Miguel S. Loayza
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Miguel S. Loayza | |
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| Born | Miguel de los Santos Loayza Pérez |
| Died | 1912 |
| Occupation | Managers |
Miguel S. Loayza was born sometime before 1880. He was a manager of the Peruvian Amazon Company at the El Encanto headquarters. Benjamin Saldaña Rocca list him as one of the companies infamous criminals: while Roger Casement described Miguel 'as a bandit accompanied by a gang of gunmen who had no other job than to kill.' Loayza retained some property, and a portion of the companies workforce, that consisted on natives who were debt peons. In reality, the excuse of debt peonage was a cover for slavery. Before the transfer of the Putumayo from Peru to Colombia, Loayza and Julio César Arana organized a series of forced migrations deeper into Peru: with the intention of retaining their work force. Loayza died in the 1960s, somewhere into his 90's in the city of Iquitos.
In the Putumayo
In 1889, Julio César moved to Iquitos with his brother-in-laws to expand their peddling business, and their foothold in the rubber industry. Iquito's was the biggest exporter of rubber at the time in the region: and regional rubber tappers had to transport their product their if they wanted to export. Miguel S. Loayza was already in the Ampiyacu region by the late 1880s, and held a port on the river, which he forbid anyone from passing. [1]
At some point, Loayza joined his rubber extracting enterprise with Arana's company. Miguel and his brother Carlos Loayza were instrumental members of the companies staff. There is not a lot written about their early time in the Putumayo. Around 1903, Miguel became the manager of the El Encanto. A settlement at the mouth of the Caraparaná River: rubber produced by stations along this river is sent later sent to El Encanto, and from there to Iquitos.[2] Natives from the Witoto, Boras, Andoque, and Ocaina tribes are enslaved in this region.[3] The men of these tribes are sent into the jungles to collect rubber for long periods of time. If one did not meet a weight quota required by the company manager, the guilty person could be tortured, and or executed. During the Putumayo genocide, Loayza and other managers of Arana's company were paid on a commission for the rubber collected at their station. There was a financial incentive to exploit the natives as much as possible. [4]
When Walter Ernest Hardenburg came to the Putumayo in 1907, there were only three significant Colombian settlements left in the region. The Peruvian Amazon Company had previously absorbed or destroyed up to around forty settlements through manipulation of force. While Hardenburg was trying to through the region, to Iquitos, he met David Serrano. Serrano owed a 'small sum' of money to Miguel Loayza: who used this as an excuse to send a 'commission' to his property. Members of the 'commission' chained David to a tree, before they dragged his wife out of their house and raped her. After taking the rubber from Serrano's establishment, the 'commission' took his wife and child aboard the boat. David later found out his wife forced to become a concubine to Miguel: while his son served as a servant to Miguel.
This event caught the attention of the Colombian government, who sent a police inspector to the region. Jesús Orjuela was sent to investigate the matter and set up a meeting with Loayza at El Dorado: and Hardenburg decided to follow Orjuela. Miguel never showed up to the meeting, on the way back to Serrano's establishment they were then arrested on January 12th. Earlier that day, while Orjuela and Hardenburg were at El Dorado: the ships Iquitos and Liberal attacked La Reserva, which was the settlement of Serrano. Soldiers that were aboard those two ships looted, then burned La Reserva. The settlements of La Union and La Reserva were destroyed, while Loayza robbed El Dorado and threatened the Colombians. Hardenburg later found out that David Serrano and 28 members of his Colombian staff were massacred. His friend, Walter Perkins related: "They not only shot them to death, but horribly mutilated their bodies with their machetes and threw them into the river."
Hardenburg and Perkins were taken to El Encanto: where Hardenburg was told he'd have to wait until the Liberal was ready to sail to Iquitos. For their own safety, they lied to Miguel, stating that they worked for an American company who wanted to invest in the region. They insisted that if they disappeared, this company was certain to investigate. Therefore, any harm that came to them could have potential political repercussions. Hardenburg wrote about his experiences in the Putumayo a few years after he left the region. He mentioned that Miguel kept an involuntary harem of around thirteen girls, ranging from ages nine to sixteen. [5]
After the scandal of the Putumayo genocide and the liquidation of the company: the Loayza brothers remained administrators for Arana’s enterprise in the region.
Later life
Before border change and transition of the Putumayo from Peru to Colombia occurred: Miguel and his brother Carlos organized a series of forced migrations. At least 6,719 natives from the Huitoto, Bora, Andoque, and Ocaina populations were forced to relocate deeper into Peru so the Loayza's could retain their workforce. According to Carlos Loayza, 50% of these people died off from disease. Settling in the Ampiyacu basin of Loreto, the Loayza's used these nativevs to build a ranching enterprise. It wasn't until the 1960's that the Loayza's were forced to leave the region and the natives gained autonomy. Miguel S. Loayza died in the 1960's somewhere into his nineties. [6] [7]
References
- ↑ Chirif, Alberto; Cornejo Chaparro, Manuel (2009). Imaginario e imágenes de la época del caucho: Los sucesos del Putumayo. Peru: The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. p. 189. ISBN 9972608271. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ↑ Hardenburg, Walter (1912). The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise; Travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an Account of the Atrocities Committed Upon the Indians Therein. Putumayo: London: Fischer Unwin. p. 203. ISBN 1372293019. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ↑ Víctor San Román, Jesús (January 1, 1994). Perfiles históricos de la amazonía peruana. Peru / Colombia: Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana. p. 192. ISBN 8489295808. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ↑ Hardenburg, Walter (1912). The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise; Travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an Account of the Atrocities Committed Upon the Indians Therein. Putumayo: London: Fischer Unwin. pp. 181–184. ISBN 1372293019. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ↑ Hardenburg, Walter (1912). The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise; Travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an Account of the Atrocities Committed Upon the Indians Therein. Putumayo: London: Fischer Unwin. pp. 178–181. ISBN 1372293019. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ↑ Víctor San Román, Jesús (January 1, 1994). Perfiles históricos de la amazonía peruana. Peru / Colombia: Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana. pp. 191–192. ISBN 8489295808. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ↑ Corti, Erminio. "Testimonio y denuncia de la explotación cauchera en la novela Toá de César Uribe PiedrahIta". Academia.edu. Ledizioni. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
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