From Huaquillas, Arica y Desaguadero: Why Think About Our Borders
By Nicolás Vargas Varillas
The EU's successful experiment has a myriad of positive achievements that should be mentioned whenever multilateralism is to be studied and how it can be replicated in the rest of the world. One that is relevant to this article is borders. In the European Union, the borders between member states are free flowing; that is, people and goods can cross freely from one country to the other, without much complexity. The job of this article, however, is not to defend or criticise the European model, nor to suggest how this could be applied in Latin America, far from it. The European borders, so dynamic and full of occurrences, serve as an obligatory exercise to shift our gaze towards our borders, which are places that, despite the economic and social dynamism that exists there, are by their very nature profoundly peripheral places, and that in order to be properly exploited for the benefit of the citizens who live in border areas, it is first crucial to understand a little of what happens there on a day-to-day basis.
Perhaps the most important border points in Peru are 3; Aguas Verdes (with Ecuador), Santa Rosa (with Chile) and Desaguadero (with Bolivia). These three points are not the only ones on the borders with the countries mentioned, however, as they are the places through which the most important international roads pass, they are where we can see the greatest economic dynamism of the border regions. All these places have in common that there is a strong retail trade, something easily deducible. In these places, thousands of Peruvians meet with their fellow traders from neighbouring countries and exchange goods, who benefit from the low prices of Peruvian products relative to how much they would cost in other regions of their countries. This simple dynamic is replicated for Peruvian traders when they buy products from neighbouring countries. Likewise, in the specific case of the border with Chile, there is the ZOFRATACNA, an area where private activity enjoys tax and customs benefits, which facilitates industrial and commercial activity, both for large companies and SMEs and even for ordinary private citizens (both Peruvian and foreign), who can access goods and services at a lower price. In simple terms, we could say that the border regions are regions with immense commercial potential, and that, with proper attention and legislation, they could benefit millions of Peruvians living near the borders of our homeland.
However, border areas also have a dark side, which is deeply linked to the illegal world and which, because of their peripheral location, makes it both difficult for the Peruvian state to have effective control over what happens in border areas, as well as making it much easier for the criminal world to operate in them. In the same way that many good citizens take advantage of the proximity to other countries to trade, it is also common to hear of countless illicit drug transactions, minerals extracted in illegal mines, and even worse, human trafficking in the border areas. It is easy to find in the news sad stories of burriers detained at the borders trying to carry tiny amounts of illicit drugs, as well as seeing in some cases people illegally crossing borders from one country to the other late at night, the latter being unfortunately common since the beginning of the migration crisis of Venezuelan citizens some years ago. The situation gets much worse when we consider what happens on our borders with Colombia and Brazil, both of which are located entirely in the immense lushness of the Amazon rainforest. In the case of the border with Colombia, it has been known for many years that there has been a presence, sometimes recurrent and sometimes scarce, of columns of subversive groups from our northern neighbour. At the same time, these armed columns have often served as security guarantors for the journey of drugs produced in our country on their long overland journey to the United States, in a similar way to the role played by the remnants of the Shining Path in the VRAEM. It is important to mention that, in 2002, the Commission for National Defence, Internal Order, Alternative Development and the Fight against Drugs of the Congress denounced the activities of Colombian paramilitary groups in areas near the Peruvian bank of the Putumayo River, where they were engaged not only in coca leaf cultivation, but also in illegal logging. Worse still, it was reported that these columns may have child soldiers in their ranks.
Similarly, the Peruvian-Brazilian border, the longest for our country, also has a long and sad history of illegal transit of people, often coerced. A well-known case is that of countless Haitian migrants, who are willing to cross numerous borders devoid of documents and belongings to escape the inclement violence that has plunged their country of origin into a spiral of hopelessness that seems to have no end. In recent years, it has not been uncommon to see in the news cases of Haitian migrants stranded on our eastern border, who in some cases have died in the surrounding areas, without access to care of any kind. In that case it is also important to think that if that is the situation along the legal border crossings, what will be the situation in the border areas that cross directly through the forest? We may be facing a humanitarian crisis without precedent in Peru's history, one that may be very difficult for us to know much about because of the remoteness of the places where it is happening. While this is happening, Peruvians trying to get by in these areas often face enormous difficulties, given the lack of attention from the state (in some cases, only the Itinerant Social Action Platforms, PIAS, are able to attend to them) or the lack of basic services. An alarming example of how complicated it can be for Peruvians in these areas to live was revealed in a report in the newspaper El Comercio in 2021, where it was revealed that in Purús, in the far east of the Ucayali region, a balloon of gas can cost around 160 soles.
The borders are peripheral regions by nature. In them, it is often ingenuity that drives their inhabitants to get ahead, but also, given the dynamism that this brings, they end up attracting prosperity and development to these areas. They are also extremely important places for increasing ties between countries, given the obvious brotherhood and camaraderie that forms between communities living on either side of the border. However, they are hugely vulnerable regions, fertile ground for crime or other activities that bring danger to the region and to the security of both countries. This is why it is crucial to always keep an eye on the borders, a work that is increasingly necessary and must be prioritised, and which, in constant collaboration with our neighbouring countries, must lead us to ensure that the prosperity and development of our sometimes more remote communities is not overshadowed by the violence that today seems to inhabit our borders.
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