The Leticia Dispute, 1932-33. At 6 o’clock in the morning on September 1, 1932, two hundred Peruvians (165 civilians and 35 military) armed principally with hunting weapons seized public buildings in the Colombian river port of Leticia (222 mi E of Iquitos, Peru) to prevent the permanent transfer of territory to Colombia under an 1922 treaty settlement. These filibusters ejected the eighteen-man Colombian national police force. The Peruvian government in Lima initially disavowed the action, but Peruvian authorities at Iquitos (612 mi NE of Lima), farther up the Amazon river, provided military support to the filibusters. In response, the Colombian government sent an 800-man “Juanambú” Infantry Battalion and strong riverine reinforcements up the Amazon River, a measure that the Peruvian public viewed as punitive. They demanded action …
The Colombian air force possessed three serviceable Swiss-built Wild X observation planes, three Curtiss Fledgling fighters, and one Curtiss P-1 Hawk. More importantly, Colombia could count on the aircraft and expertise of the commercial firm SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemania de Transporte Aéreo). SCADTA’s chief pilot was Herbert Boy, and influential and experienced German aviator. He was immediately given the rank of major and asked to organize and aerial supply route to the Putumayo River.
Excerpted from chapter 12 of Latin America’s Wars: The Age of the Professional Soldier 1900-2001, Volume 2 by Robert Scheina. Copyright 2003, Brassey’s.