins, "which Peru strictly complies with."
"Peru, faithful to its vocation to respectfully and strictly comply with its international obligations, and in line with its peaceful vocation and integration with neighboring countries, conducts itself in strict adherence to international law and the bilateral treaties in force, which it reaffirms on this occasion," it added.