Colombian president accuses Peru of territorial encroachment

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has publicly accused the government of Peru of unlawfully occupying territory that he asserts belongs to Colombia, citing a breach of a long-standing international treaty.

The allegation was made through a statement on the social media platform X, Caliber.Az reports.

President Petro stated that the ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Boyacá, which marks Colombia's independence, would be relocated to Leticia. He explained that the decision was made in response to what he described as another instance of the Peruvian government encroaching on Colombian territory and violating the Rio de Janeiro Protocol.

The Rio de Janeiro Protocol, signed in 1934, defines the border between Colombia and Peru along the deepest channel of the Amazon River. However, President Petro contends that new islands have emerged north of this boundary, and that Peru has passed legislation asserting sovereignty over these newly formed territories—despite their location on the Colombian side of the demarcated frontier.

This renewed tension reopens a historically sensitive issue between the two Andean nations, which have previously clashed in armed conflict over territorial disputes. The first Colombian–Peruvian War occurred between 1828 and 1829, stemming from a contested region now within modern-day Ecuador. A second confrontation erupted in 1932, when Peruvian President Colonel Luis Sánchez Cerro sought to unilaterally revise the Salomón–Lozano Treaty, leading to further hostilities.

By Vafa Guliyeva