The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise: Travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an Account of the Atrocities Committed upon the Indians ThereinHardenburg, W. E. (Walter Ernest)
History
The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise: Travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an Account of the Atrocities Committed upon the Indians Therein
Hardenburg, W. E. (Walter Ernest)
Peru -- Description and travel; Peruvian Amazon Company; Putumayo River; Rubber industry and trade -- Peru
After three months I applied for a transfer from this horrible depot.
This application was granted, and they sent me to the depot known as La
Sabana, where I found as chief Arístides Rodríguez. About two weeks
after my arrival at this place Rodríguez had four Indians of the
Recígaros tribe brought in. As soon as they arrived he asked them why
they had not brought any rubber, and the unfortunates, fearful of what
awaited them, lowered their humble glances to the ground and did not
answer a word. Then Arístides ordered one of his secretaries, who to-day
walks freely with him about the streets of Iquitos, to take four more
employees and to cut off the heads of those Indians and burn them, which
order was at once carried out at the side of the house.
Shortly after this Rodríguez went out in charge of a commission of fifty
men to a point called Cahuinarí. Once there, he proceeded to murder a
hundred and fifty Indians, men, women, and children. These murders were
carried out with rifles and _machetes_. Afterwards they arrived at some
Indian houses and fired them by order of Rodríguez. In these houses
there were at least forty families, according to an individual who
accompanied Rodríguez, who went in first to ascertain what Indians there
were inside. Here a most horrible spectacle was witnessed, and it was
appalling to hear the groans and laments of the Indians enwrapped in the
devouring flames of the fire.
About twenty days after this occurrence Rodríguez started for Santa
Catalina, and on the journey, he met four Indians of the Maynanes tribe,
who were _en route_ to put themselves at his service. Rodríguez, instead
of receiving them, placed his carbine to his shoulder and shot them to
death.
This infamous agent has a brother[120], who is chief of Santa Catalina,
called Aurelio Rodríguez, a wretch no less criminal than his brother,
for in the month of March of the year 1908, when I was at Santa
Catalina, a commission arrived, bringing four Indians in chains. This
Aurelio Rodríguez then remarked that he felt anxious to test his
shooting, and, without more ado, took his carbine and began to shoot at
those poor Indians, with the result that in a few minutes they fell shot
to death; afterwards he had them burned.
After all these events I made all possible exertions to get away from
this awful region, and, after some work, I succeeded in getting
transferred to El Encanto, where another monster, Miguel S. Loayza, is
chief. On one occasion this other repugnant criminal gave orders to his
confidential secretary, the negro, King, to go with several other
employees and take a poor Colombian, whose name I do not now recall,
prisoner. As soon as they brought him to El Encanto, Loayza had him
assassinated by the negro, King, and afterwards thrown into the river.
All these deeds occur with great frequency in the Putumayo. Would to God
that the weight of justice would fall over this awful region!
_For_ GENARO CAPORO,
JOSÉ ANTONIO.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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