Forgotten Frontiers: How Santa Rosa Reveals Latin America’s Neglected Territories

At the heart of the triple frontier between Brazil, Peru, and Colombia lies Santa Rosa, where there is no access to clean water or sewage systems, and residents build their one-story homes on stilts to prevent them from flooding. Daily life runs on rainwater collected in buckets, filtered through a white cloth, and boiled over wood-burning stoves. Residents also lack access to medical services, prompting them to seek medical care in Leticia or Tabatinga in Brazil. An isolated island, Santa Rosa is a two-hour flight and a 15-hour boat journey up the river from Lima, Peru’s capital. Still, its people remain proudly Peruvian yet neglected by their government, reflecting a broader sense of abandonment shared by neighboring communities. Their sense of abandonment is turning into something more urgent. The shifts in the Amazon’s waters now threaten to leave Leticia landlocked within five years, according to navy projections – a disaster for a city whose economy depends on river commerce. As the water retreats, boats struggle to dock, food shipments slow, and even the narcotrafficking routes that once moved easily through the area have been disrupted.

This dispute reveals a broader pattern across Latin America: marginalized border regions often remain neglected until they gain geopolitical or commercial significance. In the case of Santa Rosa, this long-standing neglect has turned into a political flashpoint, exposing how domestic instability can shape foreign policy decisions. Yet, as the river changes threaten commerce, sovereignty, and national pride, the governments have turned their gaze to this forgotten frontier.

Shifting fluvial dynamics reshaped the Chinería island, located in Peru’s Loreto region, and created what is now Santa Rosa. Due to erosion, sedimentation, and seasonal floods, the rivers from the Amazonian basin are in constant movement. This prompted the Colombian government to revisit border treaties signed more than a century ago (in 1922 and 1929), and the Peruvian government followed with a response to protect its sovereignty. This shift placed Santa Rosa at the center of a border dispute, despite having been marginalized for decades. Residents have been left in neglect with little government investment in either infrastructure or public services. 

The story of the Santa Rosa dispute starts with the Salomón-Lozado Treaty. Signed in 1922 between Colombia and Peru, it established border limits between the two countries and created dispute resolution mechanisms to prevent future conflict. The treaty granted Chinería Island to Peru, the very landmass from which Santa Rosa would later form. 

Peru originally qualified Santa Rosa as a village, but later upgraded its formal title, making it part of the district of San Lorenzo and giving it a larger government presence. In response, Colombian President Gustavo Petro rejected the Peruvian government’s authority over Santa Rosa, expressing concern that Colombia could lose access to the river. The current conflict started because Santa Rosa formed in 1974, so it was not explicitly stated in the treaty and, according to the Colombian government, it does not fit within a defined territorial framework. 

The dispute over Santa Rosa also sheds light on a broader pattern in Latin American politics: leaders often turn to external conflicts to deflect attention from domestic discontent. Peru’s president at the time, Dina Boluarte, struggled with a 3% approval rating, a reflection of the political turmoil that followed former President Pedro Castillo’s attempted coup d’état. Similarly, Petro’s approval rate is 29%. Low approval ratings help explain the government’s sudden shift of attention to Santa Rosa, an area long considered politically abandoned. 

The diversionary war theory also helps explain this dynamic: when confronted with domestic challenges, political leaders often initiate interstate conflict to shift public attention away from internal problems and toward foreign affairs. The intended outcome is to trigger a ‘Rally ’Round the Flag’ effect, meaning a temporary surge in public approval during crises or emergencies. 

However, in the case of Santa Rosa, there is no available evidence that this strategy actually boosted government approval ratings. Research on diversionary conflict suggests that governments often turn to foreign disputes when confronted with domestic crises. For instance, Ross A. Miller and Özlem Elgün find that threats to political survival significantly increase the likelihood of leaders initiating external conflicts, providing robust empirical evidence from Latin America. Scholars often cite the Falklands War as an example of this dynamic, as de facto Argentine president Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri reportedly invaded the islands to boost domestic popularity and secure the military regime’s hold on power.

Although attention has recently turned to Santa Rosa, it is unlikely that residents will see significant improvements in infrastructure or public services due to the high levels of corruption and political polarization in both Peru and Colombia. This dispute highlights the importance of respecting ratified treaties and employing international mechanisms—such as the thalweg principle, which defines a river’s border by its deepest channel—to manage territorial disputes peacefully. At the same time, environmental changes can alter river courses and shift established borders, underscoring the need for ongoing diplomatic negotiation. Therefore, it is necessary to establish diplomatic negotiations.

 In the case of Santa Rosa, after a period of uncertainty, the governments of Peru and Colombia convened in Lima to review the river’s fluvial dynamics and ensure the navigability and commercial use of the Amazon River in the area. This episode reflects a broader pattern in Latin America, where governments prioritize neglected regions only when strategic disputes offer an opportunity to reinforce legitimacy and deflect attention from domestic instability. 

It is unlikely that Santa Rosa’s residents will receive meaningful support from either the Peruvian or Colombian governments, as national attention in both countries has shifted elsewhere. Peru is now facing its second political crisis following the removal of President Dina Boluarte amid widespread violence. Meanwhile, in Colombia, President Petro’s tensions with the United States over drug-control policies have dominated headlines. Since the conflict began, media coverage of Santa Rosa has faded, and the island has once again slipped into obscurity. This pattern reflects how politicians amplify territorial issues only when they serve as tools to rally public sentiment and strengthen their hold on power.