'It could get ugly': Benedetti details dispute with Peru over Santa Rosa Island

The binational controversy between Colombia and Peru over the dispute over the sovereignty of Santa Rosa Island , located in the Amazon, has a new episode, as the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti , has spoken out about the country's actions in this case.

" I'm not talking about war. What I'm saying is that if diplomatic channels aren't followed, things could get ugly ," the minister said in a statement to Blu Radio.

The official gave more details about this territorial dispute after President Gustavo Petro stated that the neighboring country violated the Rio de Janeiro Protocol, which ended the Colombian-Peruvian War, which took place between 1932 and 1933 .

" The treaty says that islands formed after 1929 must be discussed in that commission. That didn't happen. They simply passed a law and decided it was theirs ," Benedetti added.

(You can read: How Peruvian is Santa Rosa? This is life on the Amazonian island that Colombia is asking for .)

Therefore, although a military action is removed, the head of this portfolio stated that " if diplomatic channels are not followed, things could get ugly ," since the case could be brought before the International Court of Justice in The Hague .

Benedetti also spoke about the risks of Colombia losing this territory, explaining that this would leave the country " without a port in Leticia and without navigability on the river. That's sovereignty, and no one here is going to lose ."

A lack of respect for agreements?

President Gustavo Petro stated this Thursday in the border city of Leticia that his government does not recognize either the sovereignty of Peru or the authorities of that country on the island of Santa Rosa, a formation in the Amazon River that marks the border between the two countries .

" Colombia does not recognize Peru's sovereignty over the so-called Santa Rosa Island and does not recognize the de facto authorities imposed in the area ," Petro said in Leticia, located across from Santa Rosa, adding that the allocation of that island and others that emerged in the Amazon River after the treaty signed in 1929, should be discussed in a binational commission and, ultimately, in international courts.

In response, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte sent a message of calm to her country's population on Thursday, assuring them that there are no pending border issues to address with Colombia, after her Colombian counterpart stated that Peru had allegedly seized an Amazonian island on the border between the two countries.

(Read more: Santa Rosa, the small island that sparked the impasse between Colombia and Peru .)

From Japan, where Boluarte is on an official visit, the president sent a video in which she said that the country's sovereignty over the island claimed by Colombia, where the town of Santa Rosa de Loreto is located, is not in conflict and there are no pending issues to be addressed " in any way ."

" There is nothing to discuss with our brother country to the north, with our Colombian brothers, in any way, " Boluarte said, adding that the 1922 treaty, reconfirmed in the Rio de Janeiro Protocol of 1934, shows that Chinería Island , located in front of the Colombian city of Leticia , is Peruvian and falls within its national sovereignty.

At the same time, the Peruvian government reaffirmed that " there is no discussion " about Peruvian sovereignty over this Amazonian district, in response to Petro's statements.

(Read more: Sovereignty of Santa Rosa Island in the Amazon could be defined in mid-September .)

Peruvian Prime Minister Eduardo Arana read from Santa Rosa de Loreto a seven-point declaration signed by President Boluarte addressed to Petro, who was visiting Leticia, on the other side of the Amazon River, to press his case.

" We reiterate that there is no discussion whatsoever about Peru's sovereignty in the district of Santa Rosa de Loreto or on any of our borders ," Arana said, categorically rejecting the Colombian president's statements.

PORTFOLIO

*with information from EFE