No one can agree on who started the fight.
Was it Peru, which passed a law last month declaring the island a Peruvian district?
Was it Colombia, whose president claimed that Peru had “seized” its land?
Did it start in earnest when Peru sent soldiers to the island this week to raise the national flag? Or when Colombia’s president landed in the region on Thursday to lay claim to the island, with his defense minister and a small cadre of military cadets in tow?
A war of words is playing out between Colombia and Peru as the countries’ presidents — both sagging in popularity at the end of their terms — battle over which nation owns a tiny island in the Amazon River, Santa Rosa de Yavarí, population 3,000.
Both leaders say they are protecting their nation’s sovereignty. Critics of the Colombian leader, Gustavo Petro, have called his sudden interest in the island a smoke screen meant to obscure larger problems, including limited progress toward his policy goals and accusations of drug addiction.
Mr. Petro denies the allegations and maintains his fight for the island is about something bigger: preserving Colombia’s principal access to the vital Amazon River.
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The post War of Words Erupts Between Colombia and Peru Over Island in Amazon appeared first on New York Times.
