Talambo Affair

Talambo Affair, a local incident in northern Peru in 1863 that had international repercussions. Because of the strained diplomatic relations between Spain and some of its former colonies, an isolated altercation resulted in an armed confrontation between a Spanish fleet and allied forces of four South American republics (Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru) in 1866.

In 1860 the owner of the Talambo estate in Chiclayo had contracted through an agent to hire approximately 175 Basque immigrants to work in the estate's cotton fields. In August 1863 two Basque farmers quarreled with the estate's owner and his men. In the ensuing fight two immigrants were killed and several imprisoned. This incident led to a diplomatic complaint by the Spanish embassy and government.

The commander of the Spanish fleet, allegedly performing a scientific expedition off the Peruvian coast at the time, pressed the Peruvian government of Juan Antonio Pezet to apologize and pay past debts to Spanish nationals. The Spaniards seized the guano-producing islands of Chincha and threatened to bomb the port of Callao in 1865. Pezet tried to find a peaceful solution by supporting the Vivanco-Pareja Treaty. Other military leaders and the public, however, considered Pezet's actions a form of capitulation and ousted him.

See alsoPezet, Juan Antonio .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jorge Basadre, Historia de la República del Peru, vol. 3 (1963).

David Werlich, Peru: A Short History (1976).

Additional Bibliography

Cerda Catalán, Alfonso. La Guerra entre España y las repúblicas del Pacífico, 1864–1866: El bombardeo de Valparaíso y el combate naval del Callao. Providencia, Chile: Editorial Puerto de Palos, 2000.

Novak, Fabián. Las relaciones entre el Perú y España, 1821–2000. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Instituto de Estudios Internacionales, Fondo Editorial, 2001.

                                        Alfonso W. Quiroz